Physics Flashcards
Who came up with the heliocentric model
Nicolaus Copernicus
Who proved the heliocentric model and pioneered observations with telescopes
Galileo Galilei
How have we started discovering new planets
As telescopes improve scientists have discovered new planets
Copernicus’s model of the universe didn’t include Uranus Neptune or the dwarf planet Pluto because telescopes at the time weren’t good enough to see them
Who was Galileo and what did he do
Was an Italian astronomer who worked at a time when all scientists believed the earth was the centre of the universe, using the telescope he discovered Jupiter had four moons
This showed that not everything orbited the earth proving Copernicuss theory correct
This put him into conflict with the church as they believed the geocentric model
He spent a large amount of his life in house arrest as a result
How do we know stuff about stars
Analysing the radiation they produce
Ground operated optical telescopes disadvantages
They can only be used at night
They cannot be used if the weather is poor or cloudy
telescopes used on earth
Optical telescopes
They can only be used at night
They can not be used if the weather is poor or cloudy
Radio telescopes Detect radio waves from space Very large and expensive Can be used in bad weather because radio waves are not blocked by clouds Can be used at day and night
X-ray telescopes
Partially blocked by our atmosphere so have to be at high altitudes or flown in balloons
Space telescopes (3)
Infrared, X-rays, gamma rays
Positives and negatives about space telescopes
Negatives:
They are difficult and expensive to launch and maintain
If anything goes wrong only astronauts can fix them
Positives:
Can operate at both night and day
Can observe the whole night sky
Can monitor other types of radiation like infrared x/rays and gamma rays which are blocked by the earths atmosphere
What is a converging/convex lens
A lens which is curved outwards on both sides
This makes light rays come to a point- they converge
What is the focal point
The point at which the light rays meet
How do you find the focal length and what is it
The focal length is the distance between the centre of the lens and the image
You find the focal length by focusing a distant object on a piece of paper through a lens, keeping the distance of the piece of paper and the lens the same one measures the distance between the two, this is the focal length
What would one use a converging lens for
A refracting telescope like galileos
The amount of magnification a refracting telescope using converging lenses has depends on:
How curved the surface of the lens is
How close the lenses are placed
What is a real image
A real image is the image produced where the light rays are focused
What is a virtual image
A virtual image is the image from which the light rays appear to come from but don’t actually come from that image, like a mirror
How can converging images be investigated
Converging lenses can be investigated by measuring the distance from the lens to the object in focal lengths
The image can also be measured in focal lengths
Problems with refracting telescopes
Some of the light reflects reflects off the lens so the image is very faint
Large lenses are required to improve the magnification this can be difficult to do perfectly
How does a reflecting telescope produce a magnified image
The image is formed by reflecting off a curved mirror
It is then magnified by a second mirror
What are waves
Waves are vibrations that transfer energy without matter being transferred
What is the substance waves move through known as
The medium
What are longitudinal waves
The vibrations are along the same direction as the direction of travel
What sort of wave is a p wave and what is it
Longitudinal waves produced by earth quakes
What are transverse waves
The vibrations of the wave are at right angles to the direction of travel
Give 3 examples of a transverse wave
Light (includes other types of radiation) Water waves S waves ( a type of seismic wave)
What is the amplitude of a wave
The amplitude of a wave is its maximum disturbance from an undisturbed position
What is the wavelength of a wave
The wavelength is the measurement between one point on the wave and the same point on the next wave this is usually the crest
What is wave frequency
The number of waves going past a point or produced at the source every second
What is the unit of frequency
Hertz (hz)
What is the relationship between the angle of incident and the angle of reflection
The angle of incident and the angle of reflection are the same
What is the wave that is not reflected called
The incident ray
What is the ray that bounces off the surface called
The reflective ray
How do rough surfaces react when light hits them
They scatter the light but they still follow the rule that the angle of incident is equal to the angle of
reflection on each tiny bit
What is refraction
Sound and light waves change speed when they enter a material with a differ ant density this causes a change in direction called refraction
What happens if an incident ray went into a material of different density at 90 degrees
The wave slows and it’s wavelength decreases as it enters the material
As the wave exits the change in density the wave speed and wavelength return to normal
Who created the geo centric model
Ptolemy
How do you form a light spectrum
Using a prism
The light waves are refracted as they enter and leave the prism
The shorter the wavelength of the light the more it is refracted
As a result red light is refracted the least and violet light is refracted the most causing the couler ex light to spread out
Do all the electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed through space
Yes
Who discovered infrared
William Herschel
How did William Herschel discover infrared light
He put differsnr coloured filters over his telescope in order to make his observations safer
He noticed differsnr coloured filters produced differsnr amounts of heat
He used a prism do break up the light spectrum and put a thermometer on each colour
He found that the temperature rose as he moved from violet to red
He then measured the temperature of the spectrum where there was no visible light on the red side
The temperature was the highest
Who discovered ultraviolet light
Johann Ritter
How did johann Ritter discover ultraviolet
Following hershals work Ritter tried to find invisible rays on the violet end of the spectrum
He used silver chloride which turns black when exposed to light
This happened he fastest when exposed to the invisible rays on the violet end of the spectrum
All types of electromagnetic radiation:
Are transverse waves
Travel at the same speed in a vacuum
What are the main types of electromagnetic rays in order of frequency and wavelength
Highest at the top: Gamma radiation X-rays Ultraviolet Visible light Infrared Microwaves Radio waves
What is the speed of light in a vacuum
Approx three hundred million metres per second
What is the danger of microwaves
Internal heating to the body
What is the danger of infrared
External heat
Causes skin burns
What is the danger of X-rays
Is ionising so causes DNA mutations so sometimes cancer
Cell death
Cell damage
Dangers of gamma rays
Damage cells
Cause mutations because they are ionising
Cell death
Uses of microwaves
Transmit signals like for mobile phones
Transmitters and rescue vets communicate with phones within their range
There is concern that microwaves from phones and masts may damage our health
How do our skins respond to uv light
We can not see or feel it but our skin responds to it by turning darker
Darker skin absorbs more ultraviolet light so less of it penetrates our skin to reach deeper tissues
This is good because iv has been shown to cause cancer
What are the three types of uv
Uv : c b and a
What are the frequencies of the different types of uv and what are the side effects
Uv c: has a high frequency
Causes severe damage to cells
Uv b: causes severe sunburn and cell damage
Uv a: causes weaker effects to uv b
Two uses of radio waves
Broadcasting information
Satellite transmissions
Three uses of microwaves
Cooking
Communications
Satellite transmissions
Six uses of infrared
Cooking Security systems TV remote controls Optical fibres Short range communications Thermal imaging
Three uses of visible light
Vision
Photography
Illumination
4 uses of uv
Security marking
Disinfecting water
Fluorescent lamps
Detecting forged bank notes
Two uses of gamma rays
Sterilising food and medical equipment
Detecting of cancer and the treatment of it
In an exam question asking about uses of electromagnetic radiation you should
Advantages and disadvantages of each type of electromagnetic radiation
Indicate the precise use and why
Include information about frequency and wavelength
What are the three types of ionising nuclear radiation
Alpha
Beta
Gamma
What does ionising radiation do
It knocks electrons out of atoms to form charged particles
4 uses of the three types of radiation
Detect smoke
Gauge the thickness of paper
Treat cancer
Sterilise medical equipment
What are substances that give out radiation said to be
Radioactive
Where does nuclear radiation come from
The nucleus of an atom
Which type of radiation is the most penetrating
Gamma
It can travel long distances low levels can penetrate paper thin metal and air
High levels can only be stopped by many centimetres of lead or many metres of concrete
Which type of radiation is the least penetrating
Alpha
It can be stopped by a piece of paper
How penetrative is beta radiation
Can penetrate air and paper
It can be stopped by a thin sheet of aluminium
How many galaxies is the universe thought to have
Over 1 billion
What does a solar system consist of
A star
Planets and dwarf planets in orbit around the star
Satellites (moons) in orbit around the planets
Comets and asteroids in orbit around the sun
How many planets and dwarf planets are thee around the solar system
8
What is a single orbit around the sun called for a planet
A year
What is the shape of an orbit of a comet
An ellipses
What is the shape of an orbit of a planet
Very circular
How do astronomers help work out the sizes of planets
They use telescopes
Through this they can also work out the distances between them
How many times larger is the distance between one star to another in the galaxy compared to one planet to another
Millions of times more
Distance from earth to the sun
150,000,000 km
Three examples of space probes and what they did
Viking 1 and Viking 2
Landed on Mars in the 70s took photographs and analysed soil samples
Mars global surveyor
Went into orbit around mars in 1997 and mapped the surface in 3d
Spirit and oportunity:
Two robot vehicles that landed on Mars in 2004
Give an example of a space telescope
The Hubble space telescope
What is SETI
The search for extra terrestrial intelligence programme
It uses radio telescopes for un natural signals coming from space
What do space probes do
Space probes photograph planets in search of life
We have photos of channels on mars that May have been crated by flowing water
Landers touch down on planets and take a soil sample which is used to analyse for evidence of life
What is a spectrometer
Light can be split into its spectrum of colours using a spectrometer
Different light sources will give Different
Colours through the spectrometer different versions of the colours are called different spectra
For example sunlight will have black lines in the spectra as the atmosphere absorbs some of the suns light
What are the planets in order
Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
How long ago do scientists think the Big Bang happened
13,700 million years ago
What is it called if the universe was to contract
The Big Crunch
What does the oscillating theory suggest
That this universe is one of many
Some that have existed in the past some that will exist in the future
When the universe contracts in the Big Crunch the theory states that a new universe is created in a new Big Bang
What does the steady state theory state
The theory suggests that as the universe expand new matter is created so that the overall appearance of the universe never changes
The birth of a star three steps
Stars form from massive clouds of dust and gas in space
Gravity pulls the dust and gas together
As the gas pulls together it gets hot a star forms when it gets hot enough for nuclear reactions to start.
The outward pressure from the expanding hot gases is balanced with the gravity of the star out sun is at this stable phase of life
Gravity pulls smaller clouds of gas and dust together which forms planets in orbit around the star
What type of star is the sun
Yellow dwarf
What happens to stars once they start running out of hydrogen as fuel
Gravity makes the core of the star smaller and hotter which results in the outer layers expanding they eventually expand so much that the star turns into a red giant
What happens after the red giant star phase if it’s mass is relatively small
If it’s mass is relatively small gravity eventually leads to the star contracting to form a red dwarf it fades and changes colour as it cools the matter of a white dwarf is a million times denser than the matter on earth
The two pieces of evidence for the Big Bang theory
Red shift
Cosmic microwave background (Cmb) radiation
What is the change in wave frequency relative to an observer due to a moving source called
The Doppler effect
How can we know that the sun contains helium
There are black lines in the spectrum of light where helium has absorbed light
How do we know red shift is happening
The black lines where helium has absorbed light exist on different parts of the light spectrum in other stars compared to the suns ( specifically towards the red end) this shift is a form of the Doppler effect and it’s called red shift
The change in frequency shows us that distant galaxies are moving away from us the further away the galaxy the faster it is moving
This is evidence suggests that matter is moving away from itself which is evidence for an expanding universe
The Big Bang theory states that this started billions of years agog with an explosion
What is cosmic background radiation
Microwaves coming from every direction from space
Big Bang theory states that this is energy produced in the beginning of the universe just after the Big Bang and that has been travelling through space ever since
What caused the Big Bang theory to be the accepted theory
Red shift is used to explain both steady state and the Big Bang theory but cosmic microwave background radiation only is evidence for the Big Bang theory
What happens to a heavy weight star after the red giant phase
It blows apart in a massive explosion called a supernova
Then there is only the central part left behind which forms a neutron star or a black hole if it is heavy enough
Black holes have a large mass and a large gravity even light can’t escape them
What is a nebula
A cloud of dust and gas from which a star forms
What does a massive star form when it has used its hydrogen and helium
A red super giant
What is the reaction in stars
Nuclear fusion between hydrogen to form helium
What happens to a small red giant
It contracts to form a white dwarf
What happens to a large medium or super red giant
It goes on making nuclear reactions until a large explosion called a supernova happens leaving a neutron star
What happens to a really dense neutron star
Collapses to form a black hole
How old is the sun
5 billion years
Why does the sun seem bigger than other stars
Because it’s closer to earth
How far away from centre of the galaxy is the sun
Half way
How far away are we from the next galaxy
2.5 million light years
How many other galaxies are there
One hundred thousand million
Most asteroids are found between which planets
Mars and Jupiter in the asteroid belt
What is the definition of ultrasound
Sounds with frequencies above 20,000hz
What is the normal range of human hearing
20hz-20khz
How is ultrasound used for imaging
Computers are able to produce images by combining many ultrasound reflection readings. This is used in medicine for pre-natal scanning (checking unborn babies)
How is ultrasound used
Three ways
Ultrasound for pre natal scanning
Computers are able to produce detailed images by combining many reflection readings
Quality control procedures to check manufactured objects such as railway tracks and oil pipelines for damage of defects. This works by sending ultrasound into the object and if there are any cracks the ultrasound will bounce off and be caught by a detector
Sonar
An ultrasound signal is sent off it bounces off the seabed or a shoal of fish and the echo is detected
The time the wave takes to travel indicates the depth of the sea bed or shoal of fish
What is infra sound
Sound below 20hz
How is infra sound detected
Using a microphone
Four uses of infrasound
Elephants and giraffes use infrasound to communicate
Scientists can track the herds using microphones even if they are hidden in dense forests this helps the conservation and protection of these animals
It can be used to detect volcanic eruptions
As a volcanoes erupts it produces infra sound which can be detected even if the volcanoes is in a remote location a long way away
Scientists can also use infrasound to track the passage of meteors through the atmosphere if a meteor did not burn up and hit a populated area it could cause considerable damage
What are the layers of the earth from the outside in and their properties
Crust. relatively thin and rocky
Mantle. Has the properties of a solid but can flow very slowly
Outer core. Made from liquid nickel and iron
Inner cor. Made from solid nickel and iron
Why do plates move on the earth
Convection currents in the mantle driven by radioactive decay of elements and heat left from the earths formation
What are seismic waves
Shock waves produced by earthquakes
How do we detect seismic waves
Seismographs