STUDY SHEET FOR FIRST MIDTERM, FEB 21.
The test will be about 20-30 questions, about 50/50 multiple choice and
short written answers required. You do not need a scantron. Test
answers are written on the exam sheets. You can use the entire class
period for the test. Please contact me with any questions.
(rwalterb@nmsu.edu)
To study, use lecture notes on web pages as the main guide to follow-up
reading relevant sections in the book. Depending on your background and
familiarity
with science in general and astronomy in particular, you may need to
spend more or less time studying the book. The list below lists most of
the major topics we have discussed. I may have missed one or two but
the notes will make that clear.
Chapters 1, 2, and 3
- Make sure you understand the following concepts, ideas,
fact points:
- Idea of distance scale in the solar system
- Idea of distance scale in the Milky Way and the
Universe. Don't mix this up with the much smaller scales in the solar
system. The Milky Way is MUCH bigger than the solar system, the
universe MUCH bigger than the Milky Way.
- Stars, planets, moons. What are the differences between
them?
- What is a light year? A light minute? What does it
measure? Why do we use it?
- Lookback time.
- What is the age of the Earth and Sun?
- The nine major planets in the solar system.
- Terrestrial planets
- Jovian planets
- Big Bang
- Evidence for Big Bang (3 pieces of evidence, find them
all)
- Structure of matter: protons, neutrons, electrons,
atoms, ions, isotopes, molecules, compounds
- nuclear fusion
- E = Mc2, what does it have to do with
nuclear fusion? What about nuclear fission?
- Most common elements found that make up the Sun
- Process of science
- hypothesis, theory, experiment
- Early models of our solar system: geocentric, Ptolemy,
retrograde motion, epicycles, what was wrong with it?
- Copernicus, Brahe, Galileo, Kepler, Newton. What were
their roles?
- heliocentric model, explanation for retrograde motion
- eclipses of Sun and moon, explanations for them in
various models
- phases of the moon.
- rough time line of major developments in our
understanding of solar system
- Kepler's 3 laws of planetery motion
- Newton's laws of motion and the law of gravity. What
are they, how do they apply?
- age of Earth
- early development of earth: formation, cooling down
- Earth's geology: sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks,
catastrophic changes versus uniformitarianism
- continental drift, plate tectonics
- radioactive elements, connect back with structure of
matter
- half-life
- radiometric dating
Have a look at the questions
that were answered in class. The link is on the web pages, look at the
page with the "Questions you have turned in" link, which also has a
link to the answered questions.
If you have questions before the exam, mail them to me and I will
answer you by e-mail asap. (rwalterb@nmsu.edu)