Clicker Question 1

Ayushi is trapped in a windowless elevator, inside of

which she feels weightless. Shed really like to know
if shes in free falling towards Earth or safely floating
in space. Which of the following experiments would
tell her which situation shes in?

A. Shining a flashlight toward the roof of the elevator

B. Kicking the doors of the elevator
C. Standing on a scale to measure her weight
D. No experiment would work because gravity is the result of
curved spacetime
E. No experiment would work because of the equivalence
principle
 Clicker Question 2

If you are floating alone in space with a single

planet, what determines the amount of curvature
of the spacetime of the region around you?

A. The distance to the planet and the mass of the planet

B. The distance to the planet and the radius of the planet
C. The distance to the planet and the temperature of the planet
D. The mass of the planet and the radius of the planet
E. The mass of the planet and the temperature of the planet
1. Sketch the blackbody curves of the Sun, a hotter star, and a
cooler star. Based on your sketch, which wavelength is the best
for observing the most light of each star? Can the stars be
observed at other wavelengths?

2. The diagram below shows electron

energy levels of element A. The
wavelengths of light corresponding to
energy level differences are also
shown. Using this diagram, explain
why we see absorption lines in the
spectra of stars. Sketch the spectra
of two stars of different temperatures
which both contain element A.
3. What are the main inputs and outputs of the pp-chain? Why is the
pp-chain important for stars? What would happen to the Sun if the
pp-chain stopped?

4. Draw a diagram to show how the parallax method is used to

measure the distance to nearby stars. What are some limitations
of this method?

5. How does a stars luminosity change with distance to the star and
why? How does the stars apparent brightness change with
distance and why? If Star A has a luminosity of 1L and is 1
lightyear away, how far away would you put two other stars B and
C which have luminosities of 4L and 9L respectively so they
have the same apparent brightness as star A?
 Clicker Question 3
An Asari astronomer observes the Sun and star B with equal
apparent brightness from her homeworld Thessia. She knows
that the Sun has a luminosity of 1L and is 1 lightyear away.
She also knows that star B has a luminosity of 100L. How do
the distance and parallax angle of star B compare to the Sun?
distance parallax angle
A. same same
B. 10 times farther larger
C. 10 times farther smaller
D. 100 times farther larger
E. 100 times farther smaller
 Clicker Question 4
If the surface of the Sun were to cool down, which of the
following changes would NOT happen?

A. The blackbody curve would have no light at wavelengths

bluer than UV.
B. The peak wavelength of the blackbody curve would move
towards the red
C. The Suns colour would become more red.
D. The Suns light would be less intense at all wavelengths.
E. The Sun would appear less bright in the sky observed
from Earth.
 Clicker Question 5

Which output of the pp-chain is important for keeping the

Sun shining?

A. Protons
B. Helium
C. Positrons
D. Energy
E. Neutrinos