1,637 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2019
    1. How much work is done by the boy pulling his sister 30.0 m in a wagon as shown in Figure 3? Assume no friction acts on the wagon

      A good basic work calculation in two dimensions.

    2. 2: Give an example of a situation in which there is a force and a displacement, but the force does no work. Explain why it does no work.

      Good question. Under what conditions will an applied force do zero work? It is a geometric question, really.

    1. The torque is always calculated with reference to some chosen pivot point. For the same applied force, a different choice for the location of the pivot will give you a different value for the torque, since both and depend on the location of the pivot. Any point in any object can be chosen to calculate the torque about that point. The object may not actually pivot about the chosen “pivot point.”

      This is important later when we consider angular momentum in an astronomical setting, where the axis of rotation is not necessarily the center of the orbit. In fact, an astronomical object like 'Oumuamua might not even be on a bound orbit, but an unbound orbit -- it enters the solar system, interacts gravitationally with the Sun and then exits the solar system.

    2. Torque plays the same role in rotational motion that force plays in linear motion.
    1. 1: (a) A 22.0 kg child is riding a playground merry-go-round that is rotating at 40.0 rev/min. What centripetal force must she exert to stay on if she is 1.25 m from its center?

      Basic

    2. What is the ideal banking angle for a gentle turn of 1.20 km radius on a highway with a 105 km/h speed limit (about 65 mi/h), assuming everyone travels at the limit?

      Good.

    3. Let us now consider banked curves,
    4. Tire friction enables a vehicle to take the curve at significantly higher speeds.
    5. In cases in which forces are not parallel, it is most convenient to consider components along perpendicular axes—in this case, the vertical and horizontal directions.

      Similar to the Bumblebee tilt test.

    1. most fishermen feel no obligation to truthfully report the mass

      Good one.

    2. Here, is the restoring force, is the displacement from equilibrium or deformation, and is a constant related to the difficulty in deforming the system. The minus sign indicates the restoring force is in the direction opposite to the displacement.

      See previous note.

    1. This equation tells us that, in static fluids, pressure increases with depth

      We already knew this.

    2. When a fluid flows into a narrower channel, its speed increases.

    1. the force exerted by the person pushing the mower must be greater than the friction opposing the motion

      Same as the relationship between the propulsion force Fp from the road surface on the chopper and the friction force f, in the homework

    1. Yup, previous annotation is verified.

    2. To do this, draw the right triangle

      This is why I always say that intro physics is SO filled with right triangles.

    3. Flexible connectors are often used to transmit forces around corners
    1. Figure 1. (a) A graph

      Discussed this in lecture.

    2. rotational kinetic energy

      Rotational KE is simple to handle, but we will tackle it after Exam 3.

    3. On the whole, solutions involving energy are generally shorter and easier than those using kinematics and dynamics alone.

      This is why scientists work most of quantum mechanics and relativity in terms of energies, not F = ma forces.

    4. This expression

      Work and change in kinetic energy, \(W=\Delta \left( KE \right)\)

    5. Example 4: Work and Energy Can Reveal Distance, Too

      Stopping distance problem, a classic exercise

    1. Many systems oscillate, and they have certain characteristics in common.

      True. And this is why physicists spend so much time thinking about spring/mass systems.<br> That is, what is simple to learn about spring/mass systems becomes widely applicable in other oscillatory systems like a beating heart, a particle inside an atom's nucleus, a light wave, a tsunami etc.

    2. guitar, atoms

      Atoms and guitars ← ← you will savvy this analogy in PHY2054C!!

    1. It can be shown that

      Biggest lie in physics. "It can be shown that..." is usually the place where the author is thinking about calculus but does not want to actually show it.

    1. The forces due to pressure have well-defined directions: they are always exerted perpendicular to any surface.
    1. Example 1: How Does the Centripetal Acceleration of a Car Around a Curve Compare with That Due to Gravity?

      Good example.

    2. Example 2: How Big Is The Centripetal Acceleration in an Ultracentrifuge?

      Another good example.

    1. MAKING CONNECTIONS

      Extensive discussion about this Figure 3 in Friday's lecture.

    2. Some rotational inertias.

      All of these moments of inertia are the result of counting up the quantity \(mr^2\) for each pixel of mass, \(I=\sum_{\text{pixels}} \left(mr^2\right)\) To do this task, you usually need calculus, although the hoop can be done with straight trig, no calc.

      Notice that each moment of inertia is a fraction or multiple of total mass \(M\) multiplied by the square or sum of squares of the overall dimension \(R^2\) or \(a^2+b^2\) etc. That is because each object in the table has some symmetry which simplifies the calculus and therefore simplifies the formula.

    3. Example 1: Calculating the Effect of Mass Distribution on a Merry-Go-Round

      We will be demonstrating this stuff in lecture, 03/22/19

    1. “Aerodynamic” shaping

      The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), where Hidden Figures' Katherine Johnson rose, was originated during WW I, was an intensive research facility focused on airframe optimization -- aerodynamic shaping. One famous airframe became the P51 Mustang, a prime fighter against the German Luftwaffe.

      Katherine Johnson at NASA Langley

    1. Suppose you attach the object with mass to a vertical spring originally at rest, and let it bounce up and down. You release the object from rest at the spring’s original rest length. (a) Show that the spring exerts an upward force of on the object at its lowest point. (b) If the spring has a force constant of and a 0.25-kg-mass object is set in motion as described, find the amplitude of the oscillations. (c) Find the maximum velocity.
    1. The net external force equals the change in momentum

      $$F_{net}=ma$$

      $$F_{net}=m \frac{\Delta v}{\Delta t}$$

      $$F_{net}=\frac{m \Delta v}{\Delta t}$$

      and for objects with constant mass, $$m \Delta v = \Delta \left(mv\right)$$ so $$F_{net}=\frac{\Delta p}{\Delta t}$$

    2. An object that has a small mass and an object that has a large mass have the same momentum. Which object has the largest kinetic energy? 2: An object that has a small mass and an object that has a large mass have the same kinetic energy. Which mass has the largest momentum?

      Two good study questions.

    1. A system is in unstable equilibrium if, when displaced, it experiences a net force or torque in the same direction as the displacement from equilibrium
    2. Two children of mass 20.0 kg and 30.0 kg sit balanced on a seesaw with the pivot point located at the center of the seesaw. If the children are separated by a distance of 3.00 m, at what distance from the pivot point is the small child sitting in order to maintain the balance?

      Basic calculation

  2. pressbooks.online.ucf.edu pressbooks.online.ucf.edu
    1. In equation form

      Generic wave equation. For electromagnetic radiation, the wave equation is \(c=\lambda f\), where the speed of light \(c=3\times 10^8 \frac{m}{s}\).

    1. Calculating the Angular Momentum

      It is enough for us to predict "larger \(\omega\)" or "smaller \(\omega\)" etc., and not necessarily calculate L to the nearest \(0.001 \,kg\,m^2\). After Exam 3, we will do some full calculations, however.

    1. both

      terrestrial and celestial, which at the time of Newton, were not universally considered as a unified system with universal laws governing both realms. In fact, the verification of Newton's law of universal gravitation simplified our view of the physical universe: one book to describe them all, as Galileo foretold.

    1. Simple Machines

      Bypass, although it is an interesting section to read if you are interested.

  3. Jun 2019
    1. Models for an Expanding Universe

      Bypass My balloon analogy in Mini-Lecture C is better.

    2. Variation of Hubble’s Constant

      Bypass

    3. Hubble’s Law

      Bypass

    4. f we then put this speed and the Hubble constant into Hubble’s law equation, we can solve for the distance.

      Or, more simply, read it off the diagram.

    5. Basically, if we can obtain a spectrum of a galaxy, we can immediately tell how far away it is.

      Yes, definitely handy, because if we make a big telescope we can see and catch spectra of really distant, faint galaxies! E.g., from Kirshner, PNAS, 2004,

    6. just as Lemaître had suggested.

      Lemaître was correct!!!! It forced Einstein to say that his own model of all galaxies was the biggest scientific mistake of his life.

    7. When Hubble laid his own distance estimates next to measurements of the recession velocities (the speed with which the galaxies were moving away), he found something stunning: there was a relationship between distance and velocity for galaxies. The more distant the galaxy, the faster it was receding from us.

      There is a legend about this, that this relation came to Hubble as he drove down to Pasadena after a night's observing. He pulled his car over on the shoulder and stopped to think. It is a twisty mountain road; I have driven it myself. At some time later, hours later as the legend goes, a traffic cop pulled alongside to check him out. All was well -- he was just thinking of what it all meant, that the entire universe was expanding. Edwin Hubble was probably very late for his breakfast, and we still ponder this meaning today.

    8. Humason was collaborating with Hubble by photographing the spectra of faint galaxies

      They were especially looking at the near-ultraviolet H and K lines of calcium, $$\lambda_H=396.8\:nm\longrightarrow\text{toward red, longer wavelengths}$$

      $$\lambda_K=393.4\:nm\longrightarrow\text{also toward red, longer wavelengths}$$

      Here is an image of the sun in a filter that only transmits the Ca K line, very purply blue.

      So a galaxy's K line will be less purply blue, maybe an aqua blue or even green... i.e., shifted toward the red end of the Roy G. Biv spectrum

    9. No one at the time quite knew what to make of this discovery.

      Hubble figured it out.

    10. the spectral lines of most galaxies showed an astounding redshift.

      BINGO! An unexpected result.

    11. spectra of galaxies contained a wealth of information about the composition of the galaxy and the velocities of these great star systems.

      How it was discovered

    1. Other Measuring Techniques

      Bypass this. We will concentrate on Cepheid variables and Type Ia supernovas

    2. (credit: NASA, ESA, A. Riess (STScI))

      I cannot find the original image on NASA servers. However, this image from 2014 is helpful for visualizing a Type Ia supernova: Image: Katzman Automated Imaging Telescope/LOSS

      "Type Ia supernovae have acquired global importance in recent years through their use as distance indicators..."

    3. Observations show that supernovae of this type all reach nearly the same luminosity (about 4.5 × 109LSun) at maximum light.

      So we have to be very alert to catch the peak intensity, "maximum light," before it starts to dim out.

    4. make out an individual cepheid variable star in the galaxy M100 and measure its distance to be 56 million light-years.

      Nice!

    5. they could measure distances using certain kinds of intrinsically luminous variable stars, such as cepheids
    6. we know the precise way light is dimmed by distance

    7. If we know the distance to a galaxy, we can convert how bright the galaxy appears to us in the sky into its true luminosity

      For stars and galaxies, apparent luminosity (what we see on Earth) depends on its distance and its intrinsic luminosity (as measured at the galaxy or star itself).

    1. First, an asteroid might have ventured too close to the black hole and been heated to a very high temperature

      Nifty. This is like seeing a mega-Chelyabinsk event crush into the black hole... seeing it from halfway across the galaxy.

    2. One of the stars has been observed for its full orbit of 15.6 years.

      S2

    3. These stars have now been observed for almost two decades,

      First one with a good orbital track was S2, on a 15.2 year orbit about the black hole Sgr A*.

      Cf., Schödel R. et al., "A star in a 15.2-year orbit around the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way" Nature 419, 694–696 (2002),

    4. There are also thousands of stars within a parsec of Sagittarius A*.

      There are only a few stars within a parsec of our solar system.

    5. temperature of 10 million K.

      Very hot. How was it heated to this temperature?

    6. Very Large Array (VLA) of radio telescopes in Socorro, New Mexico.

    7. supernova remnants

      SNR

    8. supermassive black holes by astronomers, to indicate that the mass they contain is far greater than that of the typical black hole created by the death of a single star.

      Definition of supermassive black hole. Some galaxies' central black hole is even larger than ours.

    9. less than the diameter of Mercury’s orbit.

      It works out to about \(R=46 \,LS\), which would be well inside Mercury's orbit, \(0.39\, AU=193\, LS\)

    1. the mass closer to us can bend the light from farther away. With just the right alignment, the image of the more distant object also becomes significantly brighter.

      Gravitational lensing

    2. these should produce dark features in the ultraviolet spectra of objects lying beyond the Galaxy,

      Like the absorption features of the Sun, various colors picked out by the upper layers of the chromosphere and very hot atmosphere of the sun.

    3. least 2 × 1012MSun, which is about twenty times greater than the amount of luminous matter.

      TWENTY TIMES!!!! Holy Toledo! Visible matter is like a drip from a Slurpee!

    4. forced to the reluctant conclusion that this matter is invisible

      Astronomers were reluctant to accept this, but it is now undeniable.

    5. Rotation Curve of the Galaxy

      There is a ton of fancy calculus behind the blue part of the graph. So the theory literally falls short of observations (red)

    6. indicating a great deal of mass beyond the Sun’s orbit.

      ...the sign of "dark matter"

    7. heir orbital velocities are even greater than the Sun’s

      This would be like Neptune orbiting faster than Earth!!!

    8. should

      Yeah, what they SHOULD do.... ain't necessarily so.

    9. objects orbiting at large distances from a massive object will move more slowly than objects that are closer to that central mass.

      E.g., a comet really moving fast at perihelion and slowing down at aphelion. E.g., Uranus and Neptune. Nearly the same mass, but orbital semimajor axes 19.2 AU for Uranus and 30 AU for Neptune; their orbital "years" are 84 years for Uranus but 164 years for Neptune.

    10. In science, what seems to be a reasonable assumption can later turn out to be wrong

      Scientists must always be humble about their findings

    11. 100 billion times the mass of the Sun

      $$M_{\text{Milky Way}}=1\times 10^{11}\,M_{\odot}$$

    12. concentrated at a point in the center of the sphere

      As in this diagram of a galactic year:

    13. the Galaxy is roughly spherical

      Physicists are always making assumptions like this, spherical galaxy, spherical planet, spherical this, spherical that. There is even a nerdish physics joke for which the punch line is, "Consider a spherical cow."

      Physics humor. :\

      Anyway, physicists do this to make things easier at the start, then they make more detailed, intricate models, as things progress

    14. Kepler Helps Weigh the Galaxy

      As previously stated, Kepler's Third Law is EVERYWHERE!!!!

      : )

    15. rotation curve

      Galactic rotation curves fail, which is the sign of dark matter.

    1. The concentration of matter in the arms exerts sufficient gravitational force to keep the arms together over long periods of time

      Big result, very tough to calculate.

    2. Scientists have used supercomputer calculations to model the formation and evolution of the arms.

      As mentioned in the previous annotation

    3. might

      A big maybe. Scientists make large models with pixels representing stars of various masses and a gravitational interaction, then let the pixels evolve on the computer. This figure is a rough view of such simulations. A good simulation can be helpful, but they are very tough to make.

    4. 21-cm line that comes from cool hydrogen

      Wavelength \(\lambda = 21\, cm\) is a radio wavelength outside the FM band and the AM band.

    1. Once the light pollution subsides to negligible levels, the Milky Way can be readily spotted arching over the sky on clear, moonless nights.

      E.g., Clearwater Lake Recreation Area, up in Ocala National Forest, about 31 miles northwest of UCF.

    2. our Glaxy is not unique in its characteristics. There are many other flat, spiral-shaped islands of stars, gas, and dust in the universe.

      Helpful for comparisons.

    3. Heavier-element abundance

      Because of the spectral lines of heavier elements like calcium,

    4. We know that this extensive dark matter halo exists because of its effects on the orbits of distant star clusters and other dwarf galaxies that are associated with the Galaxy.

      In other words, they are orbiting faster than they would if only the visible stars were present. The visible stars do not have enough mass to control these visible star clusters.

    5. shaped rather like a peanut

      OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!

    6. Mount Wilson Observatory,

      In the mountains above Los Angeles. Unfortunately, LA is too smoggy now and Mount Wilson is not such a hot observatory these days.

    7. In 1785

      Just after the Revolutionary War, before the Constitution!

    8. band standing in formation during halftime at a football game

      E.g.,

    9. William Herschel was a German musician who emigrated to England and took up astronomy in his spare time.

      Musician and astronomer. NICE!

    10. You could do a much better job from a helicopter flying over the city than you could if you were standing in Times Square.

      A good analogy.

    1. The variable v is counted as positive if the velocity is one of recession, and negative if it is one of approach. Solving this equation for the velocity, we find

      We will tackle this kind of calculation in Module 3 when we study galaxies.

    1. fossil life on Mars

      Cf., the famous Martian meteorite, ALH-84001.

    2. no life was detected on Mars.

      But the Viking landers still gave us a lot of good data on Mars.

    3. Climate Change on Mars

      skip

    4. The rovers (Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity)

      Small but mighty, the good and faithful rovers that have sent us so much data about Mars.

    5. Some local source of heating must have released this water

      Mysterious. Scientists definitely want to figure this out, if we are ever to colonize Mars

    6. The channel is about 2.5 kilometers across.

      Compared to the Amazon River, this is shrimpy. The widest point of the Amazon is about 64 km.

    7. They are about the same to the nearest power of 10.

      This is a horrible sentence.

      When a scientist deals with huge numbers, as in astronomy, it is sometimes "close enough" if they have the same power of 10 in scientific notation.

      1. Mars polar cap \(= 1.00 \times 10^{15}\, \text{tons}\)
      2. Greenland ice cap \(2.85 \times 10^{15}\, \text{tons}\)

      So a better sentence would be this: \(\text{\color{blue}The mass of frozen water in the Mars polar cap }\)\(\text{\color{blue}is of the same order as the Greenland ice cap}.\)

      One commonly hears egghead scientists saying that two quantities "are about the same order," and by that they mean the two quantities are righteous and equivalent.

    8. polar cap area

      Using \(\pi r^2\) for the area here is an underestimation, because \(\pi r^2\) is good for a flat circle, but the polar cap is not flat! It is curvature.

      However, using \(\pi r^2\) is

      1. easy
      2. and close enough
    9. together with a great deal of water ice.

      We know this by looking for and measuring the infrared spectra of both \(H_2 O\) and \(CO_2\)

    10. Several types of clouds can form in the martian atmosphere.

      We would consider the dust clouds of Mars or of Earth (like in the Sahara) as different from the \(H_2 O\) clouds, which are microdroplets of liquid water held aloft by rising air currents.

    11. At a pressure of less than 0.006 bar, the boiling point is as low or lower than the freezing point, and water changes directly from solid to vapor without an intermediate liquid state (as does “dry ice,” carbon dioxide, on Earth).

      Sublimation. Good comparison to what \(CO_2\) ice does here at the surface of Earth.

    12. 0.007 bar, less than 1% that of Earth.

      Standard 1.00 atmosphere of pressure on Earth = 1.01325 bars, or, as they say on the Weather Channel, 1013.25 millibars. This is the atmospheric pressure on a day of fair weather at sea level. A similar fair day in Denver, one mile altitude, would be less than 1013.25 millibars.

      Mars atmospheric pressure is 0.007 bar or 7 millibars.

      For comparison: The central pressure of a hurricane is considered extremely dangerous if it gets to 900 millibars. E.g., Hurricane Irma hit the Florida Keys in 2017 at Category 4, 929 millibars central pressure. Very violent.

    13. We know that the one requirement shared by all life on Earth is liquid water.

      Astronomers' preoccupation with \(H_2 O\)

    14. Mars seems to be the most promising place to look for life

      Our pre-occupation with Mars, e.g., The War of the Worlds.

  4. May 2019
    1. The most remarkable thing about these organic molecules is that they include equal numbers with right-handed and left-handed molecular symmetry.

      This is a huge mystery, the handedness of sugars and amino acids.

    2. complex organic molecules in them—chemicals based on carbon, which on Earth are the chemical building blocks of life.

      The other kind of molecule that astronomers are always alert for!!

    3. with the different materials sorted according to density.

      like what a centrifuge does.

    4. This value (which we round off to 4.5 billion years in this book) is taken to represent the age of the solar system

      Isotopes tell us this age!

    5. Some Striking Meteorites

      Cool!

    6. do not appear to come from the comets

      Comets are an entire other subject!!

    7. Such a fall occurs when a single larger object breaks up during its violent passage through the atmosphere

      Excellent example is the Allende meteorite, which fell as a larger object that broke up, down in Mexico, on Feb. 8, 1969.

    1. It is the pattern of lines

      I.e., its quantum fingerprints!

    2. Check Your Learning

      Another redshift.

    3. 656.6 nm

      So \(\Delta \lambda = 0.3 nm\) which is in the numerator of the equation below.

    4. difference in wavelength

      I.e., \(\frac{\Delta \lambda}{\lambda}\)

    5. For particular absorption or emission lines

      Like the beautiful red \(H_{\alpha}\) line, for which the lab wavelength is \(\lambda=656.27\) nanometers.

    6. original (unshifted) wavelength

      i.e., in the lab on Earth

    7. The wavelengths of the absorption lines can be measured accurately, however, and their Doppler shift is relatively simple to detect.

      absorption OR emission lines can display redshift and blueshift

    8. Solving this equation for the velocity

      This is also the equation programmed into a policeman's radar gun, for measuring the speed \(v\) of speeders.

    9. the wavelength emitted by the source

      This means, as emitted by the source if it were in a stationary laboratory.

      \(\Delta \lambda=\left(\lambda_{lab}-\lambda_{observed}\right)\)

      So \(\frac{\Delta \lambda}{\lambda}\) is the percent change in wavelength.

      Similar expressions exist for frequencies \(f_{lab}\) and \(f_{observer}\)

    10. describe changes in the wavelengths of radio waves or X-rays

      So a radio wave that has a smaller frequency than normal is redshifted. An xray wave with a higher frequency is blueshifted... all of this even though we do not perceive radio or xray as having color.

    11. Color Shifts

      This is the main concept to focus on, for Doppler shifting. Redshift and blueshift are commonly used tools for studying galaxy clusters, galaxies, stars, planets and even atoms.

    1. Volcanoes

      There are tons of volcanoes in the solar system. The largest volcano we know of is on Mars!!

    2. This is the way many, but not all, of the mountain ranges on Earth were formed.

      Another example: the Himalayas. They formed when the subcontinent of India bashed northward into Eurasia.

    3. astronomy exams

      Hmmmm...

    4. It is a cooling system for the planet.

      Convection!!

    5. Heat escaping from the interior provides energy for the formation of our planet’s mountains, valleys, volcanoes, and even the continents and ocean basins themselves.

      Main source of forces and motion = convection. Huge blobs of molten lava convect from core to surface, like water boiling in a pot on the stove or a thunderstorm convecting water vapor and liquid water in the atmosphere.

    6. white

      or pinkish up in Georgia!!!!

    7. To find primitive rock, we must look to smaller objects such as comets, asteroids, and small planetary moons

      Yup -- asteroids and comets are chunks of history going all the way back.

    8. Metamorphic rocks

      Good example, if you've been camping in Georgia, is the Pine Mountain formation, which includes a lot of quartzite.

      I have a chunk of it on my desk in the Physical Sciences Building, something like this:

    9. common sandstones, shales, and limestones

      Consider, for example, the layers of sedimentary rocks in the Grand Canyon.

    10. Jupiter’s moon Io

      We will have a lot to say about Io.

    11. rework the surface of our planet constantly

      Unlike some moons and planets which are geologically dead. Good example of dead geologically is our moon.

    1. radar-bright water ice

      This means that water ice has a relatively high radar reflectivity. It does not dissipate the incoming radar beam, but bounces back a lot: strong return signal, "bright."

    2. most important discoveries was the verification of water ice

      Astronomers are always looking for signs of water on planets, comets, asteroids, moons and on exoplanets.

    3. resulting Doppler shift

      Here is a freight train blowing its horn as it passes the rail fan's video camera. At about 0:39, the horn shifts from a high note (while approaching) to a lower note (while moving away from the camera).

      This is a Doppler Shift for sound waves.

      Electromagnetic waves -- radar, visible light, even xrays -- also experience Doppler shifting. It is how the sheriff's deputy nabs speeders with his radar gun, and it is how we can measure velocities toward or away from Earth.

    4. radius

      Also using a radar rangefinder.

    5. mass

      Using Kepler's third law and a radar rangefinder to actually get the orbit.

    6. at least part of the core must be liquid

      Also similar to Earth's core. However the metallic part of Earth's core is not nearly as big a fraction of Earth, compared to Mercury

    7. silicates

      Sand is a silicate mineral -- most white sands are principally silicon dioxide \(Si\:O_2\).

    8. metallic iron-nickel core

      Earth also has iron/nickel core

    9. its orbit has the high eccentricity of 0.206, Mercury’s actual distance from the Sun varies from 46 million kilometers at perihelion to 70 million kilometers at aphelion

      Here is a set of diagrams that show the aphelion and perihelion in true proportion,

    1. The Atomic Nucleus

      Study this section carefully: Basic info for using isotopes

    2. Probing the Atom

      Skim this section for basic information about the discovery of the structure of atoms. Prior to Rutherford, we though atoms were just blobs of something sprinkled with electrons.

    3. The Bohr Atom

      Skim this section, because it relates to discrete spectra, one of our important tools in astronomy.

    4. The number of neutrons is not necessarily the same for all atoms of a given element.

      Conceptual definition of isotope. It is the number of protons that defines which element you have, but the nucleus can have any amount of neutrons it can hold onto.

    5. The type of element is determined by the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom

      IMPORTANT definition!!!!

    6. They are also shown much closer than they would actually be

      This is the remarkable fact about atoms: they are mostly empty space! Makes a person think.

    1. Geologists estimate that about half of Earth’s current internal heat budget comes from the decay of radioactive isotopes in its interior.

      Which helps keep lava in its molten state!

    2. This graph

      Excellent graph and caption, visual definition of half life.

    3. if we have a very large number of radioactive atoms of one type (say, uranium), there is a specific time period, called its half-life, during which the chances are fifty-fifty that decay will occur for any of the nuclei.

      A lovely definition of half-life!

    4. emission of particles such as electrons

      Like radioactive carbon-14 \(^{14}C\) spontaneously emitting an electron from its nucleus to become nitrogen-14 \(^{14} N\) which is stable. Most nitrogen, 99.632%, is nitrogen-14.

      • Nucleus of carbon-14 = 6 protons, 8 neutrons
      • Nucleus of nitrogen-14 = 7 protons, 7 neutrons. (The seventh proton used to be a neutron in carbon-14!)
    5. Scientists measure the age of rocks using the properties of natural radioactivity.

      Using the idea of "radioactive half-life" of an element.

    6. This composite image of the Moon’s surface

      Compared to Earth, where impact craters are rare, the Moon is loaded with craters. That is because Earth has weather, volcanoes, earthquakes and continental drift.

    7. snow

      For Florida students, this term, snow, indicates a rare solid form of \(H_2 O\) which,at low temperatures, forms six-sided crystals that are very cold and fall from the upper atmosphere. Rare in Florida since the last Ice Age.

    1. potential solutions to most of the major problems raised by the chemistry of the Moon

      Important parts of the theory, though it is not yet a stone cold lock.

    2. a “bullet” about the size of Mars

      nicknamed Theia

    3. increasing evidence

      Cf., mentions of oxygen isotopes in Lecture 8 Spring '18, (Edward D. Young et al. Science 2016;351:493-496) especially the relation of lunar materials to terrestrial rocks like the Mauna Loa lavas.

    4. major isotopes1 of oxygen,

      Cf., lecture 8, Spring '18

    5. nearly circular orbit our Moon occupies today.

      $$e=0.055$$

      Cf., the NASA Space Science Data Center planetary fact sheet.

    6. Moon is both tantalizingly similar to Earth and frustratingly different.

      Yes, as the moon rocks from Apollo show. They have been analyzed for decades and compared to terrestrial rocks.

    1. whip through the inner parts of their orbits

      ...where they are also heated up by the sun and become visible.

    2. According to Kepler’s second law, therefore, they spend most of their time far from the Sun, moving very slowly

      Important concept. They loiter out by their aphelion, but when they get in close to perihelion, they are really moving fast. So visible comets are only visible for weeks, if that.

    3. Both asteroids and comets are believed to be small chunks of material left over from the formation process of the solar system.

      Unlike the surface rocks most places on Earth. E.g., the Florida limestone bedrock which, in its oldest layers, is about 35 million years, less than 1% of the age of the solar system.

    4. Otherwise the pre-telescopic observations of Brahe would not have been sufficient for Kepler to deduce that its orbit had the shape of an ellipse rather than a circle.

      This is the part that always astounds me, that Kepler spotted this small amount of eccentricity!

    5. 5 kilometers per second

      "only" 11,000 mph!

    6. 48 kilometers per second

      about 107,000 mph!!

    7. The average orbital data for the planets

      I usually use NASA's Planetary Fact Sheet. All sorts of neat data.

    8. perigee and apogee

      Similar to aphelion and perihelion but relative to Earth. You hear the guys at Mission Control in Houston talk about perigee and apogee. E.g., the ISS right now has perigee of 408 km altitude, apogee of 410 km altitude.

    9. Two points in any orbit in our solar system have been given special names.

      Important vocabulary terms: aphelion and perihelion.

    10. Halley

      Not labeled well, but compare to the Mini-Lecture A in YouTube.

    1. parabola, and hyperbola

      There are objects that pass through the solar system on parabolic and hyperbolic orbits, such as the mysterious A/2017 U1 'Oumuamua (YouTube of its trajectory)

    1. Learning Objectives

      Focus on the subsection "Orbital Motion and Mass."

    2. Calculating the Effects of Gravity

      Bypass this calculation until end of the semester.

    3. Including the mass term allows us to use this formula in a new way. If we can measure the motions (distances and orbital periods) of objects acting under their mutual gravity, then the formula will permit us to deduce their masses.

      Here is the crucial strategy for astronomers!

    4. There are many situations in astronomy, however, in which we do need to include the two mass terms
      • e.g., black holes
      • e.g., binary star systems
      • e.g., neutron stars
      • e.g., galaxies orbiting each other like our galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy!

    5. This means that the sum of the Sun’s mass and a planet’s mass, (M1 + M2), is very, very close to 1.

      Here are the two masses:

      • \(M_{sun}=1.9885\times 10^30 \,kg =1M_{\odot}\)
      • \(M_{earth}=5.9723\times 10^24 \,kg = 0.0000030035 M_{\odot}\)

      So in terms of \(M_{\odot}\), the terms \(M_1 + M_2=1.0000030035\) which is really close to 1.