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 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 planet.
A star.
A brown dwarf.

Question 2

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 3

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

Blue.
Red.
Green.

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

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

0.
+1.
-1.

Question 6

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

8
6
7

Question 7

I see a very faint 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 small or the luminosity of the star is large.
Either the distance to the star is large or the luminosity of the star is small.

Question 8

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

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

Question 9

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

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

Question 10

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K9
K5
K3

Question 11

A star is located on the bottom right of the H-R diagram. This star has...

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

Question 12

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 13

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

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

Question 14

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

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

Question 15

Which of the following is a main-sequence star?

K6 V
B5 II
G2 IV

Question 16

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

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

Question 17

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 18

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?

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

Question 19

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!)

1.
2.
4.

Question 20

What kind of mass is defined as resistance of an object to acceleration?

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

Question 21

Which of the following is the longest?

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

Question 22

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

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

Question 23

Which of the following is a red dwarf?

M5 V
G2 V
O4 III

Question 24

A neutron is made of...

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

Question 25

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