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physics spec > space physics > Flashcards

space physics Flashcards

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1
Q

components of our solar system

A
  • one star AKA the sun
  • eight planets
  • dwarf planets that orbit sun
  • natural satellites
  • moons that orbit planets
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2
Q

what is our solar system a part of

A

the milky way galaxy

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3
Q

how was the sun formed

A

from a cloud of dust and gas pulled together by gravitational attraction

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4
Q

what is a nebula

A

a cloud of dust and gas; how all starts start off

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5
Q

how does a nebula develop

A

gravitational attraction between dust and gas particles in nebula causes it to collapse and become more dense to form a protostar

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6
Q

what happens as gravitational force in a protostar strengthens

A
  • protostar gains mass and becomes denser
  • particles collide faster
  • particles release more heat energy
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7
Q

what happens as a protostar becomes hotter and denser

A
  • pressure and temp increase
  • fusion reactions take place; hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium
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8
Q

what happens when fusion in a protostar starts

A

protostar becomes a main sequence star

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9
Q

how does a main sequence star develop

A

outward force due to fusion leads to equilibrium between star, allowing for a long, stable period that lasts billions of years

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10
Q

what happens as hydrogen runs out in a main sequence star

A

fusion will stop taking place

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11
Q

what happens when fusion stops taking place in a main sequence star

A
  • forces become unbalanced
  • inward force due to gravity outweighs outward force due to fusion
  • star collapses in on itself
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12
Q

what happens when a main sequence star collapses in on itself

A
  • becomes denser
  • fusion between helium atoms take place
  • heavier elements produced and star expands again
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13
Q

when a main sequence star expands again, what determines what it will expand into

A

the size of the star

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14
Q

as a main sequence star expands again, what happens if it was the same size as our sun

A
  • expands into red giant
  • fusion stops taking place
  • collapses into small, dense core
  • sheds outer layers of gas
  • forms white dward
  • emits all of its energy
  • becomes black dwarf
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15
Q

as a main sequence star expands again, what happens if it was much larger than our sun

A
  • expands into red super giant
  • fusion stops taking place due to lack of sufficient pressure
  • collapses
  • heavier elements up to iron fuse
  • fusion produces lots of energy
  • star expands rapidly
  • explodes into supernova
  • temp and pressure high enough for elements heavier than iron to be produced
  • elements distributed across universe
  • star becomes neutron star or black hole depending on its mass
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16
Q

what is a neutron star

A

a solid dense core full of neutrons

17
Q

what is a black hole

A

a star with such a large mass and density that even light cannot escape it

18
Q

what do fusion processes do in stars

A

produce all naturally occurring elements

19
Q

what is produced in a supernova

A

elements heavier than iron

20
Q

what does a supernova do

A

the explosion of a massive star distributes the elements throughout the universe

21
Q

what is the purpose of gravity in space

A

it provides the force that allows planets and satellites (both artificial and natural) to maintain their circular orbits

22
Q

for circular orbits why can force of gravity lead to changing velocity but unchanged speed

A

orbits in a circle mean constant change of direction; velocity is speed in a given direction so it is changing. change in velocity.= acceleration, but overall speed is still the same, so velocity changes due to change in direction but speed remains constant

23
Q

fake made-up equation for radius of an orbit

A

radius x speed = constant

dec radius = inc in speed
inc radius = dec in speed
in order to keep a stable orbit

24
Q

what happens if radius of orbit decreases (i.e. gets closer to another planet for example)

A

speed has to increase to maintain stable orbit bc radius of orbit decreases, meaning grav attraction is much stronger than further away from earth

25
Q

how can an object counteract the stronger gravitational attraction from a decreased orbit radius

A

travels at a faster speed to maintain a stable orbit. if too slow, would be pulled in towards the earth and vice versa

26
Q

define red shift

A

the observed inc in the wavelength of light from most distant galaxed

27
Q

what is observed about wavelength from the red shift

A

the further away the galaxies, the faster they are moving and the bigger the observed increase in wavelength. this means it has shifted towards the red end of the spectrum bc red light has longest wavelength

28
Q

what have scientists observed from the red shift

A

red shift is greater from distant galaxies than nearby; means that distant galaxies are moving faster away from us than nearby galaxies. this shows that the universe must be expanding

29
Q

what does the red shift provide evidence for

A
  • the universe’s expansion
  • the big bang theory
30
Q

what does the big bang theory suggest

A

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

31
Q

what has been discovered since 1998 onwards

A

observations of supernovae suggest that distant galaxies are receding ever faster

32
Q

how does the red shift provide evidence for the big bang

A

if the universe is constantly expanding, suggested by the red shift, then that must mean it was once much smaller and originated from a single point, which is in line with the big bang theory

33
Q

what do we still not understand about the universe

A

dark mass and dark energy that we cannot detect because no EM radiation is emitted; they could perhaps explain why the expansion of the universe is speeding up

physics spec (10 decks)

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