Hugh Allison

Year 11 Physics
The Cosmic Engine Notes
1. Outline how the accretion of stars and galaxies occurred through:
expansion and cooling of the universe
Time Brief Description
10
-43
seconds Beginning of space/time continuum, 10
32
K
10
-35
seconds Rapid exponential expansion begins
10
-34
seconds Universe is now the size of a pea and at 10
27
K
10
-4
seconds Protons, neutrons, electrons and radiation
10
-2
seconds Universe size of one solar system
1 second One to ten light years across, 10
10
K
300 seconds Plasma begins nuclear fusion
380000 years One thousandth of current size, 3000K
1 million years Protogalaxies formed, now 2.7K with
background cosmic radiation

subsequent loss of particle kinetic energy
Immediately after the Big Bang, the universe was composed of pure energy, which quickly
began to form into fundamental particles travelling at extremely high velocities. As more
and more of the energy either dissipated as the universe expanded or was formed into more
matter, there was less energy left to cause particles to accelerate. As such, after a while
matter began to lose its kinetic energy and thus slow down.
gravitational attraction between particles
Since the movement of particles was entirely random, different parts of the then relatively
small universe had different particle densities. The areas of high density attracted more
particles, becoming denser, which in turn caused them to acquire even more matter. This is
what led to the formation of giant gas clouds surrounded by the vacuum of space.
lumpiness of the gas cloud that then allows gravitational collapse
These gas clouds were imperfect, with speckled surfaces and uneven weight distribution.
This was necessary for the formation of stars and galaxies as if the gas clouds had been
uniform, gravity would have acted equally in all directions and the cloud would never have
been able to condense and ignite the fusion process which begins the life of a star. The
nebulae would have had some initial rotary motion, however small, and as mass was drawn
towards the centre, this would have accelerated. This leads to increased pressure due to
centripetal force and eventually starts nuclear fusion, also flattening the cloud into the disc
shape which is characteristic of so many galaxies today.






2. Define the relationship between the temperature of a body and the dominant wavelength
emitted from that body.
Celestial bodies radiate electromagnetic energy constantly, but not evenly across the
electromagnetic spectrum. The way that this radiation is distributed depends upon the temperature
of the body. Consider this figure:

Each of the curves is drawn for a particular colour, and each curve peaks over a certain wavelength,
showing that it emits most of its energy at that wavelength. As the temperature increases, you can
see that the dominant wavelength being emitted moves towards the shorter end of the spectrum.
This relationship is known as Wiens Law and can be written as:

Where

This means that the surface temperature of a star is related to its colour




3. Gather secondary information to relate brightness of a star to its luminosity and distance
Luminosity is the total energy radiated by an object (such as a lamp or a star) per second. This can
also be called power output and its SI units are joules per second, or watts (W). A light globe may
have a power rating of 100 W, while the Sun's power output, or luminosity, is estimated to be
approximately 3.83 1026 W. This value is designated L0 and is often used as a unit to express the
luminosity of other stars. In figure 13.1 the luminosity of Procyon is noted as 7 L0.

The brightness of a radiant object (such as a lamp or star) is the intensity of light as seen some
distance away from it. It is the energy received per square metre per second.




Brightness and luminosity are related.

To understand this relationship better, consider the construction shown in figure 13.3. This diagram
shows a star surrounded by an imaginary sphere. The star gives off radiant energy in all directions,
and the sum of all the radiation given off in one second is the star's luminosity. The radiation spreads
out uniformly and penetrates the whole surface of the sphere. Therefore, the amount of radiant
energy per square metre per second received at the surface of the sphere (the brightness) is given
by:







Figure 13.3 The total radiant energy from a star is spread over the surface of an imaginary sphere
surrounding it.

This relationship describes how the brightness of a star, a distance r from an observer, depends on
the luminosity and the distance. In particular, notice that the brightness is inversely proportional to
the square of the distance. This can be written as follows:





This relationship means that if the distance, r, were to double, then the brightness would reduce to
one-quarter of its previous value.



4. Identify energy sources characteristic of each star group, including Main Sequence, red giants
and white dwarfs.
Main sequence stars rely primarily on the proton-proton chain, which involves no catalysts, can
occur at lower temperatures and requires a large supply of hydrogen. In such a reaction, four
hydrogen nuclei, or protons, join to produce a single helium nucleus, with the products of two
positrons, two neutrinos and some energy.
4 Hydrogen nuclei = 1 Helium nucleus + 2 positrons (e
+
) + 2 neutrinos (v) + 4.3
x10
-12
J energy
However, as hydrogen supplies dwindle, stars begin to resort to the triple alpha reaction, so called
because it uses helium nuclei which are also known as alpha radiation. In this reaction, three helium
nuclei form a single carbon nucleus, giving off gamma radiation and some energy. The triple alpha
reaction is found to occur within the core of red giant stars.
3 Helium nuclei = 1 Carbon nucleus + Gamma radiation + 1.2
x10
-12
J energy
In even more massive stars, further nuclear fusion can occur. For instance, carbon nuclei are able to
join with helium in order to form Oxygen.
1 Carbon nucleus + 1 Helium nucleus = 1 Oxygen nucleus + gamma radiation
In supergiants, oxygen can fuse to heavier elements such as silicon or sulphur, which in turn can fuse
further to result in elements as heavy as iron. This is the heaviest element that can be formed in a
reaction which produces energy.
White dwarves are different to all of these stars as they have no nuclear fusion occurring within
them. They are collapsed, exhausted stars with no nuclear fuel left. As such, they simply radiate their
heat into space and cool to become black dwarfs.
5. Describe a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram as the graph of a stars luminosity against its colour or
surface temperature.
In 1911, the Danish astronomer Ejnar Hertzsprung invented a diagrammatic method of representing
the characteristics of a star. The method was improved in 1913 by American astronomer Henry
Norris-Russell. Today the diagram is known as a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, or simply an H-R
diagram.
In short, the H-R diagram is a graph of the luminosity of a star (vertical axis) against its surface
temperature or in some cases its colour. However, these axes are non-linear. The luminosity axis
usually ranges from 10
-4
L
0
to 10
6
L
0
, with each increment increasing by a factor of ten. The
temperature scale will often go from 2500K at the right to maybe 40 000K at the left, every unit
representing a doubling in temperature. Each star is plotted as a single point, which allows us to
group certain stars together based on their characteristics.
6. Process and analyse information using the Hertzsprung Russell diagram to examine the variety
of star groups, including Main sequence, red giants, and white dwarfs.
However, the power of the HR diagram lies in its ability to show whole groups of stars, so that the
relationships between them can be seen. Figure 13.7a shows an HR diagram for the nearest and
brightest stars. Plotting a selection of stars such as this provides an assortment of types, as the graph
shows. The stars tend to fall into a number of discrete groups, which are clearly shown in figure
13.7b.




7. Hands on displays at the Wollongong Science Centre
Foucault pendulum:
A Foucault pendulum is a pendulum that is tall and freely able to swing in any vertical plane. The
actual direction of swing seems to rotate in a full circle in relation to the Earth. What is really
happening is that the direction of swing is fixed in space while the Earth rotates underneath it
regularly, taking different amounts of time based on its proximity to the equator.
Parabola:
A large curved surface is situated underneath a large dish hanging from the roof. When rubber balls
are dropped on to the surface from an observing platform, they always bounce to hit the dish. This
experiment is meant to demonstrate the focal capabilities of a parabola, as no matter where a ray or
wave hits the surface of a satellite dish, it will always rebound to hit the focal point.