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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. When French physicist Henri Becquerel accidentally left a packet of uranium salts on a photographic plate, what happened?
(a) The plate became magnetic.
(b) The salt crystals melted into the plate.
(c) The plate rusted.
(d) An emission from the salts ruined the plate.

2. In 1903, who won the Nobel Prize in physics for discovering radioactivity?
(a) Louise Désirée Lorieux, Jean Becquerel, and Henri Becquerel.
(b) Marie Curie and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen.
(c) Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel.
(d) René Just Haüy and Jean Becquerel.

3. As of July 2001, approximately how many asteroids had been identified?
(a) 240.
(b) 26,000.
(c) 2,700.
(d) 29,000,000.

4. Had the universe formed just slightly differently:
(a) Earth would have seven moons.
(b) Planets would be flat instead of round.
(c) Our solar system would have ten times more planets.
(d) Mankind would not exist.

5. What is an extremophile?
(a) An organism adapted to living in extreme conditions.
(b) An extremely large living organism.
(c) A scientist who studies climate extremes.
(d) A researcher who explores extremely isolated regions.

6. How do today's professional astronomers search for supernovae?
(a) In collaboration with astrologers.
(b) With digital cameras and computers.
(c) Using classical mathematical predictions.
(d) Hiring interns to peer through telescopes 24/7.

7. Many scientists suspect that Pluto is just a comet of the:
(a) Orion Belt.
(b) Kuiper Belt.
(c) Solar Belt.
(d) Neptunian Belt.

8. About how many stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth?
(a) 500.
(b) 1,200.
(c) 9,600.
(d) 6,000.

9. In 1994, scientists observed as the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 struck Jupiter. One particular comet fragment struck the planet with a force of six million megatons, which is equivalent to approximately what?
(a) 7 times the energy of weapons found in a typical nuclear submarine.
(b) 50 times the energy released by the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.
(c) 3 times the energy emitted by a solar flare.
(d) 75 times the energy of all nuclear weapons on Earth.

10. A caldera is a:
(a) Chain of islands.
(b) Pointy volcanic peak.
(c) Group of hot springs.
(d) Large crater.

11. Max Planck ignored those who urged him to avoid physics and ended up doing groundbreaking work on:
(a) Acceleration.
(b) Electromagnetism.
(c) Optics.
(d) Entropy.

12. Earth is the only planet in the solar system to have what?
(a) Moons.
(b) Mountains and valleys.
(c) Plate tectonics.
(d) Storms.

13. The first eruption of Yellowstone took place how many years ago?
(a) 19.7 billion.
(b) 74 thousand.
(c) 16.5 million.
(d) 630 thousand.

14. Which of the following is not a major geological era?
(a) Precambrian.
(b) Mesozoic.
(c) Paleozoic.
(d) Precolumbian.

15. What is found at the very center of the Earth?
(a) Solid inner core.
(b) Liquid inner core.
(c) Frozen core.
(d) Gaseous core.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the Superstring Theory, the components making up protons, neutrons, electrons, and neutrinos are not regular particles, but instead are:

2. Our universe is at least how many light-years wide?

3. Pluto is the first planet to be discovered by an:

4. The British astronomer Martin Rees hypothesizes that there could be an infinite number of what?

5. In 1875, why was Max Planck advised against studying physics and urged to study math instead?

(see the answer keys)

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