Section #: 29.1 Overview of Our Solar System

Practice Test
      
  1.What is the Sun-centered model of our solar system called?  
  a.   heliocentric  
  b.   eccentric  
  c.   geocentric  
  d.   epicycle  
  Hint    
      
  2.The eccentricity of a perfect circle is __________ and a very elongated ellipse is __________.  
  a.   one, zero  
  b.   zero, one  
  c.   zero, nearly one  
  d.   nearly zero, one  
  Hint    
      
  3.What shape describes the orbits of the planets?  
  a.   a sphere  
  b.   an ellipse  
  c.   a line  
  d.   a circle  
  Hint    
      
  4.When a planet is closest to the Sun it is at __________.  
  a.   aphelion  
  b.   an epicycle  
  c.   perihelion  
  d.   1 AU  
  Hint    
      
  5.What is the distance between the Sun and Earth called?  
  a.   1 astronomical unit  
  b.   1 year  
  c.   1 light year  
  d.   1 mile  
  Hint    
      
  6.What explains why the Sun governs the motion of all planets in our solar system?  
  a.   telescopic observations of the planets  
  b.   the law of universal gravitation  
  c.   Kepler's third law  
  d.   retrograde motion of planets  
  Hint    
      
  7.The __________ of a planet is its apparent backwards movement as seen from Earth's sky.  
  a.   epicycle  
  b.   perihelion  
  c.   retrograde motion  
  d.   eccentricity  
  Hint    

 
   
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