Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Which of these gets so bright as to be seen in daylight at times?
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Mars
D) Jupiter
E) Saturn
Page Ref: 6.1
2) Which three worlds have almost identical densities?
A) Mercury, Venus, and Earth
B) Mercury, Mars, and our Moon
C) Deimos, Phobos, and our Moon
D) Earth, Moon, and Mars
E) Mercury, Earth, and Mars
Page Ref: 6.1
3) Which planet shows the widest range of surface temperatures between day and night?
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Earth
D) Mars
E) Uranus
Page Ref: 6.2
4) How does Mercury's rotation relate to the Sun?
A) It always keeps one face tidally locked toward the Sun, as our Moon does with us.
B) Its year is much shorter, only 88 days, than its slow rotation of 243 days on its axis.
C) Its rotation rate is 2/3 as long as its year, due to tidal resonances.
D) Its day is the same length as its year.
E) It does not spin at all, being tidal stopped by the solar tides.
Page Ref: 6.2
5) Venus' rotation
A) is the fastest of the terrestrial planets.
B) is counterclockwise, like the other planets.
C) takes longer than its orbit around the Sun.
D) axis is highly tilted to its orbital plane, causing large seasonal changes.
E) is tidally locked to the Sun.
Page Ref: 6.2
6) Mercury presents the same side to the Sun
A) every other orbit.
B) all the time, just like our Moon.
C) every 12 hours.
D) every third orbit.
E) Twice every orbit.
Page Ref: 6.2
7) The atmospheric pressure on Venus
A) shows an extreme change with the seasons.
B) is much lower than on Earth.
C) is about the same as on Mercury.
D) is much higher than on Earth.
E) causes variations in surface temperature.
Page Ref: 6.3
8) What is the chief component of the Venusian atmosphere?
A) hydrogen
B) sulfuric acid
C) nitrogen
D) oxygen
E) carbon dioxide
Page Ref: 6.3
9) The chief gas in the martian atmosphere is
A) hydrogen.
B) helium.
C) methane.
D) carbon dioxide.
E) nitrogen.
Page Ref: 6.3
10) Why are Mars' seasons more extreme than those of the earth?
A) Mars' seas dried up long ago.
B) Mars' axial tilt is slightly more than our 23.5 degrees.
C) Mars' orbit is more eccentric than our almost circular one.
D) Mars' weather is driven by evaporation from the polar ice in its summer.
E) All of these contribute to the huge barometric changes that Mars experiences.
Page Ref: 6.3
11) Which body has the densest atmosphere?
A) Mercury
B) Venus
C) Earth
D) Mars
E) our Moon
Page Ref: 6.3
12) One of the effects of Mercury's very slow spin is
A) extrme variations in its surface temperature.
B) an intensely powerful magnetic field.
C) tectonic activity.
D) wind patterns that are slow, but global in size.
E) large variations in the size of its polar cap.
Page Ref: 6.3
13) Mercury's surface most resembles which of these?
A) the earth's deserts
B) the lunar far side
C) the lunar mare
D) Venus' polar regions
E) Mars' deserts
Page Ref: 6.4
14) The scarps on Mercury were probably caused by
A) tectonic activity.
B) meteorite bombardment.
C) a tidal bulge.
D) volcanism.
E) the crust cooling and shrinking.
Page Ref: 6.4
15) What did radar astronomers find in the polar regions of Mercury?
A) rift valleys.
B) large mare basins, such as near our Moon's south pole
C) water ice that never melts in the deep craters
D) polar caps of dry ice that vary seasonally, much like Mars
E) auroral displays much like Earth's
Page Ref: 6.4
16) Our most detailed maps of Venus come from
A) the Magellan spaceprobe.
B) the Hubble Space Telescope.
C) direct observation from Earth based optical telescopes.
D) manned landings.
E) Earth based radio telescopes.
Page Ref: 6.5
17) The surface of Venus can be observed with
A) the Mt. Wilson 100" telescope
B) radar observations from Arecibo
C) most amateur telescopes.
D) the Hubble Space Telescope.
E) All of these have provided detailed observations about the surface of our sister planet.
Page Ref: 6.5
18) What percentage of Venus could be characterized as continental?
A) less than 10%, almost all of Venus is very low in elevation
B) about 25%, similar to Earth
C) about 50%, more like Mars
D) about 75%, much like our Moon
E) 90%, Venus has very few deep impact craters
Page Ref: 6.5
19) Which statement is true of Venus' surface?
A) There are two continent sized uplands.
B) It has remained unchanged for billions of years.
C) Atmospheric pressure is very low.
D) There is an extensive hydrosphere.
E) There are no shield volcanoes.
Page Ref: 6.5
20) Like Olympus Mons, volcanoes on Venus
A) form where continental plates collide.
B) are much larger than typical volcanoes on Earth.
C) have been extinct for billions of years.
D) only form at the equator.
E) are shield volcanoes.
Page Ref: 6.5
21) Valles Marineris is the most striking example of a(n)
A) impact crater.
B) shield volcano.
C) oceanic trench.
D) rift valley.
E) scarp.
Page Ref: 6.6
22) The deepest depression found on the surface of Mars is the
A) Mariannas Trench.
B) Caloris basin.
C) Valles Marineris rift,
D) Hellas Basin of Mars.
E) Mare Crisium.
Page Ref: 6.6
23) We have not yet found meteoroids and meteorites derived from
A) Venus.
B) the Moon.
C) Mars.
D) asteroids.
E) comets.
Page Ref: 6.6
24) The NASA missions that landed on Mars in 1976 were the
A) Voyagers.
B) Magellan lander.
C) Vikings I and II.
D) Venera 14.
E) the Galileo probe.
Page Ref: 6.6
25) Which of the following characterizes a shield volcano?
A) It sits above a hot spot in the planet's mantle.
B) It has very steep slopes.
C) It can erupt only briefly before being dragged off the hot spot.
D) It cannot get as high as Mt. Everest before the thin crust starts slumping.
E) It cannot grow very large, for it has a very short span of eruption.
Page Ref: 6.6
26) What is true of Mars?
A) Its magnetic field is stronger than Earth's
B) Its atmosphere is mostly water vapor.
C) Iron oxide on the surface is responsible for its reddish color.
D) A pool of water was discovered by the Mars Rover.
E) Definite microfossils have been found.
Page Ref: 6.6
27) That the Tharsis region on Mars has so few craters
A) proves tectonic activity is taking place.
B) is due to the regions very low elevation.
C) suggests it is the youngest region on the planet.
D) suggests it is at the center of a particularly strong magnetic field.
E) is due to annual flooding and water erosion.
Page Ref: 6.6
28) The largest difference between Mars' northern and southern hemispheres is that
A) the southern hemisphere appears older, with more lava flows.
B) the northern hemisphere appears younger, with ancient seabeds preserved.
C) the northern is overall higher, despite some high mountains near the south pole.
D) the southern hemisphere is darker, much like the mare side of our Moon.
E) all of the early probes flew past the southern hemisphere, so we know it better now.
Page Ref: 6.6
29) The presence of a Mercurian magnetic field surprised the planetary scientists on the Mariner 10 team because
A) Mercury is low in iron.
B) Mercury spins to rapidly to produce a stable dynamo.
C) it's still too hot for its core to have differentiated.
D) the dynamo theory predicted that Mercury was spinning too slowly for one.
E) Mercury lacks an iron core.
Page Ref: 6.7
30) Much of the water on Mars
A) is thought to be in a layer of permaforst just below the surface.
B) lies in shallow pools near the poles.
C) is locked in the seasonal ice cap.
D) is found in deep pools near the equator.
E) is in the form of clouds.
Page Ref: 6.9