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

Which of the following is a bright giant?

K6 V
G2 IV
B5 II

Question 2

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

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

Question 3

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

Question 4

Which of the following is a red dwarf?

O4 III
G2 V
M5 V

Question 5

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 6

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 7

I see a very faint star. This could mean:

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

Question 8

A star was measured to have a parallax of 0.2 arc seconds. How far away is the star?

6 parsecs.
4 parsecs.
5 parsecs.

Question 9

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

0.
-1.
+1.

Question 10

In an atom, the electrons are located...

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

Question 11

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 B is more luminous.
Star A is more luminous.

Question 12

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 13

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 14

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

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

Question 15

Which of the following is the shortest?

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

Question 16

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

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

Question 17

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 18

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

8
7
6

Question 19

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 20

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 21

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 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?

Cepheid variables
Stellar parallax
RR Lyrae variables

Question 23

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

Blue.
Green.
Red.

Question 24

Which of the following stars is the coolest?

K9
K5
K3

Question 25

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

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