Middle Georgia State University

Course title: ASTR 1010K

Chapter 6 Homework

1)The Moon’s surface is best described as

2. Why is Earth’s surface not riddled with craters as is that of the Moon?

3. What occurs on Earth when two tectonic plates of roughly equal density collide head-on?

4. Describe the interior structure of Earth.

5. Describe Earth’s magnetosphere.

6. Explain why the maria appear darker than the lunar highlands.

7. Briefly describe the main differences and similarities between Moon rocks and Earth rocks.

8. What is the difference between spring tides and neap tides? During which phase(s) of the Moon do each occur?

9. Why hasn’t the water ice near the Moon’s poles been evaporated by sunlight?

10. Why do some geologists believe that Pangaea was the most recent in a succession of supercontinents?

11. Why is more lunar detail visible through a telescope when the Moon is near quarter phase than when it is at full phase?

12. Why are the Moon rocks retrieved by astronauts so much older than typical Earth rocks, even though both worlds formed at nearly the same time?

13. Apollo astronauts left seismometers on the Moon that radioed seismic data back to Earth. The data showed that moonquakes occur more frequently when the Moon is at perigee (closest to Earth) than at other locations along its orbit. Give an explanation for this finding.