Phi quiz
The present age of the Sun is about
5 billion years
All the radiation we normally receive annually from natural sources is a fraction of 1 rem. Lethal doses of radiation begin at
500 Rems
Sedimentary rocks cover what percentage of the continental crust?
75%
Technology Is
A tool of science
The solar wind
All of the above
Heat can be transferred by
All the above
Which of these is not a scientific hypothesis?
An electron's charge is one of nature's secrets.
Which of these is actually a high-speed electron
Beta.
Coal is a sedimentary rock. What is the source of its sediments?
Coal is a sedimentary rock. What is the source of its sediments?
When air rapidly expands, it generally
Cools
According to Aristotle and his followers over centuries, Earth was at the center of the universe. The first European to effectively challenge that notion was
Copernicus.
Which of these cannot be separated by electrical or magnetic means?
Gamma
Which of these is the most penetrating in common materials?
Gamma
Matter does not contain
Heat
As a nebula shrinks under the influence of gravity, its rate of spin
Increases
Which of these electromagnetic waves has the lowest frequency?
Infrared
One astronomical unit (AU) is defined to be the distance from the Sun to
Larger
Which of these remain constant over time
Neither of the above
Which of these radioactive elements is gaseous at everyday temperatures?
Radon
Which planet has the most pronounced system of planetary rings?
Saturn
The most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks is that they
The most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks is that they
What most strongly influences a mineral's hardness?
The strength of a mineral's chemical bonds
The equation that most underlies energy release in nuclear events is
a) E = mc2.
A truly educated person is knowledgeable about
a) all of the above.
The thermal expansion of steel is about the same as that of
a) concrete.
Of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, two are high-speed particles, and the one that isn't is
a) gamma.
When an element ejects a beta particle, the atomic number of that element
a) increases by 1.
Compared with the mass of a uranium atom that undergoes fission, the combined masses of the products after fission are
a) less.
Most of the radiation in Earth's biosphere
a) occurs as natural background radiation.
Which of these fields make predictions?
a)All of the above.
Which of these is recognized by the scientific community as a pseudoscience?
a)All of the above.
what is the silicate tetrahedron?
a)All of these.
Which of these is evidence for the Impact Hypothesis?
a)An iridium layer dating to the Cretaceous
In both fission and fusion, mass
a)Both B and C are possible.
Which of the following is NOT associated with the formation of sedimentary rock?
a)Crystallization.
How is erosion different from weathering
a)Erosion is the process of removing sediment from weathered rock.
What is the most abundant mineral in Earth's crust?
a)Feldspar.
Which of the following is NOT part of the definition of a mineral?
a)It has a definite color.
Why is glass is NOT classified as a mineral?
a)It has an amorphous, rather than crystalline molecular structure.
Which of the following is NOT considered igneous intrusive?
a)Lava.
Which of the following pairs of elements makes up over 75% of the Earth's crust?
a)Oxygen and silicon.
What produces mineral gold?
a)Precipitation from hydrothermal solutions.
Which of the following best describes the difference between rocks and chemical compounds?
a)Rocks are solid, physical mixtures.
Which of these professions discredits their practitioners who cheat even once?
a)Science.
Earth's crust is mostly comprised of minerals from which class?
a)Silicates.
Which sequence of metamorphic rocks is listed in the order of increasing metamorphism?
a)Slate, schist, gneiss, migmatite.
Metamorphic foliation is
a)a layered appearance caused by minerals that grew in a preferred orientation.
A person who says "that's only a theory" likely doesn't know that a scientific theory is
a)a vast synthesis of well-tested hypotheses and facts.
After failing more than 6000 times before perfecting the first electric lightbulb, Thomas Edison stated that his trials were not failures, because he successfully discovered 6000 ways that don't work. Edison's success is nicely illustrated by
a)all of the above.
In conducting science experiments, more important than a scientific-method recipe is scientific
a)all of the above.
Most teams of scientists that work in Antarctica are comprised of
a)all of the above.
The strong force acts between
a)all of the above.
Absolute zero corresponds to a temperature of
a)both of the above.
Thermal energy is normally measured in units of
a)both of the above.
The difference between cleavage and crystal form is
a)cleavage represents how a mineral breaks, and crystal form represents how a mineral grows.
Aluminum has a specific heat capacity more than twice that of copper. If equal amounts of heat are given to equal masses of aluminum and copper, the metal that more rapidly increases in temperature is
a)copper.
When a chunk of material is broken into smaller pieces, the overall surface area increases. When small pieces are assembled into a larger piece, the combined surface area
a)decreases.
Energy radiated by the Sun has its origin in
a)decreasing mass.
Chain reactions in a fission reaction are caused by
a)ejected neutrons.
Any fission or fusion reaction that results in iron, is always
a)energy-releasing (exothermic).
The mineral that crystallizes first from a cooling magma is the one with the
a)highest melting point.
The element with the least mass per nucleon in an atomic nucleus is
a)iron.
Science and religion can often clash. They don't clash, however, when each addresses
a)its own domain.
Hot sand cools off faster at night than plants and vegetation. This indicates the specific heat capacity for sand is
a)less than that of plants.
At eleven-year cycles, the Sun undergoes changes in
a)magnetic field reversal.
All of the following occur during metamorphism EXCEPT
a)melting.
Coarse-grained igneous rocks occur because
a)minerals cooled and grew over long periods of time.
Compared with the age of the Sun, the age of the universe is
a)more than double.
The classic scientific method, espoused by Galileo and Francis Bacon is
a)one of many ways in which scientific discoveries are made.
A nucleon has a greater mass when it is
a)outside a nucleus.
Although physics may be the most difficult science course taught in some schools, when the fields of the sciences are compared, the least complex is
a)physics.
A firewalker walking barefoot on hot wooden coals depends on wood's
a)poor conduction.
When thorium-234 emits a beta particle, thorium transforms to
a)protactinium-234.
When an element ejects an alpha particle, the mass number of the resulting element
a)reduces by 4.
A most important condition for the validity of a scientific experiment is that its results be
a)reproducible by others.
A mineral's hardness describes
a)resistance to scratching.
In the nucleus of an atom, the strong force is a relatively
a)short-range force.
The rock cycle describes
a)the natural recycling of rock from one rock type to another.
To tell whether a claim is one of science or of pseudoscience, look to see if
a)there is a test for wrongness.
When uranium-238 emits an alpha particle, uranium transforms to
a)thorium-234.
The kind of molecular motion having most to do with temperature is
a)translational motion.
Rock breaks down to form sediment via
a)weathering.
A hypothesis is scientific if it has a test for proving it
a)wrong.
The difference between cleavage and fracture is
a. cleavage occurs at planes of weakness, and fractures are random breaks
To say that water has a high specific heat capacity is to say that water
all of the above
The high specific heat capacity of water has great importance in
all of the above.
The radioactive decay of nature's elements occurs in the
all of the above.
Science is a collective body of knowledge that goes back to
before the 7th century BC.
When food is exposed to gamma radiation, the food
doesn't become radioactive at all
One astronomical unit (AU) is defined to be the distance from the Sun to
earth
Thermal conduction has much to do with
electrons.
Science greatly advanced when Galileo favored
experiment over philosophical discussions.
Thermal convection has much to do with
fluids
Rotation of the Sun is
greater at the equator than in regions closer to the poles.
When heat is added to a system, the temperature of the system
may or may not rise
The phase of matter composing the Sun is
plasma.
In either a fission event or a fusion event, the quantity that remains unchanged is
the number of nucleons
Heat is simply another word for
thermal energy that flows from hot to cold
The energy source for the Sun or other stars is
thermonuclear fusion.
