O LevelPhysicsCambridgeTopic Questions6. Space Physics6.1 Earth & The Solar System

Earth & The Solar System (Cambridge O Level Physics)

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1
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Which of the planets listed is the gaseous planet which is closest to the Sun?

  • Jupiter

  • Mars

  • Saturn

  • Uranus

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2
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Which of the following objects are described as orbiting the Sun?

  1. Asteroids
  2. Comets
  3. Galaxies
  4. Moons

  • 1 and 2 only

  • 1, 2 and 3

  • 1, 2, and 4

  • 1, 2, 3 and 4

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3
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What creates the periodic nature of the seasons?

  • The tilting of the Earth's axis

  • The orbiting of the Earth around the Sun

  • The combination of the orbiting of the Earth around the Sun and the Earth's tilting axis 

  • The change in temperature of the Sun

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4
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Which of the following statements about orbits is true?

  • All planets, minor planets and comets have elliptical orbits

  • The Sun is at the centre of an elliptical orbit

  • Only comets and minor planets have elliptical orbits

  • An object in an elliptical orbit has a constant orbital radius 

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1
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The planet Uranus has an average orbital radius of 4500 million km.

How long does it take light from the Sun to travel to Uranus?

  • 4 minutes

  • 1 hour

  • 4 hours

  • 4 days

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2
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Which of the following statements about the strength of a gravitational field is correct? 

   At the surface of a planet it depends on  Around a planet it
A  the diameter of the planet decreases as the distance from the planet increases
B  the diameter of the planet increases as the distance from the planet decreases
C  the mass of the planet decreases as the distance from the planet increases
D  the mass of the planet increases as the distance from the planet increases

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3
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The table shows some planetary data for planets in our Solar System.

Planet Orbital distance / million km Orbital duration / days or years Density / kg/m3 Surface Temperature/ °C Surface Gravitational Field Strength/ N/kg
Mercury 57.9 88 days 5427 350 3.7
Venus 108.2 225 days 5243 460 8.9
Earth 149.6 365 days 5514 20 9.8
Mars 227.9 687 days 3933 –23 3.7
Jupiter 778.6 11.9 years 1326 –120 23.1
Saturn 1433.5 29.5 years 687 –180 9.0
Uranus 2872.5  75 years 1271 –210 8.7
Neptune 4495.1 165 years 1638 –220 11.0

What is the time taken for light from the Sun to reach the surface of Jupiter?

The speed of light is 3 × 108 m/s.

  • 0.39 ms

  • 0.39 s

  • 2600 ms

  • 2600 s

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4
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The Moon is kept in orbit around the Earth by the gravitational force that acts between them.

Which of the following changes to the mass of the Earth and the distance between the Earth and the Moon would result in an increase in the gravitational force?

  Mass of the Earth Earth-Moon distance
A doubles drops to one-quarter
B stays the same stays the same
C halves stays the same
D drops to one quarter doubles

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1
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Which row correctly describes the angle of the Earth’s axis from the vertical and the effect of this tilt?

  Angle of tilt Effect of tilt
A 23.4°  Day and night
B 23.4°  Changing of the seasons
C 66.6° Day and night
D 66.6° Changing of the seasons

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2
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Which line in the table correctly identifies the length of one year, one day and daylight hours during an equinox, all as experienced on Earth?

  One Earth year
/ days		 One Earth day
/ hours		 Daylight hours during equinox / hours
A. 356 8 8
B. 364 12 12
C. 365 12 8
D. 365 24 12

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3
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The orbit of the Earth around the Sun can be thought of as following a circular path with a circumference of 942 × 106 km.

What is the approximate orbital speed of the Earth?

  • 10 000 km/h

  • 100 000 km/h

  • 2 500 000 km/h

  • 50 000 000 km/h

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4
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The orbit of Venus around the Sun is treated as a circular path with an average radius of 108.2 million km and an orbital period of 225 days.

What is the orbital speed of Venus?

  • 40 000 km/h

  • 62 900 km/h

  • 126 000 km/h

  • 810 000 km/h

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5
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The table shows some planetary data for planets in our Solar System.

Planet Orbital distance / million km Orbital duration / days or years Density / kg/m3 Surface Temperature/ °C Surface Gravitational Field Strength/ N/kg
Mercury 57.9 88 days 5427 350 3.7
Venus 108.2 225 days 5243 460 8.9
Earth 149.6 365 days 5514 20 9.8
Mars 227.9 687 days 3933 –23 3.7
Jupiter 778.6 11.9 years 1326 –120 23.1
Saturn 1433.5 29.5 years 687 –180 9.0
Uranus 2872.5  75 years 1271 –210 8.7
Neptune 4495.1 165 years 1638 –220 11.0

What is the orbital speed of Mars?

  • 95.2 m/h

  • 95 200 m/h

  • 95 200 000 m/h

  • 208 000 000 m/h

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6
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Light from the Sun travels to the Earth at a speed of 3.0 × 108 m/s. 

The time for the complete journey is 500 s.

What is the average orbital speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun?

  • 60 m/s

  • 4.8 × 103 m/s   

  • 3.0 × 104 m/s

  • 1.8 × 106 m/s

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