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Physics Paper 2 > Space > Flashcards

Space Flashcards

1
Q

What is the solar system made up of?

A

Billions of galaxies

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2
Q

What does each galaxy contain?

A

Hundreds and millions of stars

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3
Q

Which galaxy is our solar system part of?

A

The Milky Way galaxy

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4
Q

What is our solar system made up of?

A
  • One star (the sun)
  • Planets and dwarf planets that orbit the sun
  • Asteroids and comets that also orbit the sun
  • Moons that orbit planets- these are referred to as natural satellites
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5
Q

What formed the sun?

A

The sun was formed from a nebula (cloud of gas and dust) which was pulled together by gravitational attraction.

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6
Q

What happened as the dust and gas were drawn together to form the nebula?

(Formation of sun)

A

As the dust and gas were drawn together, they collided, increasing the temperature and creating a protostar.

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7
Q

What happened as more and more material was drawn to the protostar?

(Formation of sun)

A

As more and more material was drawn together by gravity, these collisions increased until the temperature and pressure was high enough for hydrogen nuclei to fuse together forming helium and a main sequence star (the sun).

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8
Q

What happened to material that was not drawn into the sun?

A

It remained in orbit around the new star and formed the planets and other objects in our solar system.

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9
Q

What period of its lifecycle is the sun currently in?

A

In the main sequence period of its lifecycle and is stable.

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10
Q

What is the suns stability as a result of?

A

The balance between:

  • The fusion energy trying to expand the sun.
  • Gravity acting onwards trying to collapse the sun.
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11
Q

What determines the lifecycle of a star?

A

The size of the star

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12
Q

What do small stars (like the sun) end up as?

A

Black dwarf stars

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13
Q

What do large stars end up as?

A

Neutron stars

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14
Q

What do the largest stars end up as?

A

They become black holes.

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15
Q

How are stars made?

A

All stars begin in the same way as the sun did- clouds of dust and gas are drawn together by gravity to form a protostar and eventually a main sequence star.
During the main sequence, hydrogen fuses together to create helium and, in large stars, lithium.

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16
Q

How are new elements formed?

A

The fusion processes.

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17
Q

As a star ages what happens to its mass?

A

More and more of its mass is converted into energy by nuclear fusion.

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18
Q

What happens as the mass of a star decreases?

A

The outward forces become larger than the force from gravity.

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19
Q

What happens after the mass of a star decreases?

A

The star then expands and cools becoming a red-giant or red super giant.

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20
Q

What happens as the red-giant or red super giant cools?

A

As the star cools and the hydrogen fuel is used up, the outward forces are reduced.

21
Q

How are helium and lithium eventually fused?

A

The star collapses inwards due to gravity and this causes it to increase into temperature once more. It begins to fuse helium and lithium.

22
Q

What do fusion reactions lead to?

A

Fusion reactions lead to an equilibrium between the gravitational collapse of the star and the expansion of the star due to fusion energy.

23
Q

What do the largest stars explode as?

A

As a supernova, releasing tremendous amounts of energy and scattering the material of the star into space.

24
Q

What do fusion processes in stars produce?

A

All of the natural occurring elements.

25
Q

What are elements heavier than iron produced in?

A

A supernova

26
Q

What does the explosion of a massive star (supernova) do?

A

It distributes the elements throughout the universe.

27
Q

What was the only element in the universe before stars?

A

Hydrogen

28
Q

What do all stars fuse hydrogen into?

A

Into helium, bigger stars then fuse helium into lithium and other light-weight elements, up to and including iron.

29
Q

How much energy is released during a supernova?

A

During a supernova, the amount of energy released is so great that the temperature and pressure is higher enough to force nuclei together to create elements heavier than iron.

30
Q

What do planets orbit?

A

The sun

31
Q

What do moons orbit?

A

A planet

32
Q

What are moons known as?

A

Natural satellites

33
Q

What are artificial satellites?

A

Man-made satellites that orbit the Earth, such as those used for satellite TV and GPS systems.

34
Q

What allows planets and satellites to maintain these circular orbits?

A

Gravity

35
Q

For an object to travel in a circular path, what must there be?

A

A force that acts towards the centre of the circle (for planets and satellites it is gravity that acts towards the centre)

36
Q

What does the unbalanced force acting on an object result in?

A

An acceleration towards the centre.

37
Q

What happens to an object undergoing circular motion?

A
  • The acceleration does not cause the object to change speed.
  • The acceleration causes the object to change direction.
  • The velocity changes but the speed remains the same.
  • The instantaneous velocity is perpendicular to the centripetal force.
38
Q

How is a centripetal force created?

A

As an object orbits, the force of gravity pulls an object in a curved path, creating a centripetal force.

39
Q

What happens if you change the speed of an object in orbit?

A

It will cause its orbit to change or fail.

40
Q

How can an object stay in stable orbit?

A

To stay in a stable orbit, at a particular distance from a large body, the smaller body must have moved at a particular speed.

41
Q

For a stable orbit the greater the radius…

A

The slower the speed

42
Q

What are the waves produced when a source of waves is moving?

A
  • Squashed together as it moves towards a detector, reducing the detected wavelength.
  • Spread apart as it moves away from a detector, increasing the detected wavelength.

This is the Doppler effect

43
Q

When is the Doppler effect noticeable?

A

With sound travelling towards or away from an observer. The same effect happens with light- if a source of light is moving away from an observer, the wavelength becomes longer and therefore, redder.

44
Q

The faster the source is moving away from an observer.

A
  • The greater the observed increase in wavelength.

- The greater the red-shift.

45
Q

The further away the galaxies are…

A

The greater the red-shift

This indicates that the more distant a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from us.

46
Q

What do red-shift observations indicate?

A
  • All galaxies in the universe are moving away from one another.
  • The universe is expanding.
47
Q

What does the Big Bang Theory propose?

A

That the universe began from a very small region that was extremely hot and dense.

48
Q

Why is not much understood about the Big Bang?

A

The universe is so vast and observations are difficult hat there is much that is not understood or known.

49
Q

From 1988 what do observations of supernovae suggest that?

A
  • Distant galaxies are receding faster than ever.
  • The rate of expansion of the universe is increasing.

However it is not known how this increase in expansion is occurring. Scientists currently suggest that it is linked to dark matter and dark energy, but little is know about these and many more observations will be needed before a theory is agreed

Physics Paper 2 (3 decks)

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