Science Test: Nebular Theory, Sun, Moon

Kelvin

0K=-275.15 degrees celsius

Prior to the Apollo Moon landings, what were the three most prevalent theories that explain the formation of the moon?

1. Earth was spinning on its axis so quickly that it elongated enough for a glob of magma to fly off into orbit, assisted by the sun's gravitational pull. This would prove why there is a similar isotope composition (single system), the iron difference (earth's core had already formed), but not the lack of volatiles. This is disproved by the fact that physics don't allow the glob of plasma to fly off because Earth doesn't have enough angular momentum and it's gravity wouldn't allow this to happen (would have to be spinning 1 per hour). 2. The Moon formed from leftover debris remaining in an orbit around Earth. If this were true, than they would have similar average compositions. Though they have similar isotope relationships, the differences in iron and volatiles are too large for this theory to stnag. The Moon's composition is too different than the Earth's to have formed from the same materials. (This has been seen with the sun and many planets) 3. The Earth and the Moon (captured asteroid) were separate bodies until they passed close enough to each other that they Earth (larger) captured the Moon in its gravitational pull (like Mars's moons). The moon can't be a captured asteroid because that means that it formed at about the same distance as the Earth and therefore have a similar average composition, but it does not. Although a moon-sized object could have formed in another region and adopted an orbit that crossed through Earth, this wouldn't work because the moon would have had a much higher velocity than Earth, making it impossible for the Earth's gravitational pull to capture it.

How far is the sun from Earth? Why doesn't the sun blow up?! Or implode?! Where is solar energy generated? What is the sun's energy source? What force governs the sun?

93 million miles away Sun doesn't explode/implode bc core pushes out but sun's grav pull pushes back it (balance/equilibrium) Sun's energy source is gravitation Solar e generated in core from the energy released from nuclear fusion in proton form. Magnetism governs sun (pushes/pulls on charged paritlfes; Earth's mag field protects us from charged particles)

Coronal Mass Ejection (C.M.E.)

A CME is a coronal mass ejection that is a wave of electromagnetically charged particles (surge of radiation) that could knock out power grids. Strong ones could obliterate power grids for months/years until repair.

State what a force is and why gravity is a force State the two factors that determine gravitational force

A force is a push or a pull (gravity is a pull) Gravitational force is determined by distance and mass

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle; located outside nucleus

Nucleon

A proton or a neutron.

Solar flare

A solar flare is an outburst of x-rays that can affect Earth's electrmagnetic field. A solar flare could take down Earth's electric power grid.

Prominences

A solar prominence (also known as a filament when viewed against the solar disk) is a large, bright feature extending outward from the Sun's surface. Prominences are anchored to the Sun's surface in the photosphere, and extend outwards into the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, called the corona

Proton

A subatomic particle that has a positive charge and that is found in the nucleus of an atom

Neutron

A subatomic particle that has no charge and that is found in the nucleus of an atom

How is the Moon the same as Earth and how does the Moon differ from the Earth?

Almost identical isotope ratios (they must have developed at about same distance from sun) The Moon has more titanium in its particles, lower density, less dense/smaller core, no traces of volatile elements (something hit/baked Moon to cause dryness) Moon's chromium is different. Earth has iron but moon lacks The Moon is the same as Earth because they are both roughly spherical and made of solid matter and has a core. The Moon differs from Earth because it does not have a big, dense iron core like Earth - while Earth's core contains a third of the planet's total mass, the Moon's core contributes less than 3% of its mass. The Moon also lacks volatile elements (like N, C, S, H) that are common on Earth. The Moon's surface is unforgivingly dry, unlike Earth's, which is filled with liquid water.

Atomic nucleus

An atom's dense central core, containing protons and neutrons.

Isotope

Atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons

Stellar core

Core of sun produces solar energy deep within and makes up about 10 percent of the sun's total volume. It is over 15 million K and is very dense with high atmospheric pressure and particles moving fast enough to undergo nuclear fusion. Some mass is converted into E (E=mc2).

Solar winds

Corona extends and merges into stream of solar wind (particles) extending in each direction

Fission/Fusion

Fission: split In sun's core, intense pressure leads to H nuclei moving fast enough to undergo nuclear fission and E rises to surface causing gases to emit broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. Fusion: because of particle's high velocities, protons can get closer than normally. The strong nuclear force can overcome electrical repulsion and the protons can latch together to become bound as a pair, turning into helium. Energy lost as this process occurs turns into heat energy.

Identify: all the parts of a star

From inside out Core/center Radiative Zone Convective zone Photosphere Prominences Chromosphere Corona

Granules

Granules on the photosphere of the Sun are caused by convection currents of plasma within the Sun's convective zone. The grainy appearance of the solar photosphere is produced by the tops of these convective cells and is called granulation. Granules are small (about 1000 km across) cellular features that cover the entire Sun except for those areas covered by sunspots. These features are the tops of convection cells where hot fluid rises up from the interior in the bright areas, spreads out across the surface, cools and then sinks inward along the dark lanes. Individual granules last for only about 20 minutes. The granulation pattern is continually evolving as old granules are pushed aside by newly emerging ones. The flow within the granules can reach supersonic speeds and produce sonic "booms" and other noise that generates waves on the Sun's surface.

Convective zone

Hydrogen fusion occurs in core, e released heats gas above core but not enough to convert to he, less dense and becomes buoyant; brings suns internal heat to surface until cools and sinks again

What is the nebular theory? How does it explain and account for our current version of the solar system?

It suggests that our solar system formed from a nebula. 5bya, the nebula was a gently swirling cloud of gas and dust that was diffused and had varying densities throughout. The large cloud was over 1000 times the distance from the sun to Neptune. There was no fusion or sun or planets at this time. This was 99.9% H and He gas, and less than 1% other elements. Mass remained constant. Gravity pulled in on each side, and movement possibly began due to the revolution of Orion Arm around the center of Milky Way galaxy. The nebula begins to collapse under the influence of gravity. It pulls particles close together and spins faster because of the decrease in its radius. The gravity pulls harder on particles with less distance between. It is rotating faster and radius is decreasing and angular momentum is conserved. Molecules are colliding and pulling in on each other because of gravity. heat increases as particles collide/cloud contracts and gravitational potential energy is transformed into heat energy (Law of Conservation of Energy and gpe) As the nebula spins faster, the cloud flattens out into a disk as a result of the cloud's rotation. there is more mass in the middle. Imagine a flat pancake with a lump of flour in the middle. it is like a pizza chef spinning pizza dough. Protisimals outside of the center start at boulder size and go to a couple km wide. The protosun inside the center are not ignited. As planetesimals consolidate/aggregate the matter at center turns into a star (the sun). Purely by chance, some matter is more densely collected in some regions than others, leading to different grav pulls. There are laws dictating possible placements of the objects in sphere. Starting mats: disk contains all 92 nat occurring elements 1) volatile mats: gases on Earth (H, He, CO2, CH4, NH3, H20) are blown outward and dispersed 2) Refractory mats can stay near sun because they have high melting points (Fe, Ni Alloys, silicates--Si+O compounds); heavy rocky/denser/solid mats w high melting points The solar system is now completely developed. The 4 inner planets are made of refractory mats w cores of iron/nickel so they can stay solid close to the sun at high T (high T condensates). The outer planets are original nebular mats w low T condensates (H, He, NH3, CH4, H20, CO2). Jupiter drew in H and He and grew. The Sun has 99.9% of the solar system's mass. The inner planets are smaller than the outer. Sun is mostly H and He. Planets orbit the sun in the same direction because of the conservation of angular momentum and because of the direction of the disk's spin. They are on the same plane because during the Solar System's formation, the planets formed out of a disk of dust which surrounded the Sun. Because that disk of dust was a disk, all in a plane, all of the planets formed in a plane as well.

Radiative zone

Layer next to core; radiation occurs there

Atomic number

Protons

Draw and explain the processes involved in the formation of our solar system and the various steps including: o How far our nebula was scattered originally o The shape of the original nebula o Why the planets move around the sun in the same plane o Why the planets orbit the sun in the same direction o What caused the collapse of the nebula and why this collapse sped up o The role of density, gravity, gravitational contraction and Gravitational Potential Energy (GPE) in the formation of the solar system o The role of the conservation of angular momentum in the speed of the nebula's spin. o The distribution of the matter, the mass, including what percentages of matter in the nebula ended up in the sun vs. other parts of the solar system o Conservation of Energy; Conservation of Matter The composition of: the nebula, the final solar system - the sun, the inner & the outer planets

Matter: all matter created then is the matter present now. Additionally, matter and energy are reversible: they can change into each other. As the nebula contracted, it sped up (conservation of angular momentum) GPE converted to heat energy with collisions of individual particles Due to the properties of conservation of energy, as the cloud shrunk the gravitational potential energy of the particles within transformed into thermal energy Due to conservation of angular momentum, as the radius of the nebula diminished the cloud would spin faster The nebula transformed from its original spherical shape into a flat, almost round, disk shape. This was due to the collisions of particles within the nebula as it collapsed. All three of these are key points to how and why our solar system formed the way it did. The sun, the most crucial part of our system, was at the center of this collapsing nebula. As the gas cloud shrank the thermal energy increased, due to the conservation of energy. This increased the temperature of the gas's within. The larger the center got the more thermal energy it would produce, hence heating up the cloud further.

Plasma

Most of the sun is plasma bc it is too hot to be anything else. A plasma is a soup of charged particles. The core is the samllest region of the sun and is also made of plasma Some lightbulbs/tvs, neon lights

Subatomic particles

Protons, neutrons, electrons

Define: nebula, ecliptic, nebular theory, solar system

Nebula: a cloud of gas and dust in outer space that is spinning. It is thought to be responsible for the formation of our solar system. The nebular theory describes the thought that our solar system developed from a nebula. Ecliptic: the path on which all the planets lie in Solar system: the collection of eight planets and their moons in orbit around the sun, together with smaller bodies in the form of asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.

Explain: fusion in our star, the sun

Normally, protons would not get close enough together to stick, but because of the intense heat and rapid movement inside the sun's core, hydrogen atoms end up fusing together to create helium. Some energy is lost during this process, which is emitted as protons that bounce off of the particles in the sun and radiate towards the Earth as light.

Mass number

Nucleons in nucleus

What is the difference between a rotation and a revolution?

Rotation: spin on internal axis Revolution: spin around external axis

Radiation

Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.

Sunspots

Sunspots are parts of sun that appear darker bc the sun's magnetic field blocks the energy. These are used to predict solar storms since both the magnetic field and sunspots go thru cycles. Sunspots predict turbulent outbursts. Usually last about a week.

What evidence supports the Giant Impact Theory/the Big Thwack Theory of the origin of Earth's moon? Be specific!

The Big Thwack: 4.5 billion years ago, Earth and a Mars-sized object called Theia collided. Though Earth was larger, it was knocked off course. Theia was obliterated. This is why Earth is no longer a symmetrical sphere. Earth seized most of Theia's remains and became larger, but the leftovers came together higher up in space and the larger pieces attracted the smaller. They came together and were attracted to Earth because of it's gravitational pull. The Big Thwack theory is supported by the evidence that the moon lacks an iron core because most of the iron in Theia (hit Earth causing axis tilt and seasons) is now in Earth. Theia's volatiles were blasted away with impact, which is why the moon lacks them. Also, one of the moon's faces always faces Earth because Earth and Theia's angular momentum were combined into one solar system. Earth's axis tilt is explained by the physical impact, leading to more thought about planetary anomalies such as Venus's backwards rotation and Uranus's sideways rotation.

Atomic mass

The average mass of all the isotopes of an element

Chromosphere

The layer of the sun's atmosphere that has a reddish glow; above photosphere

What is the composition of the moon? What are the moon's surface features? What created the surface features? What is regolith?

The moon's surface is covered with dead volcanoes, impact craters, and lava flows, some visible to the unaided stargazer. Early scientists thought the dark stretches of the moon might be oceans, and so named such features mare, which is Latin for "seas" (maria when there are more than one). They are oceans of a sort, but rather than water, such bodies are made up of pools of hardened lava. Early in the moon's history, the interior was molten enough to produce volcanoes, though it quickly cooled and hardened. Lava also burst from the crust when large enough asteroids broke through the surface. These features were caused by asteroids. The Moon's composition is oxygen, silicon, aluminum, calcium, magnesium, and titanium, etc. All other elements are present in amounts very much smaller than 1% by weight. The elements oxygen, silicon, and aluminum are present on the Moon in amounts comparable to their existence in the crust of the Earth. Iron and titanium contents are distinctly enhanced on the Moon, as compared to the Earth, while the alkali metals are less abundant, as are carbon and nitrogen. There may be an iron core. Regolith is lunar soil. Much was collected during the Apollo missions. The finest-grained particles are so small because of space's environment, whether that means asteroid or solar wind.

The composition of: the nebula, the final solar system, the Sun, the inner & the outer planets

The nebula: 99% Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He) gas, and <1% of all other elements. The final solar system: The Sun: 98% Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He) gas, and 2% other elements. The inner planets: mostly H and He gas The outer planets: large, gaseous, not dense, and primarily composed of Hydrogen and Helium gas as well as methane/ammonia.

Corona

The outer layer of the sun's atmosphere; protons and electrons coming off "crown" Hotter than photospehere but incredibly faint bc of dispersal; can only see with special telescope or during eclipre

Atom

The smallest particle of an element, basic unit of matter

How old are the atoms in you? Where do the atoms in you originate?

The vast majority of the atoms in your body are quite old. The hydrogen is almost all about 13.7 billion years old (formed in the Big Bang) although some small percentage may be formed from minor causes like spallation of protons (out of other nuclei) by cosmic rays, etc.

Photosphere

The visible surface of the sun Photo=light Enough heat leads to light Where density of mat inside sun becomes thin enough to allow light to pass through

Explain: When no net force acts on an object, no change in motion occurs Newton's Laws of Motion as they apply to the formation of the Solar System

Unbalanced forces change the velocity of objects, but with a balanced force velocity stays constant. 1st Law of Motion: Law of Inertia A body remains at a constant velocity unless acted upon by a net outside force. Because planets do not move in straight lines, there must be a force acting upon the planet. Otherwise, the planet would fly off in a straight line. 2nd Law of Motion: F = ma The acceleration of an object is proportional to the force acting upon it. In Newton's Second Law of Motion, an object accelerates in proportion to the amount of force acting on it. If no force acts on the object, its velocity remains constant. The motion of the planets around the sun involves a constantly changing direction. The gravitational force exerted by the sun continually alters a planet's path, bending it towards the sun although never directly at it. 3rd Law: Law of Reciprocal Actions For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When the sun pulls on a planet with the force of gravity, the planet pulls on the sun with a force of equal magnitude. But, because the sun is so much more massive than the planet, Newton's second law says that the sun will experience much less acceleration. Law of Universal Gravitation F = G m1 m2 / r2 Every object in the Universe attracts every other object with a force directed along the line of centers for the two objects that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the separation between the two objects. While the law does not explain what gravity is, it does say how the force of gravity works.

Age of our solar system and universe Names of the planets in our solar system and order from sun

Universe is 13.8 by old Solar system is 4.567 by old Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, (terrestrial) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune (jovian)

Explain: the path, the journey, light takes from the Sun's core to Earth

When H is converted to He in core, energy released as light; light smacks into subatomic particle, which absorbs and converts some into motion and reemits light w little less e, light loses e every time encounters particle (leaves sun weaker)

Star

a fixed luminous point in the night sky that is a large, remote incandescent body like the sun.

Atomic Symbol

one or two letters that represent the name of an element

Know: what percentage of all of the matter in our solar system is contained within the sun Recite key facts about our sun and each of its parts

over 99.9% Corona: p+ and e- streaming off; filaments of high-T plasmas moving outwards quickly; hot; low denstiy; produces solar winds responsile or auroaras/comet tials Chromosphere: transparent 10,000 km shell; hot Photospehre: not that hot but hot enough to generate light; sunspots ehre center/core: produces solar e deep witin; about 10% of sun's total v; hot/dense/high pressure; partcles move fast (nculear fusion); light can take up to a millino years to reach suraface of sun Check def of prominences for facts No nuclear reactions in H and he gas area Convective zone: check def

Calculate: the number of protons, electrons and neutrons in a neutral atom and in isotopes of a particular element; Fill in a Table of Isotopes

practice table!!