Science (006-009)

A suborbital rocket such as an intercontinental ballistic missile or perhaps a passenger rocket from North America to Australia is most likely to leave the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of... (A) 4 miles per second. (B) 7 miles per second. (C) 10 miles per second.

(A) 4 miles per second. Yes. That would put it on an ellipse that drops below the surface of the Earth.

You are looking down on the Earth from a spacecraft hovering far above. After watching for a while, you notice that, from your perspective, it is rotating counterclockwise. The part of the Earth that is directly below you must be the Earth's... (A) North Pole. (B) Equator. (C) South Pole.

(A) North Pole. Yes. It is moving upward on the right side, downward on the left side.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? (A) Passenger pigeons are extinct. (B) Passenger pigeons are not extinct. (C) Passenger pigeons taste good. (D) Passenger pigeons taste terrible. (E) Passenger pigeons were pests

(A) Passenger pigeons are extinct. Yes. Just one live passenger pigeon will falsify the statement.

You would expect to see a waxing crescent Moon... (A) Setting in the West right after the Sun. (B) Rising in the East just before the Sun. (C) Setting in the East right after the Sun. (D) Rising in the West just before the Sun. (E) In the North at around midnight.

(A) Setting in the West right after the Sun. Yes. In the picture, the waxing crescent Moon is just to the left of the Sun and the Earth is carrying the sunset side of the Earth down and away from it.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? (A) The Minoans were the first civilization on Crete. (B) The Minoans were the best civilization on Crete. (C) The Minoans were not the first civilization on Crete. (D) The Minoans were not the best civilization on Crete. (E) The Minoans were a civilization on Crete.

(A) The Minoans were the first civilization on Crete. Yes. Just one pot that is from an earlier civilization on Crete will falsify the statement.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? (A) There are no green fish in Lake Nyak. (B) All of the fish in Lake Nyak are ugly. (C) There are green fish in Lake Nyak.

(A) There are no green fish in Lake Nyak. Yes. Finding just one green fish would falsify the statement.

The ancient Greeks were able to calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon by using a geometrical model of... (A) an eclipse of the Moon. (B) an eclipse of the Sun. (C) the quarter phases of the Moon.

(A) an eclipse of the Moon. Yes. They timed the Moon's passage through the Earth's shadow.

Aristotle said that a moving earthly or 'mundane' object with nothing pushing or pulling on it will always... (A) slow down and stop. (B) speed up. (C) keep moving at the same speed. (D) follow a circular path.

(A) slow down and stop. Yes. No force on the object means no speed. It stops.

Aristotle said that the amount of force on a moving earthly object determines its... (A) speed. (B) acceleration. (C) time in motion. (D) distance traveled.

(A) speed. Yes. That was the only property that the ancient Greeks used to characterize motion.

An artificial satellite such as the International Space Station stays up because... (A) the Earth curves out from under it as fast as it falls. (B) it is beyond the reach of Earth's gravity and is weightless. (C) its speed weakens the pull of gravity.

(A) the Earth curves out from under it as fast as it falls. Yes. Each second it falls 5m below a straight-line path and, at 5 miles per second, the Earth also drops below a straight-line path by 5m.

Suppose that you drop two objects from the same height at the same time. Both objects are heavy enough to be unaffected by air resistance. If one object is twice as heavy as the other, Aristotle would predict that... (A) the heavier object would hit the ground long before the lighter one. (B) the lighter object would hit the ground long before the heavier one. (C) both objects would hit the ground at the same time.

(A) the heavier object would hit the ground long before the lighter one. Yes. Aristotle thought speed was proportional to force, so the heavier one would move faster.

Suppose that you drop a wooden ball and an iron ball, both the exact same diameter, from the same height at the same time. Aristotle would predict that... (A) the iron ball would hit the ground long before the wooden ball. (B) both balls would hit the ground at exactly the same time. (C) the wooden ball would hit just slightly before the iron one.. (D) the iron ball would hit just slightly before the wooden one. (E) the wooden ball would hit first on a short drop while the iron ball would hit first on a long drop.

(A) the iron ball would hit the ground long before the wooden ball. Yes. The force of gravity on the iron ball is larger and Aristotle figured that a larger force would mean more speed.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? (A) There are fish in Lake Nyak. (B) All of the fish in Lake Nyak are green. (C) All of the fish in Lake Nyak are beautiful.

(B) All of the fish in Lake Nyak are green. Yes. Finding just one red (or brown or pink) fish would falsify the statement.

A unit of force is the... (A) meter. (B) Newton. (C) meter per second. (D) kilogram. (E) meter per second per second.

(B) Newton. Yes. The force it takes to give one kilogram of mass an acceleration of one meter per second per second.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? (A) There is intelligent life on other stars. (B) The Moon is made entirely of cheese. (C) Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist. (D) There is beauty in a sunset. (E) There is cheese on the Moon.

(B) The Moon is made entirely of cheese. Yes. All you need to falsify the statement is a single moon-rock that is not made of cheese.

From his observations of the phases of Venus, Galileo concluded that... (A) The Copernican Model is wrong. (B) The Ptolemaic Model is wrong. (C) Tycho Brahe's Model is wrong. (D) Venus has moons. (E) Venus is rotating.

(B) The Ptolemaic Model is wrong. Yes. It predicted that there would never be a full Venus and there was.

In comparison to Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion, Newton's theory of Universal Gravitation predicted... (A) exactly the same motions. (B) almost the same motions but with corrections. (C) a completely different set of motions. (D) the same motions interpreted differently.

(B) almost the same motions but with corrections. Yes. The corrections were too small for Tycho and Kepler to have noticed but they were important.

From the way that lunar eclipses happen, the Ancient Greeks were able to... (A) conclude that the Sun is farther from the Earth than the Moon. (B) calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon. (C) calculate the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

(B) calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon. Yes. They timed the Moon's passage through the Earth's shadow.

If you are looking down over the north pole of the Earth, you will see the Earth rotate... (A) clockwise. (B) counterclockwise. (C) upward. (D) downward.

(B) counterclockwise. Yes. A good thing to remember since almost everything in the solar system rotates that way.

Freely falling objects with different masses fall with the same acceleration because... (A) they have the same amount of inertia. (B) gravity exerts more force on the more massive object. (C) gravity acts with the same force on both objects. (D) gravity acts with less force on the more massive object. (E) there is no air resistance.

(B) gravity exerts more force on the more massive object. Yes. It needs more force to get the same acceleration.

According to Newton's Law of Gravity, the gravitational attraction of the Earth for other objects, such as the Moon, apples on trees and space shuttles in low earth orbit, (A) is the same no matter where those objects are. (B) is smaller for objects farther from the Earth but never vanishes entirely. (C) extends only as far as the Earth's atmosphere and vanishes for objects like an orbiting space shuttle. (D) is larger for objects farther from the Earth.

(B) is smaller for objects farther from the Earth but never vanishes entirely. Yes. It falls off as the square of the distance.

The planet Neptune was located because... (A) its orbit was not elliptical. (B) its gravity disturbed the orbit of Uranus. (C) it caused the Sun to wobble. (D) it caused Mars to deviate from Kepler's Laws. (E) it lost a satellite which became Pluto.

(B) its gravity disturbed the orbit of Uranus. Yes. Uranus was not moving as predicted unless there was a missing planet.

From the way that solar eclipses happen, the ancient Greeks concluded that... (A) the Sun is closer to the Earth and larger than than the Moon. (B) the Sun is farther from the Earth and larger than the Moon. (C) the Sun is farther from the Earth and smaller than the Moon. (D) the Sun is closer to the Earth and smaller than than the Moon.

(B) the Sun is farther from the Earth and larger than the Moon. Yes. The Moon not only casts a shadow on the Earth, but just exactly covers the Sun.

According to Aristotle, a thrown spear keeps moving after it has left the spear thrower's hand because... (A) the force of the hand keeps acting on the spear. (B) the force of the air disturbed by the spear keeps it in motion. (C) the force of friction with the air is not enough to stop the spear. (D) the force of inertia keeps the spear going.

(B) the force of the air disturbed by the spear keeps it in motion. Yes. Aristotle was kind of reaching here, but it was the best he could do.

The ancient Greeks were able to estimate the distance from the Earth to the Sun by using... (A) the observed sizes of the Sun and Moon in the sky. (B) the quarter phases of the Moon. (C) lunar eclipses. (D) solar eclipses.

(B) the quarter phases of the Moon. Yes. The angle between the Sun and the quarter Moon gives the Earth-Sun distance in terms of the Earth-Moon distance.

The fact that the International Space Station is above most of the Earth's atmosphere is important because it means that... (A) there is no gravity to pull the space station down. (B) there is no air friction to slow the space station down. (C) the space station can skim along the top of the atmosphere.

(B) there is no air friction to slow the space station down. Yes. At 5 miles per second, air friction within the atmosphere would slow the station down very quickly.

Einstein's Theory of Relativity has passed every observational test for over 100 years. Among other things, it predicts that no material object can go faster than the speed of light. Fred Zveistein (twice as smart as Einstein) has a new theory that predicts that some material objects can go faster than light. Fred presents his new theory at a scientific meeting (in 2009). These meetings have several talks going on at the same time, so people normally move from one room to another to hear the talks they are interested in. When Fred gets up to talk, everyone leaves the room to go to other talks. The reason for this behavior is that... (A) the other scientists are angry with Fred for challenging the established theory. (B) there is no interest in replacing a theory that has passed every observational test. (C) there is no interest in seeing the established theory proven wrong.

(B) there is no interest in replacing a theory that has passed every observational test. Yes. We do not replace things that are working.

When Newton calculated the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of Earth's Moon, he found that the direction was... (A) in the direction of the Moon's motion. (B) toward the Earth. (C) away from the Earth. (D) between the direction of the Moon's motion and the direction from the Moon to the Earth. (E) opposite to the direction of the Moon's motion.

(B) toward the Earth. Yes. Just as a Keplerian planet orbiting the Sun accelerates toward the Sun.

When Newton calculated the magnitude and direction of the acceleration for a planet that was following Kepler's Laws, he found that the direction of the acceleration was... (A) in the direction of the planets motion. (B) toward the Sun. (C) away from the Sun. (D) between the direction of the planets motion and the direction from the planet to the Sun. (E) opposite to the direction of the planets motion.

(B) toward the Sun. Yes. That takes the changing direction of the planet's motion into account.

Which of the following computer programs is the most likely to be considered a scientific model: (A) An animated screen-saver that shows waves crashing on the beach. (B) A simulation game in which people can spend a day at the beach. (C) A simulation,using currently accepted physical laws, of waves crashing on the beach.

(C) A simulation,using currently accepted physical laws, of waves crashing on the beach. Yes. Since it is based on well-tested laws, it has a chance of predicting the results of actual observations. It might also make a really good screen saver or be part of a realistic computer game.

The International Space Station (ISS) is in a roughly circular orbit near the surface of the Earth, moving at around 5 miles per second. Suppose that it is desired to raise it to a new circular orbit, farther from the surface by having the space shuttle give it one or more short boosts. Which of the following schemes will work? (A) Increase its speed to 6 miles per second to put it on a rising path. (B) Increase its speed to 8 miles per second to put it on a rising path. (C) Increase its speed to 6 miles per second and then give it another speed boost when its distance from the Earth stops increasing. (D) Push it directly upward, away from the Earth. (E) Decrease its speed to 4.9 miles per second and then give it a speed boost when its distance from the Earth stops decreasing.

(C) Increase its speed to 6 miles per second and then give it another speed boost when its distance from the Earth stops increasing. Yes. That will complete the transfer to a higher circular orbit.

The Ptolemaic System continued to be accepted long after such people as Aristarchus and Copernicus had proposed alternatives. All of the following reasons why it lasted so long are at least partly true. Which reason is the one that would be stressed by the philosophy of science that we have been discussing? (A) Church authorities supported it and did not want it replaced. (B) It was easier to understand and people do not like to learn new things. (C) It correctly predicted what was observed and thus did not need to be replaced.

(C) It correctly predicted what was observed and thus did not need to be replaced. Yes. If a theory is still working, still predicting the results of observation, you stay with it.

When Newton calculated the magnitude of the acceleration of Earth's Moon, and compared it to the acceleration of falling objects on the surface of the Earth, he found that... (A) the accelerations were the same. (B) The Moon's acceleration was larger. (C) The Moon's acceleration was smaller.

(C) The Moon's acceleration was smaller. Yes. Acceleration toward the Earth falls off with distance.

Einstein's Theory of Relativity has passed every observational test for over 100 years. Among other things, it predicts that no material object can go faster than the speed of light. Fred Zveistein (twice as smart as Einstein) has a new theory that predicts that some material objects can go faster than light. Fred presents his new theory at a scientific meeting (in 2009). Which of the following would be the most likely reaction of the scientists at the meeting to this new development? (A) There is great interest because the new theory proves that Relativity is wrong, so lots of scientists come to Fred's talk to congratulate him. (B) There is great hostility because the new theory challenges the established theory, so lots of scientists come to Fred's talk to debate the issue. (C) There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every observational test. Nobody at all comes to Fred's talk.

(C) There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every observational test. Nobody at all comes to Fred's talk. Yes. That would be the most likely outcome.

Galileo's approach to science is best described as based on... (A) a combination of mathematics and logic. (B) passive observation of everyday events. (C) active construction of simplified experiments. (D) appeal to authority.

(C) active construction of simplified experiments. Yes. That was the new process that Galileo introduced.

Once its rockets have ceased firing, an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile will follow a path that is best described as... (A) a parabola. (B) a straight line. (C) an ellipse with the center of the Earth at one focus. (D) a circle around the center of the Earth. (E) a circle around a point just below the surface of the Earth.

(C) an ellipse with the center of the Earth at one focus. Yes. It follows Kepler's Laws for orbits around the Earth instead of the Sun.

Kepler's Laws... (A) have never been explained. (B) are explained by a force in the direction of each planet's motion. (C) are explained by a force that attracts each planet to the Sun. (D) are explained by a force that repels each planet from the Sun. (E) are explained by the action of magnetic fields on each planet.

(C) are explained by a force that attracts each planet to the Sun. Yes. That is what Newton found.

Suppose that you drop two objects from the same height at the same time. Both objects are heavy enough to be unaffected by air resistance. If one object is twice as heavy as the other, Galileo predicted that... (A) the heavier object would hit the ground long before the lighter one. (B) the lighter object would hit the ground long before the heavier one. (C) both objects would hit the ground at the same time.

(C) both objects would hit the ground at the same time. Yes. Galileo proposed that all objects fall the same way, regardless of weight so long as air friction is small enough to be ignored.

Galileo's approach to understanding moving objects was to... (A) rely on pure logic and debate to arrive at the truth. (B) observe everyday objects such as spears and horses. (C) build things that he could measure. (D) make up imaginary situations that he could understand.

(C) build things that he could measure. Yes. Galileo stressed the idea of building experiments that simplified things enough to measure.

The force of gravity explains... (A) how planets move but not how objects fall on Earth. (B) how objects fall on Earth but not how planets move. (C) how the tides work but not how lightning works. (D) how objects fall on Earth but not how the tides work. (E) how the Sun shines but not how planets move.

(C) how the tides work but not how lightning works. Yes. The tides are due to gravity but lightning involves weather and electricity.

When Newton calculated the magnitude and direction of the acceleration for a planet that was following Kepler's Laws, he found that the magnitude of the acceleration was... (A) a constant. (B) inversely proportional to the planet's distance from the Sun. (C) inversely proportional to the square of the planet's distance from the Sun. (D) proportional to the planet's distance from the Sun. (E) proportional to the square of the planet's distance from the Sun.

(C) inversely proportional to the square of the planet's distance from the Sun. Yes. That is what he found.

The Ptolemaic System was replaced when... (A) Astronomers realized that Aristarchus had been right when he said it was unreasonable for the giant Sun to orbit the tiny Earth. (B) Copernicus produced a system with the Sun at the center. (C) it came into conflict with observations.

(C) it came into conflict with reproducible observations. Yes. That is the only thing that falsifies or invalidates a scientific model.

Galileo said that a moving object with nothing pushing or pulling on it will always... (A) slow down and stop. (B) speed up. (C) keep moving at the same speed. (D) follow a circular path.

(C) keep moving at the same speed. Yes. Remember that nothing pushing or pulling on it includes the force of friction.

Aristarchus measured the angle between the Sun and the Moon when exactly half of the Moon was illuminated. He found this angle to be... (A) greater than 90 degrees. (B) exactly 90 degrees. (C) less than 90 degrees by an amount too small for him to measure. (D) less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure.

(C) less than 90 degrees by an amount too small for him to measure. Yes. His estimate of 87 degrees was more of an estimate of his error than an actual measurement of the difference from 90 degrees.

Compared to a sidereal month, the time from one full Moon to the next is... (A) longer by four minutes. (B) shorter by four minutes. (C) longer by 2.5 days. (D) shorter by 2.5 days. (E) exactly the same.

(C) longer by 2.5 days. Yes. After a sidereal month, the Moon needs a few more days to line up with the Sun since the Earth has moved around the sun during the month.

The idea that science only deals with statements that are falsifiable, subject to possible disproof by observation, suggests that...

(C) science produces revisable facts. Yes. Subject to revision when they come into conflict with reproducible observations.

When Galileo dropped a wooden ball and a heavier iron ball at the same time, he found that... (A) the iron ball always hit long before the wooden one. (B) the wooden ball always hit long before the iron one. (C) sometimes the wooden ball hit first, sometimes the iron one hit first. (D) both balls always hit at exactly the same time.

(C) sometimes the wooden ball hit first, sometimes the iron one hit first. Yes. That is what Galileo reported finding. The wood ball would hit slightly ahead of the iron ball on a short drop and the iron ball would win on a long drop.

The idea of a scientific fact presents difficulties for the falsificationist philosophy that we have been discussing because that philosophy insists that every scientific statement is... (A) just a guess. (B) infallible. (C) subject to change.

(C) subject to change. Yes. There has to be at least the possibility of finding that the statement is wrong.

In Newton's Theory, (A) the Earth moves around the Moon which, in turn, goes around the Sun. (B) the Moon moves around the Earth which, in turn goes around the Sun. (C) the Earth and Moon move around a common point which, in turn, goes around the Sun. (D) the Earth and Sun move around a common point, which, in turn, goes around the Moon.

(C) the Earth and Moon move around a common point which, in turn, goes around the Sun. Yes. That is the best answer here. However, it is still not exactly right since the Earth-Moon system and the Sun actually go around a common point.

In Newton's Theory of planetary motion, (A) the Earth moves around the unmoving Sun. (B) the Sun moves around the unmoving Earth. (C) the Sun and Earth move around each other. (D) the Sun and Earth do not really move at all.

(C) the Sun and Earth move around each other. Yes. That was a result of the Law of Action and Reaction.

By measuring the angle between the Sun and the Moon when the Moon was in its first or third quarter, the ancient Greeks were able to calculate... (A) the size of the Moon. (B) the distance from the Earth to the Moon. (C) the distance from the Earth to the Sun.

(C) the distance from the Earth to the Sun. Yes. The measurement was crude, but they correctly figured out that the Sun is much farther away than the Moon.

According to Galileo, a thrown spear keeps moving after it has left the spear thrower's hand because... (A) the force of the hand keeps acting on the spear. (B) the force of the air disturbed by the spear keeps it in motion. (C) the force of friction with the air is not enough to stop the spear. (D) the force of inertia keeps the spear going.

(C) the force of friction with the air is not enough to stop the spear. Yes. Galileo figured that, in the absence of the friction force, things would just keep moving.

Suppose that an object with a mass of one kilogram and an object with a mass of two kilograms are both in free fall near the Earth's surface. As compared to the one kilogram object, the two kilogram object accelerates... (A) more because gravity pulls on it more strongly. (B) less because it has more inertia. (C) the same because gravity pulls on it more strongly and it has more inertia. (D) more because gravity pulls on it more strongly and it has less inertia. (E) less because gravity pulls on it less strongly and it has more inertia.

(C) the same because gravity pulls on it more strongly and it has more inertia. Yes. More mass means more gravitational force and it also means more inertia.

The purpose of a scientific model is... (A) to be attractive and elegant. (B) to be fun to play with. (C) to predict the results of observations on real systems.

(C) to predict the results of observations on real systems. Yes. They are useful only so long as they predict what is observed.

In the picture that we used in class, with the Sun above the top of the picture and the Earth shown with its North Pole facing you, the part of the Earth that is experiencing sunset would be... (A) below the North Pole in the picture. (B) above the North Pole in the picture. (C) to the left of the North Pole in the picture. (D) to the right of the North Pole in the picture.

(C) to the left of the North Pole in the picture. Yes. There you see the Earth moving downward, away from the Sun.

Newton's explanation of Kepler's Laws relied upon a force that... (A) acts only on planets. (B) acts only on heavenly bodies. (C) acts on planets but not on comets.. (D) acts on all objects. (E) acts only on inorganic matter.

(D) acts on all objects. Yes. Everything attracts everything else. Comets obey Kepler's Laws too.

When Galileo dropped a wooden ball and a heavier iron ball at the same time, he was expecting that.... (A) the iron ball would always hit long before the wooden one. (B) the wooden ball would always hit long before the iron one. (C) sometimes the wooden ball would hit first, sometimes the iron one would hit first. (D) both balls would always hit at exactly the same time.

(D) both balls would always hit at exactly the same time. Yes. That is what his earlier experiments with balls rolling down inclined planes led him to expect.

The International Space Station (ISS) is in a roughly circular orbit near the surface of the Earth, moving at around 5 miles per second. Suppose the Space Shuttle pushes it and quickly increases its speed to 6 miles per second. The ISS will then (A) coast up to a higher circular orbit. (B) escape from the Earth. (C) follow an ellipse that descends and then rises again. (D) follow an ellipse that rises and then descends again.

(D) follow an ellipse that rises and then descends again. Yes. It is going too fast to stay in a circular orbit, so it switches to a rising ellipse.

A unit of mass is the... (A) meter. (B) Newton. (C) meter per second. (D) kilogram. (E) meter per second per second.

(D) kilogram. Yes. Stored in a vault in Paris.

Aristarchus measured the angle between the Sun and the Moon when exactly half of the Moon was illuminated. If the Sun were actually just two or three times as far away as the Moon, he would have found that angle to be... (A) greater than 90 degrees. (B) exactly 90 degrees. (C) less than 90 degrees by an amount too small for him to measure. (D) less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure.

(D) less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure. Yes. A close Sun would have made a much larger difference from 90 degrees, 30 degrees for the Sun twice as far as the Moon.

Galileo is generally aknowledged to be the first to... (A) design a telescope. (B) build a telescope. (C) observe distant objects with a telescope. (D) observe the heavens with a telescope.

(D) observe the heavens with a telescope. Yes. That is partly because Galileo was the first to make telescopes powerful enough to be useful for looking at heavenly objects.

For the ancient Greeks, the most basic of several clues that the Sun is farther from the Earth than the Moon came from... (A) the observed sizes of the Sun and Moon in the sky. (B) the quarter phases of the Moon. (C) lunar eclipses. (D) solar eclipses.

(D) solar eclipses. Yes. There, you can see the Moon get between the Earth and the Sun. That is about as basic a clue as could be imagined.

In the ancient Greek theory of gravity, everything was attracted to the center of the universe. In Newton's theory of gravity, everything was attracted... (A) only to the Sun. (B) only to the center of the Earth. (C) only to massive heavenly objects such as the Sun, Moon, planets, and the Earth. (D) to every other object in the universe.

(D) to every other object in the universe. Yes. The attraction is proportional to the mass, so small mass objects do not attract each other much, but the attraction is always there.

In the picture that we used in class, with the Sun above the top of the picture and the Earth shown with its North Pole facing you, the part of the Earth that is experiencing sunrise would be... (A) below the North Pole in the picture. (B) above the North Pole in the picture. (C) to the left of the North Pole in the picture. (D) to the right of the North Pole in the picture.

(D) to the right of the North Pole in the picture. Yes. There the Earth is moving upward, toward the Sun.

The first major failure of the Ptolemaic Theory to predict the results of observations was... (A) the precise observations of Tycho Brahe. (B) the retrograde motion of the planets. (C) the Moons of Jupiter. (D) the mountains of the Moon. (E) the phases of Venus.

(E) the phases of Venus. Yes. The Ptolemaic System predicted that there would never be a full Venus and there was.

How long is a sidereal month?

27 days

How long is a synodic month?

29.5 days

You see a waning quarter Moon high in the night sky. What time is it?

5:00 am

At the surface of the Earth what is the acceleration measurement?

9.8 m/s^2

Galileo used what to measure acceleration?

A pendulum

What is the rate of change of velocity where velocity is the combination of speed and direction of motion?

Acceleratin

The rate of increase of the speed is known as?

Acceleration

What type of orbit does a spacecraft that moves horizontally at more than 5 miles per second but less than 7 miles per second follow?

An ellipse (it also takes it farther away from orbit)

What type of path does an object moving near the Earth's surface at less than five miles per second follow? What type of flight is this?

An ellipse; sub-orbital flight

Ancient Greek ideas about motion are usually attributed to who?

Aristotle

What is the device called that has moving parts that correspond to the celestial equator, the Sun, and the Moon?

Armillary sphere

What is a way of calculating the magnitude and direction of acceleration of a planet that was following Kepler's Laws known as?

Calculus

What type of path does a spacecraft moving horizontally at 5 miles per second near Earth's surface follow?

Circle

Which model had Mercury and Venus moving around the Sun and predicted that they should show all phases?

Copernican model

Which side of the moon is lit during waxing phases?

East

What is the velocity of approximately 7 miles per second called?

Escape velocity

A scientific statement is one that could possibly be proven wrong shows that it is what?

Falsifiable

Which phase of the moon can be seen all night?

Full Moon

Who did Newton get the idea that it was acceleration and not speed that responds to outside forces from?

Galileo

Who produced a 20x telescope?

Galileo

Where did Newton get his First Law of Motion from?

Galileo's Law of Inertia

Who tested the Ptolemaic model and Copernican model using a telescope? Which one proved to be true?

Galileo; Copernican model

Who applied for a patent in the Netherlands in 1608 for the telescope but was denied?

Hans Lipperhey

When would the acceleration of an object not be zero?

If there was a force acting on the object

What will happen if a spacecraft acquires a velocity greater than 7 miles per second near Earth's surface? What type of path does it follow?

It will never return to Earth; hyperbola

Who developed the idea of falsification?

Karl Popper

Newton's Theory of Gravity corrected which laws?

Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion (action and reaction -> the sun wobbles; planets are attracted to each other as well as the Sun)

"In the absence of outside forces, an object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will continue at constant speed in a straight line" is known as which law? Who created it?

Law of Inertia; Galileo

The oceans directly opposite the Moon are attracted more or less strongly than the Earth as a whole?

Less (They are farther away)

Which two planets moved along epicycles centered on a line that joined the Sun and the Earth in the Ptolemaic model?

Mercury and Venus

The Greeks used lunar eclipse to discover what?

Moon's size (Earth was four times the size of the moon), and the distance from the Earth to the Moon

The Law of Force and Mass says that more massive objects need more or less force to accelerate at a given rate?

More

The oceans directly under the Moon are more or less attracted to the Moon than the Earth as a whole?

More (They are closer to the moon)

What is a force that causes a one kilogram mass to accelerate at one meter per second per second is called a what?

Newton

Who developed the following law: If two independent forces F1 and F2 act on an object, the total force on the object is the sum F1+F2. If two objects with masses m1 and m2 are connected so that they move as a unit, they form an object of mass m1+m2?

Newton

Who invented calculus?

Newton

Which law stated that when the total force on an object is zero, its acceleration is also zero?

Newton's First Law of Motion

F= G(mM/D^2) is known as what?

Newton's Gravitational Constant

Which law states that if a total force F on an object produces an amount of acceleration a, then these quantities are related by the equation F=ma?

Newton's Second Law of Motion

Which law states if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B exerts an equal and opposite force on A?

Newton's Third Law of Motion

Statements must be what to belong in science?

Reproducible observations

If a statement is not falsifiable then it is usually a what?

Speculation

The Greeks characterized motion only by its what?

Speed

What is a month of lunar phases called?

Synodic month

Which model predicted there should never be a full Mercury or full Venus?

The Ptolemaic model

The changing phases of the Moon are caused by what?

The motion of the Moon around the Earth

Newton discovered that when a body was rotating around another body, the acceleration was towards what?

The primary body

What occurs due to Moon's gravity attracting different parts of the Earth by different amounts?

Tides

Due to Newton's Law of Action and Reaction, orbiting objects accelerate away or towards each other?

Towards

Which idea states that objects in free-fall (acted upon only by gravity) accelerate downward at a rate that is the same for all objects?

Universality of Free Fall

Which side of the moon is lit during waning phases?

West

The Law of Inertia simplifies that in the absence of outside forces on an object, the acceleration of the object is what amount?

Zero

You see a waxing Gibbous Moon directly south. What time might it be?

about 10 pm

The quarter Moon phase was used to find which measurements? And by who?

distance from the sun to moon and sun to earth; sun's size; Aristarchus

What was one strong object to Karl Popper's falsificationist philosophy?

it implied that there was no such thing as a scientific fact

In the equation F=ma, m depends on what?

only on the object (not F or a)

Is the relationship between force and acceleration proportional or not proportional?

proportional

Galileo did what to understand motion?

rolled things down inclined planes

The region in which a total eclipse is seen is what?

the Umbra of the Moon's shadow (no light from the Sun can reach)