Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Mid-term Exam 1 You have 50 minutes for this exam. Write your answers in a blue book. This is a closed-book, no-notes exam. Calculators are neither needed nor permitted. Make sure make your answers complete but concise. Correct answers that lack correct supporting reasoning will be deemed to be “lucky guesses”, and will not be awarded full credit. Each question is worth 20 points. You may attempt all seven questions. YOUR BEST FIVE ANSWERS WILL BE SUMMED, FOR A MAXIMUM SCORE OF 100 POINTS. 1. Suppose that someone asserts that the seasons on Earth are caused by variations in the distance of the Earth from the Sun, so that winter happens when the Earth is furthest away from the source of solar energy. What observation(s) would you suggest that would most quickly demolish their assertion? (Do not simply contradict their assertion and supply the “true” answer; that'll get you a total of about 2 points. For full credit, suggest an observation which will refute their hypothesis.) 2. The next Full Moon will occur on October 17. When will the next First Quarter moon occur? At approximately what time of day will the Moon rise that day? At approximately what time will the Moon be at its highest in the sky on that day? 3. What is the Doppler Effect, and what does it allow us to measure about astronomical objects? 4. How does a rocket work? What is going on that causes the rocket to accelerate forward? Frame your answer in the terms of Newton's laws of motion. 5. Describe how it is that we can identify the elements in a gas that are emitting or absorbing light. 6. Is energy conserved during a planet’s orbit around the Sun, even though the planet’s orbital speed is not always the same? Explain. What physical principle causes the strange variation in speed that Kepler described in his Second Law? 7. It is likely that there is some topic that we have discussed in this class for which you were well prepared, yet did not appear on this exam. Compose a worthwhile question on that topic, and answer it. Make sure to spend no more time on this question than 20 points are worth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word . . . Were you teaching a class of journalism majors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Nope. Well, there's one Journalism major and one minor, but really it's a mixed bag of liberal arts students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Ah, no-one's got any background where maths and physics played any major role. Except maybe friction, from all the wedgie burns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Yes, that's whom the course is intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word What's the course called? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word PHYS-101 Astronomy: the Solar System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word 1. The observation of winter's occurrence in the southern hemisphere during the northern hemisphere's summer should be sufficient to show this moron that it's about the tilting axis. 2. According to the Farmer's Almanac, the next full moon is October 26th, actually. The next new quarter looks to be November 14th, when the moon will rise at 11:23 AM. I think it'll be at its highest point in the sky at about 4:30 PM. 3. The Doppler Effect is the change in frequency of wavelengths as an object approaches or gets farther away, the way a train whistle sounds higher in pitch as it approaches, then deepens, and gets higher in pitch again as it moves away. Scientists can measure changes in the wavelengths of lights emitted by distant stars, or reflected by distant planets, to tell if they're moving toward or away from us. 4. Newton's third law states that, for every action force, there is an opposite and an equal reaction force. Exhaust in a rocket is forced backwards, causing the opposite reaction of pushing the rocket forward. 5. Waves behave differently depending on what they're moving through. As light consists of waves, passing through a vacuum or oxygenated air will produce different effects on this light. The diffusion of our sun's light, for example, is an effect of a dusty atmosphere with a mixture of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen. A lack of an atmosphere, or a much thinner atmoshpere, will fail to produce such an absorption, and so the light is more likely to be reflected back as white, as on our moon. Different gases will distort waves differently, and so measuring the light that does escape the atmosphere will give us a picture of what forces acted upon it. 6. I think this has something to do with elliptical orbits and the star's gravity having less of an effect when the planet is on its outward loop, but that doesn't sound right. Kepler only sounds vaguely familiar. 7. Considering "this class" is The Last Word, then I shall expound on the fact that L. Marcus is a kendo aficionado, and has just returned from a tournament. While he didn't win, he did have a wonderful time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Facit: A 20 out of 20 on the last question, young lady! Please see me after class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word ^ v ^ See, my biggest problem with essay questions is that I have to fight to keep the snark out. It's a lot more fun when I don't have a grade to worry about! ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word But snark makes the answers more fun! . . . I once answered an astronomy test question with an allitteraded verse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word I'd give you points for creativity, at least. But I haven't been a student aide in YEARS. And the tests I graded were all multiple choice. Still, there was some room for creativity in the extra credit questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word I wouldn't score too highly now, but back in college I would still have the knowledge fresh in my brain. Though I generally sucked at essay questions. Not a bad test and the last question is nice in that it looks very inviting. Will either be a good saving grace or a trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word For most, it was a save. Though very few people nailed 20 of 20 on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word . . . Hindsight is always 20/20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word In principle it should be. But a bit more than half the class tried doing question/answer from the sample exam (which I gave them to let them know what sort of stuff was coming), and the results, though not bad, were far from perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word 666 pages in this thread. that is why you are a teacher, you jump to conclusions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 23, 2007 Report Share Posted October 23, 2007 Re: The Last Word Some things are easier to guess than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word The group photo from Stockholm Kendo Open '07! At the back of the kneeling medallist at the far right, there're two girls in white. Just to the right of the black-haired one -- the guy with beard and glasses and an extremely high forehead is me. Edit: Umm . . . That might be a bit on the big side -- there were, after all, 160 people in the tournament . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazza Posted October 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word The group photo from Stockholm Kendo Open '07! At the back of the kneeling medallist at the far right, there're two girls in white. Just to the right of the black-haired one -- the guy with beard and glasses and an extremely high forehead is me. Edit: Umm . . . That might be a bit on the big side -- there were, after all, 160 people in the tournament . . . cool pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word Yeah. Very blonde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word Victor von Doom before his experiment gone wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word . . . Might explain my choice of a sport with a metal mask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word Hmm. Backing away now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 24, 2007 Report Share Posted October 24, 2007 Re: The Last Word . . . Gotta practice my manic laughter . . . . . . Does Doom laugh manically? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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