Exploring the Cosmos - Degree Exam 2008 - Particles, Forces & the Big Bang
1. Hubble expansion refers to the discovery in the 1920s and 1930s by Edwin Hubble that
the universe is expanding.
the speed at which galaxies are moving is a function of their distance from us.
stars are moving away from us wherever he looked.
far away galaxies are older.
2. The age of the universe
is unknown and unknowable.
can be determined from observation of the stars in the heavens.
can be estimated from the age of the Milky Way.
is the same as that of the Sun.
3. The horizon of the observable universe refers to the
horizon of the sky.
newest bits of the universe only just become possible to be observed.
edge of the universe which one can observe at any one time.
furthest part of the universe our telescope is able to resolve.
4. Which of the following Galileo did not observe through his telescope?
Sun spots.
Other planets can have moons.
The moon is not made of perfect celestial material.
Venus has phases.
5. In Ptolemy's model of the universe, the stars
have epicycles
orbit around the sun.
are just like the sun.
are features on the surface of a perfect sphere.
6. Kepler's laws show that
planetary orbits are elliptical.
the Earth is not the centre of the universe.
planets are held by the gravitational force of the star around which they orbit.
forces acting on the planets must balance with the forces acting on the star.
7. The fundamental particles are
fermions and bosons.
neutrinos and gluons.
quarks and electrons.
waves not particles.
8. Which of the following is ranked in descending order of temperature?
Particle era, Planck era, Era of atoms.
Planck era, Era of atoms, Particle era.
Planck era, Particle era, Era of atoms.
Particle era, Era of atoms, Planck era.
9. Dark matter
can potentially be detected on earth.
is made up of black holes.
can not be seen.
is dark and absorbs all light incident upon it.
10. The "flatness problem" in cosmology refers to the fact that
because the universe is flat, we will never see parts of the universe.
the universe is very close to the critical density.
if we squash the universe flat, it will be no denser than the density of paper.
three space dimensions are "flattened" to two in the space-time diagram.
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