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Introduction Solar
Introduction to Solar System and Planetary Science Concepts
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What prefix represents 10^3? | Kilo (k) |
| What prefix represents 10^-6? | Micro (μ) |
| Which direction does the solar system revolve and spin when viewed from the North? | Counter-clockwise. |
| What is an AU? | Astronomical Unit, the average distance between the Sun and the Earth, approximately 149,600,000 km. |
| How far does light travel in one AU? | Light travels 1 AU in 8 minutes. |
| What percentage of the solar system's mass is contained in the Sun? | 99.85%. |
| What are the two main classifications of planets in the solar system? | Terrestrial planets and Giant planets. |
| What are terrestrial planets characterized by? | They are small, rocky, and have few or no moons. |
| What defines giant planets? | They are large, gas-rich planets that often have many moons and no definable surfaces. |
| What is the IAU's definition of a planet? | A body that orbits a star, is spherical, and clears its dynamical neighborhood of smaller objects. |
| What is a dwarf planet according to the IAU? | A body that orbits the sun, is nearly spherical, is not a satellite of a planet, and does not have to clear its neighborhood. |
| What is the upper limit for planet size? | About 13 Jupiter masses, at which point hydrogen fusion can occur. |
| What is the significance of Pluto's classification? | Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006 due to its size and inability to clear its orbit. |
| What is the mass of Earth? | 6 x 10^24 kg. |
| What is the radius of Earth? | About 6000 km. |
| What are the distances of the planets from the Sun in AU? | Mercury ~0.4, Venus ~0.7, Earth 1, Mars ~1.5, Jupiter ~5, Saturn ~10, Uranus ~20, Neptune ~30. |
| What are the two types of giant planets? | Gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn) and ice giants (Uranus, Neptune). |
| What is the Oort Cloud? | A region that starts at ~10,000 AU and extends to 100,000 AU, containing long-period comets. |
| What is the Kuiper Belt? | A region that starts at 30 AU and ends at 50 AU, containing many small icy bodies. |
| What is the significance of naming celestial objects? | Planetary scientists give nicknames to new discoveries, which are later officially named by the IAU. |
| What is the definition of an Astronomical Unit (AU)? | Approximately 150 million kilometers. |
| What is the primary source of information about other planets? | Light, including visible and non-visible wavelengths. |
| How do we measure the flow of energy in light? | In units of watts (W), where 1 watt = 1 joule/second. |
| What is white light composed of? | All the colors of the rainbow. |
| What happens to light when it interacts with transparent objects? | Transparent objects transmit light. |
| What is the difference between reflection and scattering of light? | Reflection directs light in a specific direction, while scattering disperses light in many directions. |
| What is the role of photons in light? | Photons are the particles of light that carry energy. |
| What is the electromagnetic spectrum? | The range of all types of electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. |
| What determines the wavelength and frequency of a light wave? | The vibrations of the electric field. |
| What is the speed of light in a vacuum? | Approximately 3 x 10^8 meters per second. |
| What is the relationship between wavelength, frequency, and energy of light? | Energy is directly proportional to frequency and inversely proportional to wavelength. |
| What is a light year? | The distance that light travels in one year, approximately 10 trillion kilometers or 60,000 AU. |
| What is the significance of Planck's constant? | It relates the energy of a photon to its frequency. |
| What happens to the energy of a photon as its frequency increases? | The energy of the photon increases. |
| What is the effect of light on the appearance of objects? | Interactions between light and matter determine how we perceive the appearance of everything around us. |
| What is the primary question regarding why a rose appears red? | The rose absorbs other colors of light and reflects red light. |
| What is the formula relating wavelength, frequency, and the speed of light? | c = wavelength × frequency. |
| What is the period of a wave? | The time it takes for one complete vibration of the wave. |
| What is the relationship between frequency and period? | Frequency is the inverse of the period (Frequency = 1/Period). |
| What is the primary goal of studying light in planetary science? | To understand how light and matter interact and what information can be derived from light. |
| What can spacecraft determine from gamma rays emitted by surface rocks? | The elements present in the rocks. |
| How do thin atmospheres affect UV light? | They absorb UV light, allowing analysis of atmospheric composition when a star passes behind them. |
| What is the significance of radar in planetary imaging? | Radar can penetrate thick atmospheres or ice, providing images of surface features. |
| True or False: The highest energy photons have the longest wavelength. | False. |
| What happens to the wavelength as photon energy increases? | The wavelength becomes shorter. |
| What is light? | Light can behave like either a wave or a particle, consisting of vibrations of electric and magnetic fields. |
| What is the atomic number? | The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. |
| What is the atomic mass number? | The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus. |
| What defines an isotope? | Atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. |
| What are the three familiar phases of matter? | Solid, liquid, and gas. |
| What is ionization? | The process of stripping electrons from atoms, changing them into plasma. |
| What is dissociation? | The breaking of molecules into individual atoms. |
| What occurs during evaporation? | Breaking of flexible chemical bonds, changing a liquid into a gas. |
| What is the solar wind? | A stream of hydrogen and helium ions traveling at high speeds from the Sun. |
| How does temperature and pressure affect the phase of a substance? | The phase depends on both temperature and pressure, with multiple phases often present. |
| What are the immediate consequences of global warming? | Melting icecaps and increased sea levels. |
| What is the structure of matter? | Matter is made of atoms, which consist of a nucleus of protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons. |
| What are the three basic types of spectra? | Continuous, emission line, and absorption line spectra. |
| What characterizes a continuous spectrum? | It spans all visible wavelengths without interruption. |
| What does an emission line spectrum indicate? | It shows bright lines at specific wavelengths emitted by a low-density gas. |
| What is an absorption line spectrum? | It shows dark lines at specific wavelengths where a gas absorbs light. |
| What are chemical fingerprints? | Unique sets of energy levels for each type of atom that correspond to specific photon energies. |
| How do energy level transitions in hydrogen relate to photons? | Each transition corresponds to a unique photon energy, frequency, and wavelength. |
| What produces a unique pattern of emission lines in atoms? | Downward transitions between higher energy levels. |
| What type of transitions produce absorption lines? | Upward transitions where atoms absorb photons with specific energies. |
| What is a spectral fingerprint? | A unique pattern of emission or absorption lines for each type of atom. |
| How was helium first discovered? | In a spectrum of the Sun, as its name 'Helios' means Sun in Greek. |
| What does observing fingerprints in a spectrum tell us? | It indicates which kinds of atoms are present in a substance. |
| What is the Stefan-Boltzmann law? | It states that the total power emitted by an object is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature. |
| What is the formula for the Stefan-Boltzmann law? | F = σT^4, where F is power per meter squared, T is temperature in Kelvin, and σ is a constant. |
| What is the relationship between temperature and emitted light wavelength? | The wavelength at which the most light is emitted is inversely proportional to the temperature of the object. |
| What is the formula for the peak wavelength of emitted light? | λ_max = c/T, where c is a constant and T is temperature in Kelvin. |
| At what temperature does the Sun emit most light? | At a temperature of 5800 K, emitting most light at a wavelength of 500 nm (visible). |
| How can we determine the chemical composition of stars? | By looking for unique atomic fingerprints in their spectra. |
| What is thermal radiation? | Radiation emitted by nearly all large or dense objects, including stars and planets, based on their temperature. |
| What does the location of dips in a reflected spectrum indicate? | It indicates which minerals are present on a surface. |
| What is the significance of the year 1835 in relation to chemical composition of stars? | Auguste Comte predicted we would never know the chemical composition of stars, which was later proven wrong. |
| What does the term 'wavenumber' refer to? | It is an alternative way to express wavelength, measured in cm^-1. |
| What is the average temperature of the Moon? | About 230 K, emitting approximately 160 W/m². |
| What happens to light when it interacts with matter? | Light can be absorbed, emitted, or reflected, depending on the properties of the matter. |
| What is the relationship between light and temperature in large objects? | The thermal radiation spectrum of an object reveals its temperature. |
| What is the significance of the absorption and emission lines in a spectrum? | They help identify the elements present in a star or other celestial object. |
| What does studying the features in a spectrum allow us to learn? | It provides information about the object that created the spectrum. |
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