Answers to Sample Quiz 1:

1. B (the farther galaxies are away from us, the faster they are moving away, consistent with an origin of the Universe at a singularity at the instant of the Big Bam when it was suddenly kicked up a notch with matter sent hurtling in all directions)

2. C

3. A (about 100 billion stars in each galaxy; although many of the stars probably have planets, "A" is the best answer because stars are typically much more massive than planets [an interesting complication is that astrophysicists hypothesize that the majority of matter in the Universe is "dark matter", neither stars nor planets])

4. C (a=F/m, so that when hit with the same force, an object with low mass [small m value] will accelerate much more rapidly than an object with a large mass [large m value])

5. A (the lower number is number of protons= atomic number; the upper number is mass number= number of protons + neutrons in the nucleus; He is chemical symbol of helium)

6. A (Earth is in the group of inner 4 planets; the outer planets are a bunch of low-density gasbags)

7. D

8. A (the planets of your solar system, even Jupiter, are puny compared to the tremendous mass of its central star)

9. B (a final grade of 50% will actually earn you a "D")

10. C

11. C (carbon and oxygen atoms were not formed in the Big Bang-therefore there must have been stars that formed and produced those elements from fusion processes at various stages of their lifetime(s) before their elements eventually ended up in a nebula that became our solar system)

12. D

13. E

14. B (the red shift of light to longer wavelengths [like the declining pitch of a train's horn as it moves away from you, but sound is acoustic waves, whereas light is electromagnetic radiation] is observed in the light from distant galaxies)

15. Although geologic events such as molten rock and hot gases concentrated silver atoms in Potosi 25 million years ago to form the ore deposit, those silver (Ag) atoms were not formed at that time. In fact, those silver atoms from Potosi, as well as all the Ag atoms
in your rings and necklaces, and in your teeth were not formed on Earth. Silver atoms on
Earth formed in exploding stars that predated our sun and solar system sometime prior to about 5 billion years ago, but probably long after the Big Bang. The unstable and exploding stars often produce a flux of neutrons that are captured by existing elements
up to Iron (Fe) in the period table, thereby building up all the elements in the periodic table beyond Fe.