Practice Test

Please solve the following questions. This is not a real exam, it will not be graded, and you do not need to submit your solutions to anyone. The questions are simply intended to help you practice for the real exam.

These questions will not appear in the exam itself. Students who don't genuinely attempt to solve the questions on their own, and only memorize the solutions, will have a very hard time in the actual exam!

This sample exam is online, but the real exam will be given in person, at a time and place indicated on the course website.

THIS IS NOT THE ACTUAL EXAM!
THIS IS JUST A PRACTICE EXAM!
THE REAL EXAM IS IN PERSON!

If you need any clarifications for these questions, you can ask for them on the course Teams channel.

Question 1

I found a helium-9 isotope. How many neutrons does it have?

8
6
7

Question 2

I observed an object, larger than Earth but smaller than the Sun, which generates light by deuterium fusion but not hydrogen fusion. What is it?

A star.
A brown dwarf.
A planet.

Question 3

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K5
K3
K9

Question 4

Which of the following is a blue giant?

O4 III
M2 III
M5 V

Question 5

Which of the following stars is the brightest in the sky?

A star with apparent magnitude +3.1.
A star with apparent magnitude +7.0.
A star with apparent magnitude -4.4.

Question 6

What is nuclear fusion?

The process where light nuclei combine into heavier nuclei.
The process where nuclei are destroyed and converted into pure energy.
The process where heavy nuclei split into lighter nuclei.

Question 7

If a particle has charge +1, what would be the charge of its antiparticle?

-1.
+1.
0.

Question 8

Photon A has wavelength 1 cm. Photon B has wavelength 2 cm. Which photon has a higher frequency?

Photon A.
Photon B.
Both have the same frequency.

Question 9

In the H-R diagram, red giants can be found...

At higher luminosity and lower temperature than the main sequence.
At higher luminosity and higher temperature than the main sequence.
On the main sequence.

Question 10

Which of the following is the shortest?

1 parsec.
1 light-year.
1 trillion kilometers.

Question 11

What happens in electron-positron annihilation?

An electron and a positron annihilate each other and no photons are produced.
An electron and a positron annihilate each other and produce 2 photons.
An electron and a positron annihilate each other and produce 1 photon.

Question 12

If the spectral lines of a star shift toward blue, this means...

The star is moving away from us.
The star is not moving with respect to us.
The star is moving toward us.

Question 13

Compared to Cepheid variables, RR Lyrae variables typically have...

Lower luminosity and shorter period.
Higher luminosity and longer period.
Higher luminosity and shorter period.

Question 14

Object A has mass 1 kg. Object B has mass 3 kg. According to E=mc², how much rest energy does object B have compared to A?

3 times more energy.
3 times less energy.
9 times more energy.

Question 15

Which of the following is a main-sequence star?

G2 IV
B5 II
K6 V

Question 16

A star is located on the top left of the H-R diagram. This star has...

High luminosity and low temperature.
Low luminosity and low temperature.
High luminosity and high temperature.

Question 17

I see a very bright star. This could mean:

Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is small.
Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is large.
Either the distance to the star is small or the luminosity of the star is large.

Question 18

A star was measured to have a parallax of 0.25 arc seconds. How far away is the star?

6 parsecs.
4 parsecs.
5 parsecs.

Question 19

A photon has a wavelength of 530 nm. What color is it?

Green.
Blue.
Red.

Question 20

I want to measure the distance to a star that is estimated to be a few thousand light-years away. Which method should I use?

Stellar parallax
Cepheid variables
RR Lyrae variables

Question 21

In an atom, the protons are located...

Inside the nucleus.
Either inside or outside the nucleus, depending on the type of atom.
Outside the nucleus.

Question 22

A proton is made of...

1 up quark and 1 down quark.
2 up quarks and 1 down quark.
1 up quark and 2 down quarks.

Question 23

Star A has brighter absolute magnitude than star B. What does that say about the luminosity of the two stars?

Star A is more luminous.
Star B is more luminous.
There's no way to know unless we also know the distance to each star.

Question 24

What kind of mass is defined as the strength of an object's gravitational field?

Neither of the other options is correct.
Inertial mass.
Gravitational mass.

Question 25

In the proton-proton chain, how many total hydrogen nuclei do we start with? (Remember that steps 1 and 2 happen twice in a full chain!)

4.
2.
1.