Earth & The Solar System (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Physics)

Exam Questions

3 hours30 questions
11 mark

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

  • Jupiter

  • Mars

  • Saturn

  • Uranus

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21 mark

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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31 mark

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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41 mark

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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    51 mark

    Extended tier only

    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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    11 mark

    Which line in the table best 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° 

    Rising and setting of the Sun

    B

    23.4° 

    Changing of the seasons

    C

    66.6°

    Rising and setting of the Sun

    D

    66.6°

    Changing of the seasons

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      21 mark

      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 an equinox / hours

      A.

      356

      8

      8

      B.

      364

      12

      12

      C.

      365

      12

      8

      D.

      365

      24

      12

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        31 mark

        Extended tier only

        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

        • 2.5 × 106 km /h

        • 50 × 106 km /h

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        41 mark

        Extended tier only

        Comets travel faster within the Solar System than they do when they are outside it.

        Which of the following gives the correct reason for this?

        • A comet near to the Sun has more gravitational potential energy.

        • Comets closer to the Sun transfer gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy due to conservation of energy.

        • A comet which is outside the Solar System has less energy than one which is passing through it.

        • Comets closer to the Sun transfer kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy due to conservation of energy.

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        51 mark

        The radius of Jupiter's orbit is 778 × 106 km. 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.

        • 2600 ms

        • 2600 s

        • 0.39 s

        • 3.9 × 10–4 s

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        11 mark

        Select the combination which best defines and describes an accretion disc. 

        1. Gases rotating around a star

        2. Ring of rocky material

        3. Leads to formation of orbiting planets

        4. Explains the range of elements in rocky planets

        5. Explains the range of elements in the parent star

        • 1, 3 and 5

        • 2, 3 and 5

        • 1, 3 and 4

        • 2, 3 and 4

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        21 mark

        The Earth and Moon are held together by a gravitational force acting between them.

        Which row describes possible changes to the mass of the Earth and the distance between the Earth and the Moon that would cause the gravitational force to increase?

         

        Mass of Earth

        Distance between the Earth and the Moon

        A

        Double

        Drop to one quarter

        B

        Stay the same

        Stay the same

        C

        Halve

        Stay the same

        D

        Drop to one quarter

        Double

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          31 mark

          Extended tier only

          The orbit of Venus around the Sun is treated as a circular path with an average radius of 108.2 million km. The orbital period of Venus is 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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          41 mark

          The diagram shows a phase of the Moon.

          6-1-h-mcq-5-qun

          Which of the four options shows the Moon 7 days later?

          5d2W2EIZ_6-1-h-mcq-5-soln

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            51 mark

            Extended tier only

            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

            Uniform 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?

            • 8.68 × 104 m/hr

            • 1.38 × 107 m/hr

            • 8.68 × 107 m/hr

            • 2.08 × 109 m/hr

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