How the Northern Lights are formed

How the Northern Lights are formed

Assessment

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Science, Geography, Physics, Chemistry

11th Grade - University

Hard

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Aurora borealis, or northern lights, are caused by magnetic plasma from the Sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field. Charged particles from the solar wind enter Earth's atmosphere, drawn to the magnetic poles, exciting atoms and molecules, which emit light. The solar wind can disconnect Earth's magnetic field lines, and when they reconnect, charged particles enter the atmosphere, causing auroras. Excited atoms have electrons that move to higher energy orbits and release photons when they return to lower orbits.

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5 questions

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1.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

What causes the aurora borealis to occur?

The reflection of sunlight on ice

Earth's gravitational pull

Blasts of magnetic plasma from the Sun

The rotation of the Earth

2.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

Where are charged particles from the solar wind drawn to in Earth's atmosphere?

The equator

The ozone layer

The magnetic North and South Poles

The tropics

3.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

What happens when charged particles excite atoms and molecules in the atmosphere?

They change color

They become heavier

They emit light

They absorb light

4.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

What can cause Earth's magnetic field lines to disconnect and reconnect?

Lunar phases

Solar wind

Tidal forces

Volcanic eruptions

5.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

30 sec • 1 pt

What occurs when electrons move back to lower energy orbits?

They split into smaller particles

They absorb photons

They release photons

They become neutral