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Life in the Universe > Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life > Flashcards

Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life Flashcards

1
Q

What is light?

A

Electromagnetic radiation.

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2
Q

Is radiation a form of energy?

A

Yes.

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3
Q

At what speed does radiation go?

A

At the speed of light.

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4
Q

Is electromagnetic radiation a wave or a particle?

A

A wave.

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5
Q

Pre-defined packages of energy are called what?

A

Quanta

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6
Q

What is Planck’s constant?

A

h=6.626x10-34 Joule sec.

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7
Q

What is the spectrum?

A

The dependence of luminosity on wavelength.

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8
Q

Shorter wavelength cause what type of frequency?

A

Higher frequency.

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9
Q

Opaque objects do what to radiation?

A

Absorb and block all radiation hitting them.

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10
Q

What do transparent objects do to radiation?

A

Allow radiation to pass through them.

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11
Q

What is a blackbody?

A

An object that is completely opaque to all radiation.

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12
Q

On the blackbody spectrum, hotter things are what color?

A

Bluer.

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13
Q

Describe what hotter things look like on the blackbody spectrum.

A

Always brighter at all wavelengths.

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14
Q

How do you raise the orbital of an electron?

A

Add energy by hitting it with a photon. The photon is then converted into energy.

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15
Q

What is the process of raising the orbital of an electron called?

A

Absorption.

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16
Q

What is the process of lowering the orbital of an electron called?

A

Emission.

17
Q

How does the orbital of an electron get lowered?

A

Electron releases energy as light.

18
Q

How do we measure how fast celestial objects are moving?

A

Using the doppler effect.

19
Q

How does the doppler effect work?

A

A moving object is partly catching up to its own light waves, or moving away from them.

20
Q

Light emitted by a moving object will appear blue-shifted if…

A

The source is moving towards the observer.

21
Q

Light emitted by a moving object will appear red-shifted if…

A

The source is moving away from the observer.

22
Q

What did Vesto Slipher discover?

A

That almost all galaxies were red-shifted - they were moving away from us.

23
Q

What did Hubble discover?

A

All galaxies are moving away from each other. - Meaning that there is no center - the observer would always see themselves as the center.

24
Q

What is a comet?

A

A relatively small and ice-rich object that orbits a star.

25
Q

What is an asteroid?

A

A relatively small and rocky object that orbits a star.

26
Q

What is the cosmic microwave background?

A

A faint glow of radiation left behind when the universe expanded and cooled with time.

27
Q

Describe matter at the time of the big bang.

A

All of the matter in the universe was compressed to extremely high temperatures and density.

28
Q

What are two major lines of evidence for the big bang theory?

A
  1. Cosmic microwave background. 2. Overall chemical composition of the universe.

Life in the Universe (9 decks)

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