Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Module 8.5
The Cosmic
Engine
Contextual outline
The Universe began with a singularity in space-time. After the initial explosion, the Universe started to
expand, cool and condense, forming matter. As part of this ongoing process the Sun and the Solar System
were formed over 4x109 years ago from a gas cloud which resulted from a supernova explosion. The
condensing gas and dust that formed the Sun and the planets contained all its original elements. The
planets were formed when matter came together under the influence of gravity.
This module increases students understanding of the history of physics, implications of physics for society
and the environment and current issues, research and developments in physics.
Assumed Knowledge
Domain: knowledge and understanding:
Refer to the Science Stages 45 Syllabus for the following:
5.6.5a identify that energy may be released from the nuclei of atoms
5.7.1a describe the features and location of protons, neutrons and electrons in the atom
5.9.1a discuss current scientific thinking about the origin of the Universe
5.9.1c describe some of the difficulties in obtaining information about the Universe
5.9.3a relate some major features of the Universe to theories about the formation of the Universe
5.9.3b describe some changes that are likely to take place during the life of a star.
Skills
During this module teaching/learning activities should allow time to reflect on the relationships between the
processes involved in the evolution of the Universe, the formation of stars and solar systems and the effects
of solar and terrestrial processes on the Earth. Emphasis must be placed on the evidence for the processes
and the effects that such processes have on the Earth's atmosphere. Skill development relies on teacher
input to model skills that students may need further assistance in refining. The skill development in this
program focuses on:
Accessing information from a range of resources, including popular scientific journals, digital
technologies and the Internet;
Developing skills in selection of appropriate media to present information;
Identify examples of the interconnectedness of ideas or scientific principles;
Using models, including mathematical ones, to explain phenomena and/or make predictions;
Analysing information to identify examples of interconnected ideas or scientific principles;
Summarising and collating information from a range of sources;
Assess the reliability of first-hand and secondary information and data by considering information from
various sources, and
Assess the accuracy of scientific information presented in mass media by comparison with similar
information presented in scientific journals.
to value and appreciate physics in becoming scientifically literate persons; and an ability to show
flexibility and responsiveness to ideas and evidence as it arises.
Concept Map
UNIVERSE
Current
Model
Historical
Models
Origin
Expansion
Accretion of
galaxies and
Radiation
to Matter
Stars
Fusion
Reactions
Radioactive
Behaviour
Life-Span
Varieties
of Star
Groups
Life-Span
Emissions
from nuclei
Explosions
(supernovas))
Brightness
and
Luminosity
SOLAR
SYSTEM
Development
and Current
Structure
Newton's Law
of
Gravitation
Kepler's
3rd Law
Sun
Emissions
Earth
Sun Spots
Solar
Winds
Atmosphere
Black
Bodies
Magnetic Fields
and
Van Allen Belts
Tim
e
2
Concept
Resources
Practical
Summary
notes
NS: A Theory
of Some
Gravity
3. Stars have a
limited life span and
may explode to form
supernovas
WS: Boltzmann
Distribution
Contexts I: pp.
313-324
NS: Life of a
Star
WS: HR
Diagrams
Tim
e
3
Concept
Resources
Practical
NS: Rocky
Dwarfs and
Gassy Giants
Contexts I: pp.
318-320
Contexts I: pp.
320-322
Contexts I: pp.
362
Humphrey Set
76
Contexts I: pp.
346-360
10
Problem: How can the retrograde motion of the planets be reconciled with Platos idea of the nature of
stars?
The problem of Celestial Mechanics as formulated by Plato:
What combination of uniform circular motions can account for the apparent retrograde motions of the
planets?
The solution to this problem, based on Platos preconceived ideas concerning the nature of celestial objects,
was to occupy the thoughts of astronomers for the next 2000 years!
Eudoxus (c. 408-355 BC)
Conceived the first comprehensive geocentric system to Platos
problem. The universe consisted of celestial objects each on the
equator of an imaginary sphere which rotated with uniform circular
motion. Altogether there were 27 transparent, concentric spheres
rotating uniformly about the earth on various axes not parallel to one
another:
Celestial Object
Sun
Moon
Five planets
Stars
Total
No. of axes /
spheres
3
3
4 each
1
27
Thus the observed motions of the planets and other celestial objects
could (almost) be duplicated by 27 simultaneous uniform circular motions.
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Made little contribution to astronomy himself but summarised the prevailing astronomical thought. His
writings were important because his physical and astronomical ideas became incorporated into medieval
Christian doctrine, and therefore influenced scientific thought for many centuries.
Aristotle taught that the circle and the sphere were perfect figures and were the only ones upon which the
universe could be modelled. He refined and extended the geocentric model of Eudoxus. In Eudoxus
system, the spheres were simply mathematical constructions. Aristotle replaced them by physically real
crystalline spheres. Aristotle extended the number of spheres from 27 to 55:
1 for the stars
7 each for Saturn and Jupiter
8 each for Mars, Venus and Mercury
7 for the sun
3 for the moon
+6 additional spheres introduced by Callipus (370-300 BC)
Each sphere was driven around by the sphere outside it. The earth was stationary because there was no
observed stellar parallax. Aristotle discussed the possibility of a heliocentric model but dismissed it on this
point. He also taught that the moon was not self-luminous but shone by reflecting light from the sun.
11
Problem: The model could not explain the periodic changes in the apparent size and brightness of the sun,
moon and planets.
12
A
S
(
Thus AS
2 Re
360
2 Re AS ( 360 )
Re
Re
x
Appolonius
Explained the apparent changes in the size and brightness of the sun, moon and planets by having them
move on eccentric circles about the earth.
Hipparchus (fl. 150 AD)
Carried out careful and precise observations that yielded the
data on planetary positions used later by Ptolemy in the
development of his geocentric theory of the universe. He
proved that an eccentric circle was equivalent to an earthcentred rotating anti-clockwise, coupled with a deferent
centred epic(ycle) rotating clockwise and with the same
period. He also discovered that the vernal equinox drifted
slowly westward along the ecliptic relative to the
background of fixed stars.
One Stadia is approximately 157 metres according to historians, but whether this is the true figure or reverse engineering by
historians from Eratosthenes work is a matter of conjecture. Another measure of the stadia gives 197 metres as the current figure
13
to
it
R1
R2
foci
planet
Sun
B.
Law of areas: a line joining the planet and the sun suites out of equal area in equal intervals of
time.
C.
Law of periods:
T 2 const.
, Rav = (Ra + Rp)
Rav3
Kepler also said that the orbits of the nonterrestrial planets lay in planes inclined at various angles
against the ecliptic.
16
1. The law of orbits describe the shape of a planets orbit and was an abandonment of Platos dictum that
planets had to move in circular orbits.
2. The law of areas describe how planet moved in its orbit: a planet moves non-uniformly in its elliptical
orbit. This was also an abandonment of the ancient dictum that planet kept moving uniformly in its
circular orbit.
3. The law of periods described the relationship between different orbits.
4. Keplers laws allow the motion of the planet to be completely characterised by six orbital parameters:
Ra
1
Rp
c
e
: eccentricity
a Ra
1
Rp
Rav
5. With the six parameters the past and future history of each planet could be very accurately derived or
predicted.
6. Keplers methodology greatly influenced science as it helped establish the use of the algebraic equation
as a form for setting physical laws.
7. Kepler was also the first person to attempt to describe the geometric motion of the planets as being due
to some physical cause: he proposed that the planets were driven around their orbits by a motive force
which emanate from the Sun which diminished in strength with increasing distance from the Sun:
I am much occupied with investigation of physical causes. My aim in this is to show that the celestial machine is to be likened not to a
divine organism but rather to a clockwork insofar as nearly all the manifold movements and carried out by means of a single quite simple
magnetic force, as in the case of a clockwork, all motions at caused by a simple weight. Moreover, I show how this physical conception
is to be presented through calculation and geometry. (Letter to Herwart, 1605)
Planet
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
R (astronomical units*)
0.387
0.723
1.000
1.523
5.202
9.554
19.218
30.109
39.60
T (seconds)
7.60 X 106
1.94 X 107
3.16 X 107
5.94 X 107
3.74 X 108
9.30 X 108
2.66 X 109
5.20 X 109
7.82 X 109
R3 / T2
0.998 X 1013
0.995 X 1013
1.00 X 1013
0.996 X 1013
0.994 X 1013
0.990 X 1013
1.00 X 1013
0.990 X 1013
0.985 X 1013
* one astronomical unit (AU) is the one-half the sum of the longest
shortest distance from earth to the Sun. 1 A.U = 1.495 X 1014 m
and
17
Cepheid Variables
This class of stellar objects fluctuate in their apparent luminosity. In essence they are really super giant yellow
stars. They can be classed into two main groups:
a) Irregular Variables
These Cepheids have no regular periodicity to their luminosity but appear to fluctuate randomly
(although these apparent random fluctuations can be in part predicted by chaos theory).
b) Regular Variables
These Cepheids do have a regular period with
which their luminosity varies. The first identified
regular variable was -Cephus (found in the
Magellanic Cloud) with a period of 6 days.
18
Star Magnitudes
Magnitudes are a logarithmic scale (or rank) system that is used to classify stars according to their brightness.
One of the oldest systems was developed by the Greeks about 2500 years ago. It involved using naked eye
observations of the relative brightness of stars. These stars brightnesses fell into different categories: each
category was separated by being half as bright as the previous, viz.
Group 0 Stars - the brightest in the (Northern) sky.
Group 1 Stars - half as bright as Group 0 stars.
Group 2 Stars - half as bright as Group 1 stars
(quarter as bright as Group 0)
etc.
Group 5 Stars - 1/64 as bright as Group 0 stars
(these are just visible to the naked eye)
This system works adequately for most stars but as our knowledge of stars grew, various problems were
encountered. For instance, some stars in the Southern hemisphere are brighter than those in the Northern
hemisphere, thus a system of negative numbers was needed to accommodate these stars. Secondly, the base 2
aspect of this system proves hard to manage in any mathematical treatment of star magnitudes.
The modern system incorporates the essence of the Greek system with a few changes. Firstly, it was decided
to use five scale divisions which corresponded to a 100 fold change in brightness, viz.
Group -1.4 - brightest stars (includes Sirius)
Group -1
Group 0 - brightest star in Northern hemisphere
Group 1
Group 2 100 fold
each scale division
Group 3 change in OR
is 5100 = 2.51 times
Group 4 brightness
less bright than the
Group 5
one above it.
The brightness of a star depends on several factors. Generally, the larger the star, the brighter it appears
although this is not always the case. Secondly, the surface temperature of the star dictates not only the apparent
brightness but also the colour of the star (see below). Due to the way we perceive colour and the brightnesses of
each colour, this will also influence the brightness of the star to a human observer. Another obvious factor is
how far away the star is from Earth as light intensity follows an inverse-square law for distance. The brightness
of a star as viewed from Earth is called the apparent magnitude.
The absolute magnitude of a star is a calculated value which measures the brightness of a star as it would
appear if it was 10 parsecs away from Earth/observer. This gives a scale that we can compare different stars to
and relate their magnitudes.
e.g. A star has an apparent magnitude m = -1 and absolute magnitude M = 10. What can you determine about
it?
ANS: 1) it is a dim, rather cool star.
2) it is very close to Earth
e.g.2 Another star has m = 8 and M = -2. What can you determine about it?
ANS: 1) it is a very bright star
2) it is a long way away from Earth.
19
Clearly, by knowing m and M you can judge the distance to a star and its relative surface temperature. But
what is the mathematical relationship between m and M? Well, as we have seen before, the brightness of an
object diminishes according to the square of the distance, hence we can deduce a formula:
Apparent Magnitude m = Absolute Magnitude M X 1/d
OR
m / M = 1 / d . . . . . . . (1)
However, magnitudes are an inverse log scale (i.e. as the magnitude number increases, the brightness decreases
on a logarithmic scale). So we can rewrite the formula as thus:
m / M = 2.51 X log10 (d / 1). . . . . (2)
this is the difference between two
consecutive magnitude i.e. 5100
As the absolute magnitude is defined at a distance of 10 parsecs, we can write the formula as follows:
m / M = 2.51 X log10 (d / 10)
OR m - M = 2.51 X log10 (d / 10)
m - M = 5.02 X log10 (d / 10). . . . . (3)
where d is in parsecs
example: For the Sun: m = -27, M = +5
thus m - M = 5 log10 (d / 10)
-27- 5 = 5 log10 (d / 10)
-32 = 5 log10 (d / 10)
-6.4 = log10 (d / 10)
d / 10 = 3 X 10-6
d = 3 X 10-5 parsecs
If a star was 100 parsecs away,
m - M = 5 log10 (100 / 10)
= 5 log10 10
=5
thus the difference between apparent and absolute magnitude would be 5.
Knowing this magnitude formula we can establish a "yardstick" by which to measure relative distances in the
universe. The best (and chosen) stellar objects to do this with are the Cepheid variables, which act as "standard
candles" to which all other measurements are compared.
20
Spectra of Elements
When we look at the spectrum produced by a typical star, we notice that there are particular wavelengths in the
spectrum which are either missing or reinforced. These wavelengths are directly attributable to the elements in
that star.
When energy is supplied to an atom, it causes electrons in the shell of the atom to "jump" to a higher shell of
the atom. Upon jumping down from this higher energy shell, the electron releases energy, but the amount of
energy it releases is fixed. This energy manifests itself as light of a particular frequency, as given by the equation
E = h.f (see above). Since each element of the Periodic table has its unique shell structure, the energies involved
are also unique to that element. The areas of a spectrum where these transitions occur are called spectral lines.
Spectral lines can occur in two ways. Firstly, the energy around the atom will cause it to produce spectral lines
and so reinforce those particular spectral lines in the spectrum. This is called emission spectra. The other way
spectra are produced is when the element absorbs those particular frequencies from the surrounding light,
causing a dark band where that frequency used to be. Such a spectrum is called an absorption spectrum.
21
Black-Body Radiation
In order to understand something about the colour of stars we must visit some ideas that were established last
century. Firstly one must accept that the energy delivered by a single photon (particle) of light is given by the
formula:
Energy E (Joules) = h.f (frequency Hz)
where h is Planck's Constant = 6.62618 X 10-34 Js-1.
This means that higher frequency (hence shorter wavelength) light contains more energy. For the visible
spectrum, red has the least energy and violet has the most.
Secondly, many objects, including stars, can be thought of as a black box (body) with a tiny hole in it through
which the radiation can escape. Normally such bodies will radiate out light at all frequencies but not equally.
The distribution of frequencies depends on the temperature of the box. viz.
It is common experience that the hotter an object
gets, the more blue tends to be the light that it emits.
Consider a stove element. When it is reasonably cool
it emits a dull red glow. As it gets hotter the glow
changes from red through to orange to perhaps even
yellow. Other materials can continue to go through
the spectrum of colours as they get hotter until they
start emitting all the colours (which we perceive as
white light).
22
23
Spectral Class
Spectral Type
O
Absolute Magnitude
-6 to 4
Typical Star
-Orion
O5
-4 to 0
-Orion
B0
28000 to 10000
0.5 to 2.5
Vega
A0
10000 to 7500
2.6 to 4.3
-Persei
F5
7500-6000
4.4 to 5.8
Sun (Sol)
G4
6000-5000
5.9 to 8.9
Arcturus
K2
5000-3500
9 to 16
3500
W
WC / WN
S
R /N
-6 to 4
-5.3 to 4.7
-1
>16
Antares
(giant)
M1
Rare
30000+
23000 to 28000
2500
<2500
Criteria
Neutral & ionised Helium, HeI
& HeII, ionised carbon CII,
ionised silicon SiIII, After O5,
classification based on HeI4471 /
HeII4541
Weak HeII, disappears at B5;
intense HeI, max. at B2; lines of
OII & NII, H becomes most
intense
HeI disappears; H very intense,
max. from A0 to A3; CaII, FeII,
CrII &TiII, FeI, CrI increase
from A0 to A9. Classification
based on the ratio of CaII3934 H
For
many
stars
strong
pecularities (eg intense bands of
Si or Eu)
Spectrum dominated by many
lines of neutral or singly ionised
metals. CaI most intense. H
rapidly decreases from F0 to F9.
CaII increases. Classification
based on ratio of HI4341 /
CaI4226
Neutral
metals
dominate
spectrum.
Classification on
HI4341 / FeI4325. Bands of
molecular CN and CH appear.
Neutral metals still intense.
Classified on ratio of CaI4226 /
FeI4290+; band of CH@4300.
CN & CH increase. TiO appears
at K5
Many metallic bands.
TiO
dominates.
Many molecules
present.
HeII in emission
CII, CIII, CIV, OII, NIV, NV
No TiO, abundant ZrO
CH, C2, CN
24
along a "main sequence" - a continuous series of stars showing a progressive loss of mass and lower surface
temperature. Below 3000C stars are too cool to be luminous.
25
Any object acted upon by an attractive central force will orbit the centre:
B.
If the central force also obeys an inverse square law with respect to distance from the centre, ie if
F 12 , then the orbit will be a conic function: circle, ellipse, parabola or hyperbola.
R
C. Depending upon the initial velocity and position of the object subject to the central inverse square force,
the orbit will be open (parabola or hyperbola) or closed (circle or ellipse):
Sun
Parabola
Hyperbola
Sun
Circle
Sun
Sun
Ellipse
26
2 Newton then used Keplers Law of periods (the third Law) to derive his Law of universal gravitation:
Derivation of the law of universal gravitation using Keplers third Law
s
K s ac R 2
T2
4 2 K s m p
Centripetal acceleration
Now from Keplers Third Law:
Fsp m p ac
R2
2
Now Ks depends upon the sun, so let 4 K Gms where G is a universal constant, thus
ms m p
Fsp G
towards the Sun
R2
Newtons verification that
F 12
R
Newton used the fact that the Earth has a moon to test whether a celestial object (the moon) obeys the same
1
laws as a terrestrial object (such as a falling stone) by testing whether F 2 is true for both.
R
Prediction of the centripetal acceleration of the moon in its orbit using Newtons Law of universal
gravitation
ms me
Re2
m m me
Gravitational force on the moon at its orbital distance from the Earth Fem mm ae G
Re2
Fes ms ae G
a
R m
m e . m
a e Rm m s
Rm
Re
R
a m ae . e
Rm
9.81X 1
60
a m 0.00272ms 2
Calculation of the moons centripetal acceleration using the formula from terrestrial mechanics ac v
Moon
4 Rm 4 3.8 X 10
ac v
0.00272ms 2
2
2
6
Rm
Tm
2.36 X 10
2
to
Rm
Earth
27
The agreement is exceptionally good and was the first quantitative correlation between an earthbound
phenomenon and a heavenly phenomenon. This Newton did when he was about 24 years old, at a time when
he had retired from Cambridge due to the plague. He wrote:
and the same year I began to think of gravity, extending to ye orb of the moon, and from Keplers rule
(Keplers third Law) I deduced that the forces which keep the planets in their orbits must be reciprocally
as the squares of their distances from the centres about which they revolve: and thereby compared the force
requisite to keep the moon in her orb with the force of gravity at the surface of the Earth and found them
answer pretty nearly. All of this was in the two plague years of 1665 and 1666, for in those days I was in the
prime of my age
Verification that force is proportional to mass and the determination of G: the Cavendish experiment
Verification that the gravitational force acting between two bodies is directly proportional to the product of
their masses was not forthcoming until a century and a half after Newton had published his law. In 1798
Henry Cavendish developed an instrument to measure the feeble force between two objects in the laboratory:
F GMm
k G kd
Mm
d2
28
me m
Gm
g 2e
2
Re
Re
Variations in g
The value of g varies over the earth due to a number of
factors:
1. Distance from the earth
me
if R Re
R2
(a)
g G
(b)
g Gme R if R<Re
the
Gme ms 1
ms v 2
R
2
if ET < 0 then the satellite is bound to the earth and orbits it.
If ET 0 then the satellite is free from the earth and escapes.
2. Orbital Velocity
A satellite orbits the earth when ET < 0 and centripetal force Fc= gravitational force Fg
ie
ms vo2
mm
Gme
G e 2 s vo
Ro
Ro
Ro
ves
2Gme
Re
29
Black-Body Radiation
In order to understand something about the colour of stars we must visit some ideas that were established last
century. Firstly one must accept that the energy delivered by a single photon (particle) of light is given by the
formula:
Energy E (Joules) = h.f (frequency Hz)
where h is Planck's Constant = 6.62618 X 10-34 Js-1.
This means that higher frequency (hence shorter wavelength) light contains more energy. For the visible
spectrum, red has the least energy and violet has the most.
Secondly, many objects, including stars, can be thought of as a black box (body) with a tiny hole in it through
which the radiation can escape. Normally such bodies will radiate out light at all frequencies but not equally.
The distribution of frequencies depends on the temperature of the box. viz.
It is common experience that the hotter an object
gets, the more blue tends to be the light that it emits.
Consider a stove element. When it is reasonably cool
it emits a dull red glow. As it gets hotter the glow
changes from red through to orange to perhaps even
yellow. Other materials can continue to go through
the spectrum of colours as they get hotter until they
start emitting all the colours (which we perceive as
white light).
Figure 6 BlackBodyRadiation
atDifferentTemperatures
It is important to note that even at low temperatures an object can still emit high energy light but the
proportion of this light is small compared to the other lower energy forms of light.
Hence red stars are comparatively cooler than yellow stars which are in turn cooler than white stars while blue
stars are the hottest objects that we can detect.
Although for the last few thousand years we have used visible light to detect the stars, many stellar object
radiate energy from the radio wavelengths (lowest energy) through to cosmic rays (which are above gamma rays
in energy), and it is only this century that we have been able to detect these radiations which are invisible to us.
For instance, even though we cannot "see" a black hole, as matter is dragged into it enormous amounts of
energy are released in the X-ray region of light which we can detect using X-ray telescopes (like the one which
was put into orbit in 1990).
30
Preliminary Physics C5: The Cosmic Engine Activity 2: Probable Origins of the universe
Aim: To identify data sources and gather secondary information to describe the probable origins of the
universe
Outcomes Assessed
o accessing information from a range of resources, including popular scientific journals, digital
technologies and the Internet (12.3a)
o extracting information from numerical data in graphs and tables as well as written and spoken
material in all its forms (12.3c)
o summarising and collating information from a range of resources (12.3d)
o identifying practising male and female Australian scientists, and the areas in which they are
currently working and in formation about their research (12.3e)
Write a 500 word report on this issue, including relevant diagrams.
A bibliography must be included and in-text referencing used.
31
Outcomes Assessed
o
o
o
o
o
assess the accuracy of any measurements and calculations and the relative importance of the data
and information gathered (12.4a)
identify and apply appropriate mathematical formulae and concepts (12.4b)
justify inferences and conclusions (14.1b)
identify and explain how data supports or refutes an hypothesis, a prediction or a proposed solution
to a problem (14.1c)
predict outcomes and generate plausible explanations related to the observations (14.1d)
make and justify generalisations (14.1e)
Method
Plot a HR diagram for the data given in the table below. Plot using a different coloured pen for the two sets
of data.
Table 1: Nearest Stars
Name
Proxima centauri
-centauri
Munich 15040
Lalande 21 185
Wolf 359
Sirius A
B.D. 12 4523
Corboda Vh. 243
Ross 248
-Ceti
Procyon
-Eridani
61 Cygni
Lacaille 9352
-2398
Groombridge 34
-Indi
Krger 60
Van Maanens
Lalande 8760
O.A. (N) 17 415
* Binary Star
Magnitude
Apparent
Absolute
10.5
15.5
0.06
4.7, 6.1
9.7
13.4
7.6
10.7
13.5
16.5
-1.6
1.3
9.5
12.1
9.2
11.7
13.8
16.3
3.6
6.1
0.5
3.0
3.8
6.3
5.6
8.0
7.4
9.7
8.8
11.1
8.1
10.4
4.7
6.9
9.3
11.4
12.3
14.3
6.7
8.6
4.3
11.2
Name
Sirius
Canopus
-Centauri
Vega
Capella
Arcturus
Rigel
Procyon
Achernar
-Centauri
Altair
Betelgeuse
-Crucis
Aldebaran
Pollux
Spica
Antares
Fomalhaut
Deneb
Regulus
-Crucis
Castor
Magnitude
Apparent
Absolute
-1.58
1.3
-0.86
-7.4
0.06
4.7, 6.1
0.14
0.6
0.21
-0.6
0.24
-0.2
0.34
-5.8
0.5
3.0
0.60
-0.9
0.86
-3.9
0.89
2.4
0.92
-2.9
1.05
-2.7, 2.2
1.06
-0.1
1.21
1.2
1.21
-3.1
1.22
-4.0
1.29
2.0
1.33
-5.2
1.34
0.2
1.50
-2.5
1.58
1.4, 2.2
Spectral Type
A0
F0
G0, K5
A0
G0
K0
B8
F5
B5
B1
A5
M0
B1, B1*
K5
K0
B2
M0
A3
A2
B8
B1
A0, A0*
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3. Gather information from the internet to obtain the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of open and globular
clusters and use available evidence to deduce the life cycle of a star
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Aim: To perform a first-hand investigation to gather information to determine the penetrating power of alpha,
beta and gamma radiation on a range of materials
Outcomes Assessed
o
o
o
o
carrying out the planned procedure, recognising where and when modifications are needed and
analysing the effect of these adjustments (12.1a)
identifying and using safe work practices during investigations (12.1d)
using appropriate data collection techniques, employing appropriate technologies, including data
loggers and sensors (12.2a)
measuring, observing and recording results in accessible and recognisable forms, carrying out
repeat trials as appropriate (12.2b)
Method
Your teacher will show you the use of the Geiger counter and demonstrate the following:
(0) Background Radiation Count
(a) Penetration of the Radiations through Materials
(b) Ionising Effect of the Radiations
(c) Deflection by Magnetic Fields
(d) Deflection by Electric Fields
(e) Radiation Count and Distance Measurements
Results
Record your results in a table.
Discussion
1. Which radiation penetrates the most? The least?
2. Is there a correlation between depth of penetration and amount of deflection in E & B-fields?
3. The radiations which are deflected by E- & B-fields are said to be ionising radiations. Explain why this
term can be applied to them and which is the most ionising radiation.
4. Why is it that only these three types of radiation are detected? Why aren't other types also found?
Part B: Modelling Radioactive Decay Using Dice.
Aim: To provide a mathematical model for radioactive decay using a simulation.
Background
Radioactive decay is a random event. As such, there are a few mathematical theories which can
determine the outcome of a probabilistic event, such as throwing dice. In this simulation each die will
represent a radioactive atom which undergoes a spontaneous decay to another atom, and hence is
effectively removed from the bulk of the sample.
Method
1. Place 100 dice in a container.
2. Shake the container well and then remove and count the number of dice which come up with the number
"1".
3. Repeat step 2 until all the dice are removed.
4. Graph the number of dice left vs. roll number.
5. If you have time and have determined the half-life of the dice, check this result by putting all 100 dice
back into the container and going for 2 rolls.
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Outcomes Assessed
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
accessing information from a range of resources, including popular scientific journals, digital
technologies and the Internet (12.3a)
extracting information from numerical data in graphs and tables as well as written and spoken
material in all its forms (12.3c)
summarising and collating information from a range of resources (12.3d)
identifying practising male and female Australian scientists, and the areas in which they are
currently working and in formation about their research (12.3e)
identify and apply appropriate mathematical formulae and concepts (12.4b)
evaluate the validity of first-hand and secondary information and data in relation to the area of
investigation (12.4d)
assess the reliability of first-hand and secondary information and data by considering information
from various sources (12.4e)
assess the accuracy of scientific information presented in mass media by comparison with similar
information presented in scientific journals (12.4f)
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