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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Part 3, Chapter 9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What components were central to the apparatus that Henry Cavendish used to determine the density of Earth?
(a) Weights, counter-weights, and pendulums.
(b) A burner, gases, and switches.
(c) Boiling water, a tub, and a barrel.
(d) Chutes and slides.

2. Many scientists suspect that Pluto is just a comet of the:
(a) Kuiper Belt.
(b) Orion Belt.
(c) Neptunian Belt.
(d) Solar Belt.

3. In the 1700s, people were finding holes in theories. For example, if the thoughts on erosion were completely correct, then:
(a) Icebergs would have eroded long ago.
(b) All farmland would have been washed away.
(c) There would be no mountains, only smooth hills.
(d) Sand would be ground to fine powder.

4. According to the Reverend William Buckland, the biblical reference to "in the beginning" with regards to the formation of Earth could refer to:
(a) Myths and legends.
(b) A particular era.
(c) Exactly seven days.
(d) Millions and millions of years.

5. Astronomer Edmond Halley approached mathematician Sir Isaac Newton to get his help figuring out why planets:
(a) Vary in size.
(b) Spin on their axes.
(c) Orbit the sun in ellipses.
(d) Are round.

Short Answer Questions

1. Sir Isaac Newton wrote "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," which explains his laws of what?

2. Who postponed his honeymoon in order to write a scientific paper about the movements of electrons?

3. How far away is Proxima Centauri from Earth?

4. According to the Caltech physicist Richard Feynman, the most important discovery ever made is what?

5. In addition to being a seventeenth-century astronomer, Christopher Wren designed:

(see the answer key)

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