Redshift and the expanding universe
Grade 9 Science Worksheet

Circle the best answer.
A galaxy's hydrogen line (656.3 nm in the lab) is seen at 662.9 nm. Using speed ≈ z × 300,000 km/s, about how fast is it receding, by Bo's math?
- About 6.6 km/s
- About 3,000 km/s
- About 1,980,000 km/s
- About 3,000 km/s toward us
A galaxy's hydrogen line at 486.1 nm in the lab is seen at 491.0 nm. About what is z, by Esme's math?
Spectrum strip: lab line 486.1 nm; galaxy line 491.0 nm. Spectrum strip: lab line 486.1 nm; galaxy line 491.0 nm. Spectrum strip 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 lab line 486.1 nm galaxy line 491.0 nm nm - About 0.010
- About 0.10
- About 4.9
- About −0.010, a blueshift
A galaxy has z = 0.02. Where should its hydrogen line (656.3 nm in the lab) appear, by Jun's math?
Spectrum strip: lab line 656.3 nm; z = 0.02. Spectrum strip: lab line 656.3 nm; z = 0.02. lab line 656.3 nm z = 0.02 - About 13.1 nm
- About 643.2 nm
- About 656.3 nm, unchanged
- About 669.4 nm
Read this first
Galaxies (model data)
Galaxy Distance (Mpc) Speed away (km/s) P 20 1,400 Q 50 3,500 R 100 7,000 S 200 14,000 Using the table, about how fast is galaxy S (200 Mpc) moving compared with galaxy R (100 Mpc), by Kira's reading?
- About half as fast
- The same speed, since everything stretches equally
- About twice as fast
- About 100 times as fast
Distance = speed ÷ H0; speed 7,000 km/s; H0 about 67 to 73 km/s/Mpc. A galaxy recedes at 7,000 km/s. With H0 about 67 to 73 km/s/Mpc, about how far away is it, by Milo's math?
- About 490,000 Mpc
- About 1,000 Mpc
- About 10 Mpc
- About 100 Mpc (96 to 104 across the range)
Why do distant galaxies all appear to rush away from us, by Noah's reading?
Dots on a stretching rubber sheet. Dots on a stretching rubber sheet. - Their light is turning red as they age
- They are falling toward a central point
- They were thrown out from our galaxy
- Space itself is stretching between the galaxies
Stretching sheet model
Pair Before (cm) After (cm) near pair 1 2 far pair 3 6 On a stretching sheet, dots 1 cm apart become 2 cm apart, and dots 3 cm apart become 6 cm apart, in the same time. What does this model show, by Pia's reading?
- The dots move from one central dot
- Nearer dots separate faster
- Farther dots separate faster, as in Hubble's law
- Each pair separates equally
Galaxies in a nearby cluster stay together while distant clusters move apart. Why, by Ren's reading?
Diagram: a cluster of galaxies held together, with distant clusters spreading apart. Diagram: a cluster of galaxies held together, with distant clusters spreading apart. cluster of galaxies distant clusters distant clusters - The cluster is at the center of the universe
- Everything expands, but too slowly to see
- The cluster is moving toward us
- Gravity holds the cluster together
Galaxies (model data)
Galaxy Distance (Mpc) Speed away (km/s) P 20 1,400 Q 50 3,500 R 100 7,000 S 200 14,000 Galaxy Q (50 Mpc) and galaxy P (20 Mpc): how many times faster does Q recede, by Zee's math?
- 70 times
- 0.4 times
- 2.5 times
- 30 times
What is the slope of the table's speed-against-distance line, by Ari's math?
- 7,000 km/s
- 0.014 Mpc per km/s
- 70 km/s/Mpc
- −70 km/s/Mpc