Physics

Astronomy — Multiple-Choice Questions (Edexcel IAL Physics): Exam Questions

Exam code:YPH11

7 questions · 7 marks · ≈ 7 min

Guided practice

11 markeasy

Which of the following describes a standard candle?

Choose your answer

a star of known distance

a star of known intensity

a star of known luminosity

a star of known mass

21 markmedium

Sirius and α-Centauri are two of our closest stars. Sirius has a luminosity about 16 times greater than the luminosity of α-Centauri. Sirius is twice as far away from the Earth as α-Centauri.

The intensity of light from Sirius is I_s and the intensity of light from α-Centauri is* I*_α .

Which of the following is the value of $\frac{I_{s}}{I_{α}}$ ?

Choose your answer

$\frac{1}{4}$

31 markmedium

The letters W, X, Y and Z represent stars at these positions on the diagram.

q7-1-wph15-05-oct-2021-edexcel-int-as-and-a-level-phy

Which of the following is part of a possible evolutionary path of a star?

Choose your answer

W → Y

X → Y

Y → W

Y → Z

41 markmedium

Which of the following statements about stars in positions W, X, Y and Z is correct?

q7-1-wph15-05-oct-2021-edexcel-int-as-and-a-level-phy

Choose your answer

W and Y have the same mass.

W has a lower surface temperature than Z.

Y is more massive than W.

Y has a lower surface temperature than X.

51 markmedium

Tau Ceti is one of the closest stars to the Sun. Tau Ceti has a surface temperature of 5300 K and a luminosity of 0.55 L_Sun, where L_Sun is the luminosity of the Sun.

Which of the following is the correct description of Tau Ceti?

Choose your answer

main sequence star

red dwarf star

red giant star

white dwarf star

61 markmedium

Two stars, P and Q, have approximately the same radius. The surface temperature of star P is twice the surface temperature of star Q.

Star P has a luminosity $L_{P}$ and star Q has a luminosity $L_{Q}$ .

The ratio $\frac{L_{p}}{L_{Q}}$ is approximately

Choose your answer

71 markmedium

A red giant star of surface temperature $T$ and surface area $A$ has a luminosity $L$ .

The Sun has a surface temperature of $T_{S}$ , a surface area of $A_{S}$ and a luminosity of $L_{S}$ .

Which row of the table is correct?

A	$T<T_{S}$	$A<A_{S}$	$L<L_{S}$
B	$T<T_{S}$	$A>A_{S}$	$L>L_{S}$
C	$T>T_{S}$	$A<A_{S}$	$L<L_{S}$
D	$T>T_{S}$	$A>A_{S}$	$L>L_{S}$

Choose your answer

T<T_{S}

A<A_{S}

L<L_{S}

T<T_{S}

A>A_{S}

L>L_{S}

T>T_{S}

A<A_{S}

L<L_{S}

T>T_{S}

A>A_{S}

L>L_{S}