Use these questions to test your understanding. If you get them wrong, you will be linked back to the relevant part of the notes.
Be sure you study them thoroughly (don't just get a quick fix for your mistake) so your overall understanding is improved.
1. Pluto's atmosphere
a. does not exist b. freezes on Pluto's surface when it is far from the sun
c. is made of oxygen d. is like that of Venus e. escaped long ago
2. A key ingredient in discovering Pluto was
a. fly-by mission b. comparison of photographs taken at different times
c. use of modern electronic detectors d. Kepler's Third Law e. using a computer
3. We have determined the surface compositions of asteroids by
a. finding pieces of them on the ground b. studying spectra of sunlight reflected from them
c. monitoring their motions d. seeing what happens when they collide e. both a. and b.
4. Comets originate
a. from cloud surrounding the Solar System b. from the asteroid belt
c. from Jupiter d. from the sun e. from icy moons
5. Pluto is likely one of the largest members of
a. the Oort cloud b. the asteroid belt c.the meteor belt d. the Kuiper belt e. the comet zone
6. A meteor shower results when
a. the earth passes through the asteroid belt b. the earth passes through the Kuiper belt
c. the earth passes through the remnants of a comet d. the sun erupts e. two asteroids collide
7. Comets are comprised mainly of
a. ice b. rocks c. gas d. hydrogen e. materials like earth's crust
8. If all the asteroids in the asteroid belt were assembled into a planet, it would be
a. 1 Earth mass. b. less than 1/1,000 of Earth's mass c. 10 Earth masses d. 50% of Earth's mass
9. No full-sized planet formed between Mars and Jupiter because
b. the material available had the wrong mix of elements to make a planet
c. forming planets is pretty chancy and it just didn't happen
d. Jupiter's gravity kept stirring things up so no large object was safe from big collisions
e. it would have contradicted Bode's Law
10 The relative lack of craters on the surface of the earth is because
b. most of the meteors heading for the earth hit the moon instead
d. the strong gravity of the earth attracts the debris back into the hole made by the meteor