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

In an atom, the protons are located...

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

Question 2

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

+1.
0.
-1.

Question 3

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 4

In the proton-proton chain, how many total helium nuclei do we end up with?

4.
1.
2.

Question 5

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 6

A neutron is made of...

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

Question 7

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

Question 8

What happens in electron-positron annihilation?

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

Question 9

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

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

Question 10

Which of the following is a red dwarf?

M5 V
G2 V
O4 III

Question 11

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 12

Object A has mass 1 kg. Object B has mass 9 kg. According to E=mc², how much rest energy does object B have compared to A?

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

Question 13

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

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

Question 14

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

8
6
7

Question 15

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

A star.
A brown dwarf.
A planet.

Question 16

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

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

Question 17

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

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

Question 18

Which of the following is the longest?

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

Question 19

Which of the following stars is the least bright in the sky?

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

Question 20

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K9
K5
K3

Question 21

A photon has a wavelength of 700 nm. What color is it?

Green.
Red.
Blue.

Question 22

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

Stellar parallax
Cepheid variables
RR Lyrae variables

Question 23

I see a very bright star. This could mean:

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

Question 24

Which is the dominant process used in a star with 2.7 solar masses to generate light?

The CNO cycle.
Deuterium fusion.
The proton-proton chain.

Question 25

Which of the following is a bright giant?

K6 V
G2 IV
B5 II