Question 1

What do we mean by a primitive meteorite?

Accepted Answer

A)  a meteorite that is essentially unchanged since it first condensed and accreted in the solar nebula some 4.6 billion years ago
B)  a meteorite that was discovered by primitive people
C)  a type of meteorite that is usually made mostly of high-density metals
D)  a meteorite that fell to Earth at least 4 billion years ago A

Question 2

Among discovered meteorites,we have found some with all the following origins except

Accepted Answer

A)  being a fragment from the surface of Mars.
B)  being a fragment from the surface of the Moon.
C)  being a fragment from Comet Halley.
D)  being a fragment of a shattered asteroid.

Question 3

Pluto's gravity affects the orbit of Uranus,and this fact was used to discover Pluto.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Suppose unlike Chelyabinsk,the next major asteroid impact we experience is more devastating.Why might this be?

Accepted Answer

A)  The asteroid is larger in size.
B)  It has a more vertical trajectory,and is therefore less likely to break up in the atmosphere due to friction.
C)  It hit water,which will cause a world-wide tsunami.
D)  Both A and B

Question 5

A typical meteor is created by a particle about the size of a

Accepted Answer

A)  baseball.
B)  pea.
C)  car.
D)  basketball.

Question 6

What evidence do we have of geological activity on asteroids in the past?

Accepted Answer

Processed meteorites and large...

Question 7

A typical shooting star in a meteor shower is caused by a ________ entering Earth's atmosphere.

Accepted Answer

A)  boulder-size particle from an asteroid
B)  boulder-size particle from a comet
C)  pea-size particle from an asteroid
D)  pea-size particle from a comet
E)  microscopic particle of interstellar dust

Question 8

Which is closest to the average distance between asteroids in the asteroid belt?

Accepted Answer

A)  1 thousand km
B)  10 thousand km
C)  100 thousand km
D)  1 million km
E)  10 million km

Question 9

What is Charon?

Accepted Answer

A)  the largest known Kuiper belt comet
B)  the largest known asteroid
C)  the largest of Pluto's five moons
D)  a captured moon of Neptune

Question 10

Describe some ways in which a meteorite can be distinguished from a terrestrial rock.

Accepted Answer

Meteorites are usually covered with a da...

Question 11

How can we determine an asteroid's reflectivity?

Accepted Answer

A)  by determining its mass
B)  by comparing its infrared thermal emission to its visible-light reflection
C)  by seeing how dark or light it looks in telescopic images
D)  by determining how far from the Sun it is
E)  by determining its size

Question 12

Which statement is not thought to be true of all comets in our solar system?

Accepted Answer

A)  Comets always have tails.
B)  All comets are icy in composition.
C)  All comets orbit the Sun.
D)  All comets are leftover planetesimals that originally condensed beyond the frost line in the solar nebula.

Question 13

Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that an impact caused the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago?

Accepted Answer

A)  Fossilized dinosaur bones contain fragments of rock from the impact.
B)  Unusually large abundances of iridium and other rare metals are found in a layer of clay that dates to 65 million years ago.
C)  A large impact crater along the coast of Mexico dates to 65 million years ago.
D)  Grains of quartz formed under high pressure are found in a layer of clay that dates to 65 million years ago. A

Question 14

An icy leftover planetesimal orbiting the Sun is

Accepted Answer

A)  a comet.
B)  a meteor.
C)  an asteroid.
D)  a meteorite.
E)  possibly any of the above

Question 15

If the hypothesis tracing the extinction of the dinosaurs to an impact is correct,the dinosaurs died off largely because

Accepted Answer

A)  of injuries suffered from direct hits of pieces of the asteroid or comet.
B)  radiation from iridium in the asteroid caused the dinosaurs to die of cancer.
C)  of global climate effects initiated by dust and smoke that entered the atmosphere after the impact.
D)  the impact caused massive earthquakes worldwide.

Question 16

Which of the following statements about comets and asteroids is true?

Accepted Answer

A)  Only asteroids collide with Earth.
B)  Comets are balls of ice and dust.
C)  Most of the trillions of comets in our solar system have tails.
D)  All asteroids lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
E)  There are about 1 million known asteroids in the solar system.

Question 17

Gaps in the asteroid belt (often called Kirkwood gaps) are caused by

Accepted Answer

A)  tidal forces from the Sun.
B)  tidal forces from Jupiter.
C)  the competing gravitational tugs of Mars and Jupiter.
D)  orbital resonances with Jupiter.

Question 18

Most meteorites are

Accepted Answer

A)  carbon-rich and primitive.
B)  rocky and primitive.
C)  carbon-rich and processed.
D)  rocky and processed.
E)  iron-rich and processed. B

Question 19

What was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact?

Accepted Answer

A)  the 1994 impact of a chain of comet fragments into Jupiter
B)  the impact thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs
C)  the impact that created the Moon's largest crater
D)  the ninth impact witnessed by astronomers in modern times

Question 20

In the asteroid impact theory of the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago,the dinosaurs (and over half of all the other species on Earth at that time) died off largely because

Accepted Answer

A)  of injuries suffered from direct hits of pieces of the asteroid or comet.
B)  dust injected into the stratosphere from the impact absorbed visible light from the Sun,causing global temperatures to plummet.
C)  radiation from iridium in the asteroid caused the dinosaurs to die of cancer.
D)  the impact caused massive earthquakes and volcanic activity worldwide.
E)  dust settled on the leaves of plants,making them inedible,so the animals died of starvation.

Exam 12: Asteroids, Comets, and Dwarf Planets: Their Nature, Orbits, and Impacts

What do we mean by a primitive meteorite?

Correct AnswerverifiedA

Among discovered meteorites,we have found some with all the following origins except

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Pluto's gravity affects the orbit of Uranus,and this fact was used to discover Pluto.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Suppose unlike Chelyabinsk,the next major asteroid impact we experience is more devastating.Why might this be?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

A typical meteor is created by a particle about the size of a

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

What evidence do we have of geological activity on asteroids in the past?

Correct AnswerverifiedProcessed meteorites and large...View AnswerShow Answer

A typical shooting star in a meteor shower is caused by a ________ entering Earth's atmosphere.

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which is closest to the average distance between asteroids in the asteroid belt?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

What is Charon?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Describe some ways in which a meteorite can be distinguished from a terrestrial rock.

Correct AnswerverifiedMeteorites are usually covered with a da...View AnswerShow Answer

How can we determine an asteroid's reflectivity?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which statement is not thought to be true of all comets in our solar system?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that an impact caused the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago?

Correct AnswerverifiedA

An icy leftover planetesimal orbiting the Sun is

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

If the hypothesis tracing the extinction of the dinosaurs to an impact is correct,the dinosaurs died off largely because

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Which of the following statements about comets and asteroids is true?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Gaps in the asteroid belt (often called Kirkwood gaps) are caused by

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

Most meteorites are

Correct AnswerverifiedB

What was the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact?

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

In the asteroid impact theory of the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago,the dinosaurs (and over half of all the other species on Earth at that time) died off largely because

Correct AnswerverifiedShow Answer

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Processed meteorites and large...
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Meteorites are usually covered with a da...
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