Review for Test #2

Be sure you can answer all of the questions on the quizzes and the homework

Famous Books: On the Heavens (Aristotle), Almagest (Ptolemy), On the Revolutions of the Celestial Orbs (Copernicus), The Starry Messenger (Galileo), Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Galileo)

Questions from Classical Antiquity 

1.      People to know: Thales, Pythagoras, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Ptolemy (Know why they are remembered)

2.      Who is often designated as the "Father of Science" or the "Father of Philosophy"?

3.      How did Ptolemy explain retrograde motion?

4.       Describe Aristarchus' method for estimating the size of the Moon.

5.       Describe Aristarchus' method for estimating the distance to the Sun (know what the diagram looks like!).

6.       Describe Eratosthenes' method for estimating the circumference of the Earth (know what the diagram looks like!).

7.       List the two things for which Hipparchus of Nicaea is remembered.

8.       Give two pieces of evidence used by Aristotle to argue that the earth is round.

9.        What evidence does Aristotle cite to argue that the earth is of no great size compared to the universe?

10.  Who proposed a heliocentric system in ancient times (around 300 B.C.)?

11.  Which of the following phenomena were know in ancient times:  the shape of the Earth, the distance to the moon, craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, the diameter of the Earth, sun spots?

12.  How does the geocentric system explain the day, the year and the month?

13.  Who is known for the statement “All is number”?

14. Who suggested (or at least hinted) that it might be possible to sail west from Spain and reach India?

 

Questions from the Middle Ages

  1. What is an astrolabe?
  2. Briefly, what is Ockham's Razor?
  3.  What major branch of mathematics was invented in the Arabic speaking Islamic world during the medieval period? What significant feature of our number system (known to the Maya but not the Romans) also came to Europe from the Arabic speaking world?
  4. List 5 words commonly used in scientific discourse which are Arabic in origin.
  5.  What were the three land masses of the Earth (we would call them continents) known to medieval Europe?

Questions from the Renaissance

    1. Know the main accomplishments of Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler and Galileo.
    2. What are Giordano Bruno and Thomas Digges remembered for?
    3. What did Johannes Kepler do to improve Copernicus' heliocentric system?
    4. Draw a diagram depicting retrograde motion in the heliocentric system.
    5. Draw a diagram depicting why Venus and Mercury are always close to the sun in the heliocentric system.
    6.  Give a free-hand drawing of an ellipse and label (approximately) the location of the focci.
    7. Who is credited with inventing the telescope?
    8.  Draw a diagram and define the focal length of a lens.
    9.  According to Seeing and Believing, before 1409 world maps produced in Europe were usually very simple – a circle divided into three parts with a “T”.  What significant publication found in Constantinople in 1409 changed all that?
    10.  Name three things that Galileo observed with his telescope that contradicted the teachings of Aristotle and most other ancient Greek philosophers.
    11. What three motions must the Earth have in the heliocentric system?
    12.  State Kepler's three laws of planetary motion.
    13.  Be sure you know “Galileo’s Greatest Hits” (from the notes).
    14.  For whom did Galileo originally want to name the four moons of Jupiter?
    15.  The following diagram shows the orbit of earth and the orbit of Mars.  With Earth in the position shown, where is Mars when, from the viewpoint of the Earth, it begins retrograde motion?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    1.  How did Tycho's model of the solar system differ from Copernicus'?
    2. List three advantages that Copernicus’ heliocentric system had over Ptolemy’s geocentric model.
    3. What are the two types of lenses needed to make a telescope of the type Galileo?
    4. What did Galileo observe about Venus that convinced him that Venus revolves around the sun?
    5. What was the title of the book published by Galileo in which he first described his observations of the Moon’s surface and the motions of the moons of Jupiter?
    6. What was the title of the book published by Galileo that resulted in his being brought to trial?
    7. What lead Tycho Brahe to conclude that both the "new star" and the bright comet were " above the moon", and not atmospheric phenomena?
    8.  The type of lens needed to correct for nearsightedness (inability to see distant objects clearly) is _____________, while the type of lens needed to correct for farsightedness (inability to see close objects clearly) is ________________
    9.  If the Earth is moving, why don’t we feel it?
    10.  How does the heliocentric system explain the day, the year and the month? 

Miscellaneous Questions

    1.  In which era (pre-classical, classical antiquity, medieval, or renaissance) did Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler and Galileo live?
    2.  In which era (pre-classical, classical antiquity, medieval, or renaissance) did Aristarchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus and Ptolemy live?
    3.  In which era (pre-classical, classical antiquity, medieval, or renaissance) did William of Ockham, Omar Kahyyam, and Nicole Oresme live?
    4.   Know the approximate time periods that we designate classical antiquity, the middle ages (or medieval period), and the renaissance

 

 

Sample Multiple choice questions

____          1. Which of the following statements best describes Johannes Kepler's  model of the solar system?

a.

The sun is the center of the solar system.  The Earth is a planet orbiting the sun along a perfectly circular orbit just like all of the other planets.

b.

The sun is the center of the solar system.  The Earth is a planet orbiting the sun along an elliptical orbit just like all of the other planets.

c.

The Earth is stationary and at the center of the solar system.  The sun, moon, and planets all orbit the Earth along perfectly circular Earth-centered orbits.

d.

The Earth is stationary and in the center of the solar system.  However, all of the planets (Earth excluded) orbit the sun.  Then the sun, along with its companion planets, orbits the Earth along a perfectly circular orbit.

e.

The Earth is stationary and at the center of the solar system.  The sun, moon, and planets all orbit the Earth along elliptical orbits centered on the Earth.

____                2. The book in which Galileo first described his observations of the moon and Jupiter was entitled

a.

"The Starry Messenger"

b.

"Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems"

c.

"Letter on Sunspots"

d.

"Discourse on Two New Sciences"

e.

"The Almagest"

____                3. In what way was Nicholas Copernicus' solar system the same as Ptolemy's?

a.

Both had the sun in the center

b.

Both had the Earth in the center

c.

In both systems the Earth was a planet

d.

In both systems all orbits were perfect circles

e.

In both systems all orbits were ellipses

____                4. In the geocentric model of the solar system, how is the year (one 365.25 day period) explained?

a.

The sun makes one round trip around the celestial sphere along the ecliptic

b.

The celestial sphere makes one complete (360°) rotation on its axis

c.

The earth makes one complete (360°) rotation on its axis

d.

The earth makes one round trip around the sun

e.

The moon makes one round trip around the celestial sphere

____                5. In the heliocentric model of the solar system, how is the year (one 365.25 day period) explained?

a.

The sun makes one round trip around the celestial sphere along the ecliptic

b.

The celestial sphere makes one complete (360°) rotation on its axis

c.

The earth makes one complete (360°) rotation on its axis

d.

The earth makes one round trip around the sun

e.

The moon makes one round trip around the celestial sphere