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The due date for this quiz is Fri 2 Jan 2015 4:00 AM PET.
This is the quiz for week 2, and the first quiz that will count towards you final grade. Good luck!
In accordance with the Coursera Honor Code, I (Juan Carlos Vega Oliver) certify that
the answers here are my own work.
Question 1
What is the scope of cosmology?
The study of the universe as a whole.
The philosophical (but not scientific) study of the universe.
The study of subatomic particles.
The study of any macroscopic (as opposed to microscopic) events.
The study of planets.
Question 2
How did Newtons Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy lay the foundations for modern
physics?
It was the first concerted attempt to explain how the world worked by someone who did not
believe that appeals to the activity of God could be explanatory.
It was the first attempt to unify all observable phenomena under a single law of nature.
It provided the first scientific account of the origins of the universe.
It provided testable laws of nature that could explain a variety of observable phenomena.
Help
Question 3
What is the Kant-Laplace nebular hypothesis?
An early formulation of the Kantian categorical imperative.
An attempt to supplement Newtonian mathematical predictions with metaphysical foundations.
One of the first attempts at a scientific explanation of the origins of the universe based on the
hypothesis of an initial nebula of gases from which planets and stars formed.
The hypothesis that cosmology should not be regarded as a science because of the
metaphysical problems associated with the universe having a beginning in time and space.
Question 4
What were the three problems that faced cosmology in particular as a branch of science? (Pick three
answers.)
Laws of Nature: The issue of how we can know that the same laws of nature we observe today
were operative at the beginning of the universe.
Laws of Nature: The issue of how we can know that the laws of nature we postulate today will
not be superseded by other laws in the future.
Uniqueness: There is no guarantee that the laws of nature we postulate are uniquely correct,
since laws of nature are relative to an observer in a particular frame of reference.
Uniqueness: Scientific practice typically involves repeating tests using multiple different
samples of the object of study in different circumstances. This is impossible when the object of
study is the universe as a whole.
Unobservability: Since the expansion of the universe is accelerating there are parts of the
universe from which information will never be able to reach us. As a result, there are parts of
the universe we will never be able to observe.
Unobservability: Since cosmology involves the study of subatomic particles too tiny to be
observable, even in principle, there will always be uncertainty over the accuracy of
cosmological theories.
Question 5
How do we know that galaxies are receding from us?
Because of the way that light shifts further towards the red end of the spectrum the further it
has travelled.
Because of the way that light shifts further towards the blue end of the spectrum the further it
has travelled.
Because all of the other galaxies are really far away.
Because it takes us longer than expected to reach them.
Question 6
What do we learn from the observed accelerating rate of expansion of the universe?
That all the mass in the universe emerged from a single point 13.5 Billion years ago.
That the space between galaxies is expanding.
That the universe has a finite volume
That space is filled with dark energy.
That the expanding universe began with a phase of inflation.
That dark matter dominates over visible matter.
Question 7
How does the physicist Smolin tackle the issue of whether our current laws of nature apply to the
early universe?
Smolin thought that cosmology does not require an account of the laws of nature.
Cosmological Natural Selection: since the scientific community puts theories through a
rigorous natural selection process we know that what they say about laws must be accurate,
even as applied to the early universe.
Cosmological Natural Selection: Laws evolve with our universe and they are not timeless.
He claims that, by definition, a law of nature cannot change. Our current laws must apply to the
early universe.
Question 8
How might Karl Poppers falsificationism provide a solution to the problem of uniqueness in
cosmology?
Theories within cosmology are impossible to falsify. For instance, it is impossible to falsify
Bondi's Steady-State theory. This inability to be falsified by empirical evidence is what is
distinctive of science, according to Popper.
Poppers falsificationism did not provide a potential solution to the problem of uniqueness. In
fact, it created the problem of uniqueness.
Theories within cosmology make risky novel predictions which can be tested empirically, and
potentially falsified. For example, the discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background falsified
Bondis Steady-State theory. This empirical falsifiability is what is distinctive of science,
according to Popper.
Popper solved the problem of uniqueness by showing that all philosophical accounts of science
are unfalsifiable. Hence, all philosophical accounts of science (including those that lead to the
problem of uniqueness) should be rejected.
Question 9
What is the origin of the cosmic microwave background?
When the universe cools and forms atoms, radiation can travel freely, becoming redshifted to
the microwave region by the time we receive it.
This is an alternative name to the cosmological constant, meaning that empty space has a
fixed density.
Question 10
What is meant by telescopes are time machines?
We see distant parts of the universe through telescopes as they were in the deep past,
because light takes time to reach us.
We can see into the future of the universe through telescopes, due to the speed-of-light limit,
which dictates what entities in the universe are observable.
The inventor of the Hubble Space Telescope is also credited with early designs for a time
machine capable of moving through space.
For time machines to be possible they must utilise the optical technology used to great effect in
telescopes.
In accordance with the Coursera Honor Code, I (Juan Carlos Vega Oliver) certify that
the answers here are my own work.
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