Juno Cheung
History of the Universe
Problem Set 4 - Short Answer Questions
Due: Mar 7, 2024 in class
Written homework in this class is intended as a learning tool. Collaboration with peers while working on
this assignment is encouraged - in fact, collaborative assignments produced by two people are allowed for
full credit. You can ask Statia for help too! Please, though, don’t copy from someone else or have AI do
your homework – this would constitute academic dishonesty and defeat the purpose of the assignment,
which is to help you practice the skills you’ll need for exams. And do show all your work. You will need
to use a calculator to complete this assignment. Below you will find some potentially useful information.
This information will also be provided during exams!
Metric System Prefixes Table Constants, Values, and Unit Conversions
T “terra” 1012 8
𝑐 = 3. 0 × 10 𝑚/𝑠 speed of light in a vacuum
G “giga” 109 −34
ℎ = 6. 63 × 10 𝐽· 𝑠 Planck constant
M “mega” 106
−11 3 −1 −2
k “kilo” 103 𝐺 = 6. 7 × 10 𝑚 𝑘𝑔 𝑠 Gravitational constant
c “centi” 10-2 π = 3. 14
m “milli” 10-3 1 mile = 5280 feet = 1.61 km
μ “micro” 10-6 1 inch = 2.54 cm
n “nano” 10-9 1 foot = 12 inches
p “pico” 10-12 1 𝐴𝑈 = 1. 50 × 10 𝑚
11
Astronomical Unit
24
𝑀𝐸 = 5. 97 × 10 𝑘𝑔 Mass of Earth
6
𝑅𝐸 = 6. 38 × 10 𝑚 Radius of Earth
15
1 𝑙𝑦 = 9. 5 × 10 𝑚 light-year
−2
1𝑁 ≡ 1𝑘𝑔 𝑚 𝑠 Newton
2 −2
1𝐽 ≡ 1 𝑘𝑔 𝑚 𝑠 Joule
−1
1𝑊 ≡ 1𝐽 · 𝑠 Watt
−1
1 𝐻𝑧 ≡ 1/𝑠 = 𝑠 Hertz
1 ton = 1000 kg
Potentially Useful Equations
𝑑=𝑣× 𝑡 d = distance; v = speed; t = time
2
𝐴 = π𝑟 Area of a circle. A= area, r= radius (radius = ½ diameter). Can be used
for telescope collecting area.
2
𝑉𝑐𝑦𝑙 = π𝑟 ℎ Volume of a cylinder. V= volume, r= radius, h = height
3
𝑉𝑠𝑝ℎ = 4/3 π𝑟 Volume of a sphere. V= volume, r= radius
◦ λ
θ𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 69. 9 𝐷
θ𝑚𝑖𝑛= minimum distinguishable angle of separation; λ =
wavelength; D = diameter of the telescope aperture
Potentially Useful Equations (continued)
2 3
𝑃 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
=𝑎 𝐴𝑈
Kepler’s Third Law.. Pyears = Orbital period in years; aAU = orbital distance
(“semimajor axis”) in AU.
𝐹= 𝑚 × 𝑎 Newton’s second law of motion. F= force, m=mass, a=acceleration
𝐹1 =− 𝐹2 Newton’s third law of motion.𝐹1= force exerted by body 1 on body 2; 𝐹2=
force exerted by body 2 on body 1
𝐺𝑚1𝑚2
𝐹𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣 = 2 Newton’s Law of Gravitation. 𝐹𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣= gravitational force. G = gravitational
𝑑
constant; 𝑚1, 𝑚2 = masses of objects 1 and 2, respectively; d =
separation between two objects.
2𝐺𝑀
𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐 = 𝑟
𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑐= escape speed; G = gravitational constant; M = mass of object to
escape from; r= distance from object’s center.
𝑣= λ× 𝑓 v = speed of a wave; λ = wavelength; f = frequency
𝐸𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 = ℎ × 𝑓 𝐸𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 = energy of a photon; h = Planck constant; f = frequency
0.0029 𝑚 ·𝐾
λ𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = 𝑇
λ𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘= wavelength peak of the blackbody curve, T = temperature, m here
is the unit of meters and K is the unit of Kelvins (m and K are not
variables in this equation!)
◦ 5 ◦ ◦ ◦
𝐶= 9
(𝐹 − 32) 𝐶= temperature in degrees Celsius, 𝐹= temperature in degrees
Fahrenheit
◦ ◦
𝐾 = 𝐶+273 K = temperature in Kelvins, 𝐶= temperature in degrees Celsius
1. Light and Matter
a) A red light and a beam of X-rays carry exactly the same total amount of energy. Which
beam contains a greater number of photons? Explain briefly.
The beam redlight wouldhave more photons
of
because redlight has a larger wavelength and a smaller frequency
−19
b) Solve for the frequency of a photon with energy of 1 × 10 J. Using the
information provided above, make sure to check that your final units are s-1 or,
equivalently, Hertz.
photon hxf
0.15 10151.5 101
1
f Ig.g
[Link]
c) Using TWO of the provided equations, write down an expression for the
wavelength of a photon as a function of its energy.
x
v
f x
f −19
d) What is the wavelength of the photon with an energy of 1 × 10 J?
a one
2. Blackbody Radiation
a) The temperature of the Sun’s surface is 5,778 K. What is the peak wavelength of a
blackbody with this temperature? Give your answer in nanometers.
m
peak 00f 5 107m 10 5x10 nm
b) The temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background, radiation left over from the
Universe’s early days, is 2.7 K. What is the peak wavelength of a blackbody with this
temperature? Give your answer in millimeters.
m
[Link] 1.07 101 1031.07min
peak
◦
c) The temperature of a human is 98. 6 𝐹 . What is the peak wavelength of a blackbody
with this temperature? Give your answer in micrometers.
98.6F 98.6 273 371.6k
6
ftp 7.8 10 10
m
t [Link]
peak
d) Which of these three sources emits the most radiation (per square meter) at a
wavelength of 10 micrometers? Explain your reasoning.
Thesun willemitthemostradiation perm at a wavelength
10 micrometers Thesun has the highest temperature which means
of wavelength thus moreradiation
it has a shorterpeak