The Signature Assignment Parts

Part 1: Star Identification:

The photo below is of the Lyra region of the milky way.

Pick 4 of the stars in the photograph below. Label each of these stars on
the photo. Then tell me the following things about each star:

1) Its name

2) Distance from Earth in light years (a light year is how far light can travel
through the vacuum of space moving at 670 million miles per hour for a
year. By everyday standards a light year is an enormous distance)

3) When the light from the star now visible in the skies of Earth actually left
the star (if a star is 10 light years away its light now visible in the skies of
Earth left that star 10 years ago in 2002)

4) Its size compared to the Sun (you can do the comparison using the
stars radius to the Suns radius or the stars volume to the Suns
volume)

5) The stars luminosity compared to the Sun (luminosity is a measure of

brightness)

Star 1
1) Vega (Alpha Lyrae)
2) 25.04 light years from Earth
3) 1992 A.D.
4) 2.135 X Suns radius
5) 40.12 solar luminosities
Star 3
1) Sheliak (Beta Lyrae)
2) 962.13 light years from Earth
3) 1055 A.D.
4) 19.98 X Suns radius
5) 4,600 solar luminosities

Star 2
1) Sulafat (Gamma Lyrae)
2) 634.56 light years from Earth
3) 1382 A.D.
4) 12.77 X Suns radius
5) 2,430 solar luminosities
Star 4
1) Alathfar (Mu Lyrae)
2) 438.98 light years from Earth
3) 1578 A.D.
4) 4.90 X Suns radius
5) 125 solar luminosities
Above: photo of the Constellation Lyra

A suggested line of approach to this part of the project is to use the star chart that
follows to identify the stars in the photo and then find the information you need using net
searches on the internet.
Star chart of the constellation Lyra (bigger start size on chart means brighter as it
appears to us in our sky)
Part 2: Equation Analysis:

These equations are in your textbook so that should be a good source of accurate
information about them.

Equation 1: E = mc2

Answer or do the following:

Question 1: Find out what the things in this equation (using your book or a net search
will do it) are and identify them as either variables or constants.
E= energy; variable
m= mass; variable
c= speed of light; constant

Question 2: What is the size of c2?

c2= 9.00 x 1016 joules/kilogram

Question 3: Are mass and energy related? Answer yes or no and then provide a brief
explanation of your answer based on the analysis of the equation.
Yes, mass and energy are directly related. When one of them increases or
decreases the other one goes up or down in the same proportion.

Question 4: Analyze the statement: if it is possible to change mass into energy a little
bit of mass could produce a lot of energy. Is it true or not? Provide a brief explanation
based on your analysis of the equation. It doesnt have to be super complex and you
dont need to solve the equation; just use the equation in a straightforward way (for
help, consult me or the tutorial files in the learning from equations module in canvas.
True, by looking at question 2 any amount of mass is multiplied by a huge
number (9.00 x 1016), so a little bit of mass (like one kilogram) could generate
9.00 x 1016 joules of energy. That explains why a pretty small atomic bomb can
release a tremendous amount of energy and destroy most of a large town.

The equation E = mc2 comes from the relativistic energy/momentum equation in Albert
Einsteins Special Theory of Relativity (the book has a chapter on that theory). The full
relativistic energy/momentum equation is:

E2 = p2c2 + m2c4

where the new variable p is the relativistic momentum (momentum at very high
speed). If an object is not moving its momentum is zero and the equation reduces to:

E2 = m2c4
If we want the energy E instead of the energy squared we can take the square root of
this equation to get:

E = mc2

Since this involves an object that is not moving this energy is sometimes called the rest
energy or energy of existence of an object.

Now this equation is technically not complete because when you take a square root you
get positive and negative solutions so it should really look like this:

E = mc2

This is a curious result as we will see from the following series of questions. Your book
on the chapter on Special Relativity may be of some help here and the internet definitely
will be useful.

The equation:

E = mc2

can actually be split into:

E = mc2

and:

E = -mc2

Its this second equation we want to look at now, especially that negative sign. There is
something rather odd going on here. Lets try to find out what it is!

Question 5. Is the mass m ever negative?

Most physicists dont believe negative mass exists because that would violate
various laws of the universe, such as the conservation of energy or momentum. It
would also break one of the essential assumptions behind Einsteins theory of
general relativity. However, scientists continue to investigate whether or not there
is negative mass.

Question 6. Is c ever negative (hint: remember that c is a velocity and as such has a
magnitude and a direction. Positive and negative can be used to designate direction)?
No, there is no negative energy or mass so c cannot be negative.

Question 7. Can c2 ever be negative?

No, because both positive and negative numbers squared are positive numbers.
Question 8. Given your previous answers, can mc2 ever be negative?
No

We could multiply the equation by -1 and get:

E = mc2

Question 9. Is energy ever actually negative (can something have a negative energy of
existence)?
Yes, in theory. Physicist Paul Dirac proposed that in nature, the quantum states
of positive energy are exactly balanced out by the quantum states of negative
energy. This would mean that the net effect is zero and negative energy cannot
be seen or felt in normal conditions. He said it negative energy could only be
seen in a perfect vacuum.

Question 10. Does energy ever have a direction (is it scalar or vector)?
No, it is scalar.

Question 11. Can the negative on the left hand side of the equation ever mean a
direction for energy?
No because energy is scalar. Force is needed to give energy direction.

Question 12. Some scientists thought that this negative sign was just a mathematical
oddity or scrap that had no physical meaning. Why might they think that? (use your
previous answers)
They agreed with what the textbook says about energy and mass both being
scalars, and therefore there would not be a direction attached to E. They may
have not accepted the concept of negative mass that would have been needed to
generate E in the equation since c2 is always positive.

Question 13. Is the negative sign actually meaningless or does this mathematical
peculiarity actually mean something? If so, what?
I dont think it means anything. The textbook says that, the equation E=mc2 is
more than a formula for the conversion of mass into the other kinds of energy, or
vice versa. It states even more: that energy and mass are the same thing. Mass
is congealed energy (p. 680). If energy and mass are the same thing, it seems
to me they would need to have the same sign.
Part 3: Learning about a Law of Physics

Pick any Law or Principle of Physics in your textbook and:

1. List its name and give me an explanation of what it is and what it means.
2. Give me 3 examples in the real world involving the law or principle.

Newtons Second Law of Motion, states, The acceleration of an object is directly

proportional to the net force acting on the object, is in the direction of the net force, and
is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. (Page 63) The standard formula is F
= ma (force equals mass times acceleration). This means that the acceleration of an
object is dependent upon two variables: 1) the net force acting on the object and 2) the
mass of the object. The acceleration of an object depends directly on the force and
depends inversely to the mass. That means that when the force on the object is
increased the acceleration of the object increases, and when the mass of the object is
increased the acceleration decreases. To be clear, lets define some of the key terms.

Acceleration - the rate of change of velocity of an object with respect to time.

Usually measured in meters per second squared.
Velocity - a physical vector quantity where both magnitude and direction are
needed to define it. The scalar magnitude of velocity is speed. Usually measured
as meters per second.
Net force - the vector sum of all the forces that act upon an object.
Force an action that changes the motion (direction and/or speed) of an object.
It measurement is a newton (N) which is the force required to give a mass of
one kilogram an acceleration of one meter per second per second.
Mass - the quantity of matter in a body regardless of its volume or of any forces
acting on it. (Mass is different than weight, because weight measures Earths
gravitational force on an object. Weight equals mass times a gravitational
constant, and that constant on Earth is 9.8 meters per second squared.)

Examples:

1) It is harder to push a full shopping cart than an empty one because the full one
has more mass.
2) Everything else being the same (i.e., aerodynamics, horsepower, tires, etc.), a
race car with more aluminum than steel aluminum will go faster than a race car
with more steel than aluminum because the car with more aluminum has less
mass.
3) If the same force is applied to one brick and two bricks (identical) on a table, the
acceleration of the two bricks is half as much as the acceleration of one brick.
Part 4: The Rare Earth Hypothesis and its Features

This involves the possible existence of alien life in the Universe. A net search should
bring up some immediate information on the subject.

1. Clearly and briefly explain the Rare Earth Hypothesis

This hypothesis argues that complex multi-cellular and animal life forms must be
rare in the galaxy, and intelligent life would be even more rare. The authors of the
hypothesis (Peter Ward and Don Brownlee from the University of Washington)
assert that celestial bodies other than Earth are too cold, too hot, too unstable, or
too short-lived to evolve and sustain the development of complex life. They argue
in their hypothesis that the evolution of biological complexity requires a whole lot
of fortuitous circumstances.

2. List and briefly explain 3 important features of the Rare Earth Hypothesis (features
are ideas, concepts or facts that support the hypothesis)
Intelligent and biologically complex and intelligent life could only arise in the right
location in the right kind of galaxy. This would require: a) elements other than
helium and hydrogen for the formation of a terrestrial planet; b) a location with
not too much X-ray and gamma ray radiation which eliminates the early universe
and galactic regions where stellar density is high and supernovae are common;
and c) being the right distance from other celestial bodies (e.g., planets and
stars) to reduce gravitational perturbation and possible collisions with large space
objects like bolides (large fireballs that could extinguish all complex life on the
celestial object hit).
Orbiting at the right distance from the right type of star is required to support
complex life. The Rare Earth Hypothesis suggests that water in a liquid state is
required to support this complex life. If temperatures are too high, water would
evaporate. If temperatures are too low, water would solidify. A necessary
moderate temperature capable of enabling liquid water (assuming an acceptable
atmospheric pressure) is only available in what is called a habitable zone that is
a ring around the central star.
A planet with complex life forms must be the right size. A planet that is too small
cannot hold much of an atmosphere. Therefore, the surface temperature
becomes more variable and the average temperature drops. Substantial and
long-lasting oceans become impossible. A planet that is too large would retain
too much of its atmosphere and have surface atmosphere pressure too high to
support complex life. The dense atmosphere would also create surface
temperatures too high to support complex life forms

3. Planets around other stars have been discovered in significant numbers (exoplanets).
What light has this shed on the hypothesis? Explain briefly.
NASAs Kepler and K2 space missions have discovered 5,011 candidate
exoplanets, 2,515 confirmed exoplanets, and 30 conformed exoplanets less than
twice Earth-size and in a habitable zone (per NASA website) in the past twenty
years or so. This high number of newly discovered exoplanets would seem to
increase the number of potentially habitable planets in the universe simply by
increasing ne and fp in the Rare Earth Equation shown above. The likelihood or
probability of even more potentially habitable planets would go up further if some
of these newly discovered exoplanets fit the definition of fpm in the equation.