A ten-question quiz regarding the Universe and life. Quiz number 3

British spelling, no googling!

Quiz number 3. Multiple choice answers. Good luck

Ask your family or friends these questions and test their knowledge, you can give detailed answers that might surprise them.

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Question 1

Mercury the closest planet to the Sun has no moons, Venus the second closest has no moons either, and as you know, Earth has only one moon.

How many moons are orbiting the planet Mars?

No moons / 2 moons or 7 moons

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Question 2

What age is the oldest known living organism on Earth?

1,483 / 2,793 or 4,853 years old

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Question 3

What is the coldest temperature possible throughout the Universe?

minus 173 / minus 273 or minus 373 degrees Celsius

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Question 4

The Moon is moving away from the Earth by how much each year?

3.6 centimetres / 3.6 metres or 3.6 kilometres

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Question 5

How much of our DNA do we share with a garden slug?

7% / 37% or 70%

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Question 6

Our home galaxy the Milky Way is vast in size.

What is the estimated diameter of the Milky Way galaxy?

56,000 / 105,000 or 148,000 light-years

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Question 7

What is the most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere?

Oxygen / Nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide

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Question 8

How old is our local star the Sun?

3.6 / 4.6 or 5.6 billion years

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Question 9

The Solar System orbits the centre of the Milky Way galaxy.

How long does it take for the Solar System to make one complete orbit?

80 / 160 or 230 million years

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Question 10

Eight planets are orbiting the Sun.

What planet is the farthest distance from the Sun?

Neptune / Uranus or Saturn

Photo by ActionVance on Unsplash

Answers

Answer to question 1 / 2 moons

Mars has two irregular-shaped moons called Phobos and Deimos, they are not big enough to form the spherical-shaped objects we see throughout the Solar System. Compared to our Moon they are very small in size. Phobos has a diameter of just over 22 kilometres while Deimos measures over 12 kilometres.

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Answer to question 2 / 4,853 years old

Methuselah, as the tree is sometimes called, is thought to be the oldest living organism in the world. Bristlecone pines can reach staggering ages.

The average lifespan of a human at just over 70 years seems very short when compared to some other life forms.

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Answer to question 3 / minus 273 degrees Celsius

The lower temperature limit is called absolute zero.

The coldest temperature recorded at ground level on Earth is minus 89.2 degrees Celsius, which was in Antarctica.

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Answer to question 4 / 3.6 centimetres

At present, the Moon continues to move away from the Earth at 3.6 centimetres per year, which is roughly the speed your fingernails grow, in an average human life that would be over 2.5 meters, which doesn’t seem much, but it indicates how the kilometres would add up over millions or billions of years.

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Answer to question 5 / 70%

Yes, we share 70% of our DNA, ( Deoxyribonucleic acid ) with a slug. Humans share 99% of our DNA with our closest living relatives Chimpanzees. Every living thing on Earth is related to some degree.

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Answer to question 6 / 105,000 light-years across

That is an enormous measurement, to put it into perspective. In one year light will travel 9.46 trillion kilometres. A trillion is 1 followed by 12 zeros.

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Answer to question 7 / Nitrogen

The Earth’s atmosphere comprises 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 0.9% argon. It also contains carbon dioxide and a few other gases in trace amounts.

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Answer to question 8 / 4.6 billion years old

The Sun and the rest of the Solar System formed inside a giant cloud of gas and dust called a solar nebula. The Sun holds 99.8% of all the mass in the Solar System.

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Answer to question 9 / 230 million years

Although the Solar System is travelling at 828,000 kilometres per hour it still takes 230 million years to make one orbit around the centre of the Milky Way.

That long journey is called a cosmic or galactic year.

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Answer to question 10 / Neptune

Planet Earth takes one year to travel around the Sun but Neptune is so far away that it takes almost 165 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun.

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If you found the quiz interesting then please go to quiz number 1.