The rather simple idea that, unless disturbed, younger sedimentary layers overlie older
layers, is referred to as the principle of
A) original horizontality.
B) uniformitarianism.
C) faunal succession.
D) superposition.
Answer:
Just after a big fish swallows a small fish, the momentum of the two-fish system is
A) greater after lunch than before.
B) the same before and after lunch.
C) somewhat less after lunch.
Answer:
You would expect to find the least number of fossils in rocks from the
A) Cenozoic era.
B) Mesozoic era.
C) Paleozoic era.
D) Precambrian era.
Answer:
The current through a 10-ohm resistor connected to a 120-V power supply is
A) 1 A.
B) 10 A.
C) 12 A.
D) 120 A.
E) none of the above
Answer:
You can add heat without raising temperature to
A) ice.
B) boiling water.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Answer:
Which of the following describes an aqueous solution?
A) a mixture of some compound dissolved in water
B) a mixture of polar molecules dissolved in a nonpolar solvent
C) a mixture of water dispersed in an ionic compound
D) a mixture of nonpolar molecules dissolved in a polar solvent
E) none of the above
Answer:
A fault in which the footwall has moved down relative to the hanging wall is called a
A) normal fault.
B) reverse fault.
C) transform fault.
D) horizontal fault.
Answer:
A block of wood and a block of copper will feel neither hot nor cold to your touch when
they each have
A) equal temperatures.
B) your temperature.
C) equal conductivities.
D) none of the above
Answer:
Materials generally become warmer when light is
A) absorbed by them.
B) reflected by them.
C) transmitted by them.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
Which would burn your skin the most?
A) 100 g of water at 100C
B) 100 g of steam at 100C
C) both equal
Answer:
Although perpetual motion is the natural order of things in the universe
A) it follows that machines can operate and do work by perpetual motion.
B) no perpetual-motion device that multiplies energy exists.
C) both of these are false statements
Answer:
Science greatly advanced when Galileo favored
A) philosophical discussions.
B) experiment.
C) non-mathematical thinking.
D) none of the above
Answer:
What is generally the range of a star’s hydrogen burning lifetime?
A) from a few million to 50 billion years
B) from a few hundred thousand to 20 billion years
C) from 20 billion to 100 billion years
D) from 2 billion to 15 billion years
Answer:
The planet Neptune was discovered by perturbations of
A) Uranus.
B) its moons.
C) Pluto.
D) none of the above
Answer:
A 340-Hz sound wave travels at 340 m/s in air with a wavelength of
A) 1 m.
B) 10 m.
C) 100 m.
D) 1000 m.
E) none of the above
Answer:
Lava can be
A) extruded from a volcano.
B) a cooled, solid rock.
C) intruded as a dike.
D) both A and B.
Answer:
Compared with the buoyant force of the atmosphere on a 1-kg helium-filled balloon,
the buoyant force of the atmosphere on a nearby 1-kg solid wood block is
A) considerably less.
B) considerably more.
C) the same.
Answer:
The boiling point of 1,4-butanediol is 230C. Would you expect this compound to be
soluble or insoluble in room-temperature water?
A) Since there are no polar areas on this molecule, it is insoluble in water at room
temperature.
B) A high boiling point means that the substance interacts with itself quite strongly.
Therefore this molecule is not soluble in water.
C) Since there are polar areas on this molecule, it is insoluble in water at room
temperature.
D) Water would be attracted to both ends of 1,4 butanediol, and it is infinitely soluble in
water.
Answer:
Water movement in a wave in the surf zone is characterized by
A) steepened wave height and longer wavelength.
B) steepened wave height and shorter wavelength.
C) a surfable wave crest and increased wavelength.
D) shallow water depth and a steepened long wavelength.
Answer:
Magnesium ions carry a 2+ charge, and chloride ions carry a 1- charge. What is the
chemical formula for the ionic compound magnesium chloride?
A) MgCl
B) Cl
C) Mg
D)
Answer:
Why do red blood cells, which contain an aqueous solution of dissolved ions and
minerals, burst when placed in fresh water?
A) The dissolved ions provide a pressure that eventually bursts open the cell.
B) More water molecules enter the cell than leave the cell.
C) The fresh water acts to dissolve the blood cell wall.
D) all of the above
Answer:
Why is it so easy for a magnesium atom to lose two electrons?
A) The nuclear charge of the magnesium atoms is relatively weak.
B) These two electrons are found relatively far from the nucleus.
C) These two electrons are well shielded from the nuclear charge.
D) There are lots of electron-electron repulsions that go on within the valence shell.
Answer:
The gravity lock of the Moon to Earth is similar to the action of a
A) tidal wave.
B) giant pendulum.
C) master key.
D) magnetic compass.
E) spinning top.
Answer:
What happens to the pH of soda water as it loses its carbonation?
A) It does not change since the carbonation has nothing to do with pH.
B) It decreases as it loses the carbon dioxide molecules which form the carbonic acid in
the soda.
C) It increases as it loses the carbon dioxide molecules which form the carbonic acid in
the soda.
D) It decreases as the soda becomes more concentrated through the loss of the carbon
dioxide gases.
Answer:
When you set a pot of tap water on the stove to boil, you’ll often see bubbles start to
form well before boiling temperature is ever reached. Explain this observation.
A) These are dissolved salts heating up and escaping from the water.
B) These bubbles are formed as the surrounding gases from the air dissolve into the
water as it is heated.
C) They are very minute pockets of water in the gaseous phase. When they get large
enough, the water will boil as this gas escapes.
D) These initial bubbles are the gases that were dissolved in the water coming out of
solution. The solubility of gases in water decreases with increasing temperature.
Answer:
How many nonbonding pairs of electrons are in the following molecule?
HH
A) 1 pair
B) 6 pairs
C) 0 pairs
D) 8 pairs
E) none of the above
Answer:
Which of the following picture might best describe a soap or detergent?
A) a
B) b
C) c
D) d
E) none of the above
Answer:
The theory of plate tectonics states that
A) the lithosphere is broken up into several plates that move about as a result of
convective motion in the asthenosphere.
B) earthquakes and volcanic activity result from convection motion in the lithosphere.
C) buoyant lithospheric plates float on top of the rigid asthenosphere.
D) the plates move in conveyor-belt fashion as new crust is generated at the continental
margins and destroyed at the mid-ocean ridges.
Answer:
According to Galileo, a rolled ball eventually comes to a stop because
A) of friction.
B) of inertia.
C) it seeks its natural state of rest.
D) all of the above
Answer:
The dominant force at convergent boundaries is
A) compression.
B) tension.
C) shearing.
D) similar to that in normal faulting.
Answer:
A car by itself is capable of a certain maximum acceleration. When it tows a car of the
same mass, its maximum acceleration is
A) half.
B) one-third.
C) one-fourth.
D) the same.
E) none of these
Answer:
A wave having a frequency of 1000 Hz vibrates at
A) less than 1000 cycles per second.
B) 1000 cycles per second.
C) more than 1000 cycles per second.
D) none of the above
Answer: