he following diagram shows various positions of the moon in its orbit around Earth. The image of the moon shows its phase as seen from Earth.

Question

Earth is shown with a bigger circle on the right is a bigger circle labeled as Sun. Two lunar phases are shown. First quarter is shown above Earth and the Third Quarter below Earth. Arrows are drawn in the counter clockwise direction. Position A is marked on the left of Earth, position B is marked halfway between position A and the Third Quarter. Position C is marked on the right of Earth, position D is marked halfway between position C and the First Quarter.

In which position will three-fourths of the illuminated side of the moon be visible from Earth?

A
B
C
D

Answer 1

To determine which position will show three-fourths of the illuminated side of the moon from Earth, we need to analyze the positions of the Moon in relation to the Earth and the Sun.

1. Position A: The moon is located at the left of the Earth. This is when the Moon is in the New Moon phase, and thus no illuminated side would be visible from Earth.

2. Position B: This position is halfway between New Moon (Position A) and Third Quarter. In this position, the Moon would be in a Waxing Crescent phase, showing more than half but less than three-fourths illuminated.

3. Position C: The moon is at the right of the Earth. This represents the Full Moon phase, where the entire illuminated side of the Moon is visible.

4. Position D: This position is halfway between the Full Moon (Position C) and First Quarter. In this position, the moon is in the Waxing Gibbous phase, where more than half but not quite all of the illuminated side is visible.

Given this analysis, three-fourths of the illuminated side of the moon would be most visible in Position D, when it is in the Waxing Gibbous phase. Thus, the answer is:

D