Read Chapter 17
1.) (Problem adapted from textbook:) Which one of the
following is not sensible:
a.) Some of the iron in our blood could have come from
a star that blew up more
than 5 billion years ago.
b.) Someday, humans will need to find another planet because
someday the Sun
will blow up in a supernova explosion.
c.) I'm sure glad that hydrogen, the most common element
in the universe, has
a higher mass per nuclear particle
than many other elements. If it had a lower
mass/(nuclear particle) then the Sun wouldn't burn.
d.) If you could look into the Sun's core today, you
would find that it has a greater
proportion of helium to
hydrogen than it did when the Sun was born.
2.)
Describe how a low mass star behaves, starting from the time that it
burns off all the
available hydrogen in its core (~20 to 40 words).
3.)
Describe how a high mass star behaves between the time when it
burns off all the
available hydrogen in its core and the time when it
explodes (~20 to 40 words).
4.) (Problem adapted from textbook:)
"Summarize some of the observational
evidence supporting
our ideas about how the elements formed and showing that
supernovae really occur".
5.)
a.) How much mass does a "low mass" star have?
b.) How much mass does a "intermediate mass" star have?
c.) How much mass does a "high mass" star have?
6.)
a.) What is the heaviest element that a low mass star can burn?
b.) What elements can high mass stars can burn?
7.) By which method (proton-proton chain or CNO cycle)
do the following stars fuse hydrogen into helium?
a.) low mass stars
b.) intermediate mass stars
c.) high mass stars
8.) Which type of star has a great radiation pressure
(low mass star, intermediate mass star, or high mass star)?
9.) Which type of star can have sunspots
(low mass star or high mass star)?
10.) Which type of star burns its fuel at the fastest rate
(low mass star, intermediate mass star, or high mass star)?
11.) Which type of star runs out of fuel to burn soonest
(low mass star, intermediate mass star, or high mass star)?
12.) After each of these types of
stars burns all of its fuel, what happens to the star?
a.) low mass stars
b.) intermediate mass stars
c.) high mass stars