PHY 111, Spring, 2006

Week 10

 

  Main Objectives
bulletYou should be able to describe:
bullethow we can use the H-R diagram to find the distance to a star or star cluster
bullethow mass, radius, luminosity and temperature are related for main sequence stars
bulletYou should be able to discuss the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram in detail (e.g. what is plotted on each axis, what the scales are, label the different regions of the graph, how many stars are in each of the regions)
bulletYou should know how the amount of radiation emitted by a star depends on its temperature and its area
bulletYou should know which spectral classes are cool stars and which are hot stars
bulletYou should know what the main properties of white dwarfs and red giants are and how that makes them different from most stars.
bulletYou should be able to discuss
bulletthe different things we learn about a star from its spectrum
bulletwhat features of a star's spectrum are used to decide its spectral class
bulletthe significance of the center of mass of a pair of objects in mutual orbit
bullethow we can find the masses of stars in a visual binary (words, not math)
bulletthe types of information that can be obtained from the study of the light curve of an eclipsing binary and how the information is obtained
bulletYou should be able to describe the different classifications of binary stars.
Tuesday Small group activity on absolute and apparent brightness magnitude. Discuss how the mass, diameter and temperature of stars are related.   Discuss classifications of stars based on stellar spectra.

Outside of class: Read Ch. 12 Sections 5-8.   Complete Chapter 12 recall questions 1-25 odd numbers only and Questions to Ponder 1 to be turned in on Thursday. 
Thursday Continue above discussion and discuss binary stars.   Small group work on interpreting the H-R diagram.

Outside of class: Read  all of Chapter 13 and Chapter 14 Sec. 1-2.  Complete Recall question 37, Questions to Ponder 15, and Calculation 7 to be turned in next Thursday.