Question 1: We can determine the appearance of the moon based on the orientation of the moon and sun with a simple heuristic. In the figure below, bisect the moon twice.
a) Draw a line (perpendicular to the direction of sunlight) that shows the half of the entire moon that is illuminated and shade the shadowed region.
b) Draw a line (perpendicular to the Earth-moon line) that shows the half of the moon visible for an observer on earth.
c) Mark the region that is both visible from earth and illuminated by the sun. That region will be the phase of the moon we on earth see.