
1. Archaeologists use the half-life of
_____ to date organic materials.
A.carbon-12
 C.carbon-14
 B.uranium-235
 D.uranium-238


2. Radioactive materials have unstable
A.electrons.
 C.protons.
 B.nuclei.
 D.neutrons.


3. The process of nuclear change in an
atom of radioactive material is called
A.radioactive decay.
 C.nuclear mass.
 B.isotopes.
 D.radon.


4. Nuclei with too many or too few
neutrons are
A.never found.
 C.unnatural.
 B.unstable.
 D.stable.


5. In radioactive decay, with each halflife, half the remaining sample decays to
form another
A.nucleus.
 C.life-form.
 B.element.
 D.proton.


6. All planets in the solar system revolve
around
A.the sun.
 C.Jupiter.
 B.Earth.
 D.Mars.


7. The moon orbits
A.Earth.
 C.Saturn.
 B.the sun.
 D.Mercury.


8. Tides on Earth are caused primarily
by
A.the moon’s gravitational force.
 C.Earth’s landscape.
 B.the sun’s gravitational force.
 D.Jupiter’s gravitational force.


9. _____ is the only planet in the solar
system known to sustain life.
A.Uranus
 C.Earth
 B.Mercury
 D.Pluto


10.Earth’s atmosphere protects it from
A.high-energy solar particles.
 C.space debris.
 B.ultraviolet radiation.
 D.All of the above


11.Astronomers believe _____ was
originally a part of Earth.
A.the sun
 C.Jupiter
 B.the moon
 D.Mars


12.According the current theory, the
moon was formed
A.together with Earth.
 C.from a portion of Earth.
 B.separately from Earth.
 D.from leftover matter.


13.The moon’s surface is covered with
A.craters.
 C.ice.
 B.oceans.
 D.an atmosphere.


14.When the moon is full, the _____ is
between the _____ and the _____.
A.moon, sun, Earth
 C.Earth, moon, sun
 B.sun, Earth, moon
 D.moon, sun, Mercury


15.The age of our solar system is
approximately
A.2,000 years old.
 C.4.6 billion years old.
 B.46 billion years old.
 D.13.7 billion years old.


16.A rock that strikes the Earth is called
a
A.meteor.
 C.meteoroid.
 B.meteorite.
 D.All of the above


17.During a solar eclipse
A.the moon blocks out the sun.
 C.the moon blocks out Earth.
 B.the sun blocks out the moon.
 D.Earth blocks out the sun.


18.During a lunar eclipse
A.the moon blocks out the sun.
 C.the moon blocks out Earth.
 B.the sun blocks out the moon.
 D.Earth blocks out the sun.


19._____ allow Earth to sustain life.
A.Liquid water and an oxygen-rich
atmosphere
 B.Animals and plants
 C.The moon’s craters and maria
 D.Ice and a methane-rich atmosphere


20.The principle that uses the position to
determine the relative age of rock layers
is called the
A.law of cross cutting
 C.law of superposition
 B.Newton’s Law
 D.law of horizontality


21.Half lives are used to determine the
_____________ age of rocks.
A.relative
 C.youngest
 B.absolute
 D.oldest


22.The principle that states that a layer
of rock that cuts across other layers of
rock is younger than the rock it cuts
through is called the
A.law of cross cutting
 C.law of superposition
 B.Newton’s Law
 D.law of horizontality


23. A wooden boat is found buried in the
ocean. Scientists believe that timbers
making up the boat had 10mg of carbon14 in them when alive. They now have
2.5mg of carbon-14. How old is the boat
if the half life of carbon-14 is 5715
years?

24. Potassium-40 has a half-life of 1.3
billion years. If I have a sample which
weighs 80 grams, how long will it take
for the sample to have only 5 grams of
potassium-40 left?

25. The half-life of thorium-230 is 2.25
million years. I have a sample which
originally contained 20kg of thorium-230,
but now only contains 5 kg of thorium230. How old is my sample?