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Explain Moon Phase Views - Practice 1

Compare the whole Moon with the bright part of its visible disk.

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Outside an eclipse, sunlight reaches roughly half the whole Moon. As the Moon orbits Earth, our view of that sunlit half changes. The Moon stays whole. Quarter is a phase name: about half the visible disk looks bright at first or third quarter. Ordinary phases are not Earth-shadow events.

Worked example

A first-quarter picture has about half its visible disk bright. A full-Moon picture has almost the entire visible disk bright. Roughly half the whole Moon is sunlit in both cases. These are two selected stages, not every phase.

Worked example: first-quarter and full-Moon disks appear half bright and almost all bright. Outside an eclipse, roughly half of the whole Moon is sunlit at both stages. The disk orientation is schematic.
Whole sunlit surface and bright visible disk are different descriptions. Drawings are schematic.

Two Selected Picture Records

Record A shows first quarter: about half the visible disk is bright. A later record B in the same phase cycle shows full Moon: almost all the visible disk is bright. Neither record is an eclipse. Use these supplied records, not an outdoor observation; never look directly at the Sun.

Question 1 Which record shows more of the visible disk bright?
Question 2 At record A, about how much of the whole Moon is sunlit?
Question 3 What best explains the change from A to B?
Question 4 A student says Earth must cast a shadow for record A to happen. Which correction fits?
Question 5 Which statement stays true in both records?