Hurricanes are more likely to form near
A) warm waters where the air is humid.
B) warm waters where the air is dry.
C) cold bodies of water where the air is humid.
D) cold bodies of water where the air is dry.
Answer:
At what water depth is an ocean wave affected by the ocean floor?
A) It depends on the wave’s angle of approach to the shoreline.
B) The ocean floor has no impact on ocean waves.
C) At the depth equal to one-half the wave’s wavelength.
D) At the depth where transverse motion dominates.
Answer:
If the Sun collapsed to become a black hole, the Earth’s gravitational attraction to it
would be
A) more.
B) less.
C) no different.
Answer:
As your room gets messier day by day, entropy is
A) increasing.
B) decreasing.
C) hanging steady.
D) none of the above
Answer:
For a curved mirror, the law of reflection holds for
A) the mirror as with a plane mirror.
B) tiny segments that act as plane surfaces.
C) both convex and concave mirrors.
D) only convex mirrors.
Answer:
Compared to the density of water, the density of a fish is
A) greater.
B) less.
C) the same.
Answer:
How many grams of water can be produced from the combination of 25.0 grams of
hydrogen and 225 grams of oxygen?
A) 250 grams
B) 225 grams
C) 200 grams
D) 25 grams
Answer:
Compared with the period of satellites in orbit close to Earth, the period of satellites in
orbit far from Earth is
A) greater.
B) less.
C) the same.
D) not enough information
Answer:
When a current-carrying wire is bent into a loop, its magnetic field inside the loop
A) weakens.
B) becomes concentrated.
C) cancels.
D) none of the above
Answer:
Heat radiation relates mainly to
A) infrared radiant energy.
B) radiation not visible to humans.
C) waves you absorb when near a hot stove.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
Why does a star’s color corresponds to its temperature?
A) Higher temperature means more energetic light, which is seen as higher frequencies.
B) Because of the light shifts that take place when star light interacts with the Earth’s
atmosphere
C) Because the core temperature averages with the surface temperature to create an
overall color
D) Because the ultraviolet output of a star directly modifies the visible light spectrum
the star is emitting
Answer:
Whereas impulse involves the time that a force acts, work involves the
A) distance that a force acts.
B) time and distance that a force acts.
C) acceleration that a force produces.
Answer:
If the composition of the atmosphere changed so that less terrestrial radiation was
allowed to escape, the Earth would experience
A) higher average temperatures.
B) lower average temperatures.
C) greater atmospheric pressure and higher temperatures.
D) no change in pressure or temperature.
Answer:
When Galileo rolled a ball down an incline and up another incline, he found that the
ball rolled nearly to
A) its initial height.
B) halfway its original height.
C) three-quarters its original height.
D) higher than its original height.
Answer:
Why might the following nuclear reaction not be very good for energy production in a
fission reactor?
Fe → Si + Mg + 3 neutrons
A) The material only produces a few neutrons so the chain reaction will not be very
efficient.
B) The reactants are too small to obtain energy from the missing mass due to strong
nuclear force.
C) The products are not the right size to obtain much energy from the missing mass due
to the strong nuclear force.
D) The mass of the byproducts is too high and therefore the energy released will not be
high enough.
E) Interatomic attraction between the products will impede the separation of the atoms
from the unstable nuclei.
Answer:
An electron beam directed through a magnetic field
A) may be deflected.
B) may experience a force.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Answer:
A mixture of cyan and yellow inks on a printed page appears
A) orange.
B) yellow.
C) magenta.
D) blue.
E) green.
Answer:
Strontium, Sr (number 38), is especially dangerous to humans because it tends to
accumulate in calcium-dependent bone marrow tissues (calcium, Ca, number 20). This
fact relates to the organization of the periodic table in that strontium and calcium are
both
A) metals.
B) in group 2 of the periodic table.
C) made of relatively large atoms.
D) soluble in water.
Answer:
The isotope Cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, is a product of nuclear
power plants. How long will it take for this isotope to decay to about one-sixteenth its
original amount?
A) 480 years
B) 240 years
C) 120 years
D) 960 years
Answer:
When a metal ring with a gap in the shape of the letter C is heated, the gap becomes
A) wider.
B) narrower.
C) remains the same size.
Answer:
Clouds inhibit the outflow of terrestrial radiation. This acts to
A) insulate Earth’s surface temperature.
B) warm Earth’s surface temperature at night.
C) cool Earth’s surface temperature during the day.
D) insulate Earth’s surface temperature, keeping it warmer at night and cooler in the
day.
Answer:
The solar wind blows in a direction
A) away from the Sun.
B) toward the Sun.
C) coplanar to the plane of the solar system.
D) primarily along the Sun’s polar axis.
Answer:
Which of the following is fundamentally different from the others?
A) sound waves
B) X rays
C) gamma rays
D) light waves
E) radio waves
Answer:
No greenhouse effect occurs on Mercury because of no
A) daily spin.
B) atmosphere.
C) relatively cool regions.
D) plant life.
E) terrestrial radiation.
Answer:
There is a greatest movement of plasma in the
A) convection zone.
B) radiation zone.
C) core.
D) All of the above.
Answer:
Why are the melting temperatures of most ionic compounds far greater than the melting
temperatures of most covalent compounds?
A) Ionic bonds are so much stronger than the molecular attractions between covalently
bonded compounds.
B) Covalent bonds are not as strong as ionic bonds.
C) As a solid, salts have a very organized crystalline structure which takes a lot of
energy to break apart.
D) Most covalent compounds have at least one weak bond in their structure that is
easily broken when heat is added.
Answer:
After a uranium fuel rod reaches the end of its fuel cycle (typically 3 years) most of its
energy comes from the fissioning of plutonium because
A) fissionable Pu-239 is formed as the U-238 absorbs neutrons from the fissioning
U-235.
B) fissionable Pu-239 is formed as the U-235 absorbs neutrons from the fissioning
U-238.
C) fissionable Pu-239 is formed as the U-238 absorbs alpha particles from the
fissioning U-235.
D) fissionable Pu-239 is formed as the U-235 absorbs alpha particles from the
fissioning U-238.
Answer:
The diurnal rotation of the stars refers to the
A) apparent rotation of the celestial sphere due to the rotation of the Earth.
B) movement of the stars across the sky during daytime hours.
C) rate of spin of stars in their formation stage.
D) particular constellations that are visible in different times of the year.
Answer:
Glacial striations are caused by
A) rocks embedded in the ice.
B) glacial outwash.
C) terminal moraines.
D) melting ice.
Answer:
The evidence for present-day global warming include
A) extreme weatherheat waves and droughts.
B) melting of Arctic and Antarctic sea ice and continental ice fields and glaciers.
C) severe winter storms, and increased downpours and flooding.
D) all of the above.
Answer:
If the relative humidity is 50%, what happens when the temperature drops and the mass
of water in the air stays the same?
A) Relative humidity drops.
B) Relative humidity rises.
C) Relative humidity stays the same.
D) Outcome depends on the temperature of the air.
Answer: