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Motion, Energy, Gravity; Light and Matter; Telescopes
Terms from "The Cosmic Perspective" textbook
105
Astronomy
Undergraduate 4
03/23/2011

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Term
velocity
Definition
tells both the speed and direction of an object
Term
SPEED
Definition
how far an object will go in a certain amount of time
Term
acceleration
Definition
when the velocity changeds in any way, whether in speed or direction or both
Term
acceleration of gravity
Definition
the acceleration of a falling object
Term
momentum
Definition
the product of its mass and velocity; momentum=(mass)(velocity)
Term
force
Definition
the only way to change an object's momentum
Term
force
Definition
the only way to change an object's momentum
Term
net force
Definition
overall force; represents the combined effect of all the individual forces put together
Term
angular momentum
Definition
"circling momentum" or "turning momentum"; any object that is either spinning or moving along a curved path as angular momentum
Term
torque
Definition
the type of force that can change an object's angular momentum ("twisting force")
Term
mass
Definition
the amount of matter in your body
Term
weight
Definition
the force that a scale measures when you stand on it; that is, weight depends both on your mass and on the forces (including gravity) acting on your mass
Term
free-fall
Definition
falling without any resistance to slow you down
Term
Newton's First Law of Motion
Definition
An object moves at constant velocity if there is no net force acting upton it. "Objects will remain in moetion unless a force acts to stop them."
Term
Newton's Second Law of Motion
Definition
The amount of the acceleration depends on the object's mass and the strength of the net force. force=(mass)(acceleration)
Term
Newton's Third Law of Motion
Definition
For any force, there is always an equal and opposite reaction force.
Term
conservation of momentum
Definition
the total momentum of interacting objects cannot change as long as no external force is acting on them; that is, their total momentum is conserved. (Example, balls on a pool table)
Term
conservation of angular momentum
Definition
as long as there is no external torque, the total angular momentum of a set of interacting objects cannot change. An individual object can change its angular momentum only by transferring some angular momentum to or from another object. (example, ice skater)
Term
orbital angular momentum
Definition
mass (of the Earth) x velocity x radius (of the orbit)
Term
rotational angular momentum
Definition
the same idea as orbital angular momentum explains why Earth keeps rotating.
Term
conservation of energy
Definition
energy cannot appear out of nowhere or disappear into nothingness. objects can gain or lose energy only by exchanging energy with other objects.
Term
kinetic energy
Definition
energy of motion
Term
radiative energy
Definition
energy carried by light
Term
potential energy
Definition
stored energy which might later be converted into kinetic or radiative energy (example, standing at the edge of a cliff)
Term
joule
Definition
standard unit of energy
Term
thermal energy
Definition
kinetic energy, represents the collective TOTAL kinetic energy of the many individual particles (atoms and molecules) moving randomly within a substance
Term
temperature
Definition
measures the AVERAGE kinetic energy of particles in a substance
Term
Kelvin
Definition
coldest temperature is absolute zero
Term
gravitational potential energy
Definition
depends on an objects mass and how far it can fall as a result of gravity
Term
mass-energy
Definition
energy contained in mass; mass can be converted to other forms of energy with E=mc2
Term
universal law of gravitation
Definition
1. Every mass attracts every other mass through the force called gravity.
2. The strength of the gravitational force attracting any two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses.
3. The strength of gravity between 2 objects decreases with the square of the distance between their centers (INVERSE SQUARE LAW).
Term
gravitational constant
Definition
"G"
Term
inverse square law
Definition
Term
bound orbits
Definition
elliptical; orbits in which an object goes around another object over and over again
Term
unbound orbits
Definition
hyperbolic and parobolic, paths that bring an object close to another object just once
Term
Kepler's third law
Definition
p2=a3
p-planet's orbital period in years
a-the planets avg distance from the Sun in AU
Term
Newton's version of Kepler's third law
Definition
allows us to measure orbital period and distance in any units we wish (rather than only in years and AU); the relationship between the orbital period and the avg distance depends on the masses of the orbiting objects
Term
orbital energy
Definition
the sum of its kinetic and gravitational potential energies
Term
gravitational encounter
Definition
when two objects pass near enough so that they can feel the effects of the other's gravity (ex comet passes near a planet, the comet's orbit can change dramatically)
Term
escape velocity
Definition
minimum velocity required to escape Earth's gravity if a spacecraft starts near the surface
Term
tidal force
Definition
the gravitational attraction of each part of Earth to the Moon becomes weaker as we go from the side of Earth facing the Moon to the side facing away from the Moon - stretches the entire Earth to create 2 tidal bulges
Term
synchronous rotation
Definition
like the Moon always showing the same face to the Earth
Term
power
Definition
the rate of energy flow
Term
watts
Definition
how we measure power
1 watt=1 joule
Term
spectrum
Definition
light split
Term
wavelength
Definition
distance from one peak to the next
Term
frequency
Definition
the number of peaks passing by any point each second
Term
Hertz
Definition
cycles per second
Term
speed
Definition
how fast wave peaks are traveling
Term
spped of a wave
Definition
wavelength x frequency
Term
field
Definition
electric and magnetic; describe the strength of the force that any particle would experience at any point in space
Term
speed of light
Definition
300,000 km per second; the longer the wavelength, the lower the frequency
Term
photons
Definition
pieces of light that have properties of both particles and waves
Term
visible light
Definition
rainbow of colors
Term
electromagnetic spectrum
Definition
complete spectrum of light
Term
Light itself is often called...
Definition
...electromagnetic radiation.
Term
infrared
Definition
longer wavelengths
Term
radio waves
Definition
the longest wavelength of light
Term
microwaves
Definition
between infrared and radio waves
Term
ultraviolet
Definition
shorter wavelengths than blue light
Term
x rays
Definition
between ultraviolet and gamma
Term
gamma rays
Definition
the shortest-wavelength light
Term
Democritus
Definition
"atoms"
Term
atoms
Definition
make up elements; contain protons, neutrons, electrons, nucleus
Term
electrical charge
Definition
properties of an atom depend mainly on this; describes how strongly an object will interact with electromagnetic fields
Term
atomic number
Definition
number of protons in the nucleus
Term
atomic mass number
Definition
protons and neutrons in an atom
Term
isotopes
Definition
versions of an element with different numbers of neutrons
Term
chemical bond
Definition
interactions between electrons that hold the atoms in a molecule together
Term
molecular dissociation
Definition
when molecules split into pieces
Term
ions
Definition
the loss of one or more negatively charged electrons leaves the remaining atom with a net positive charge
Term
ionization
Definition
the process of stripping electrons from atoms
Term
plasma
Definition
hot gas, in which atoms have become ionized
Term
pressure
Definition
the force per unit area pushing on an object's surface
Term
energy levels
Definition
only a few particular energies are possible, and energies between these special few are not possible. the possible energies are known as the energy levels of an atom
Term
energy level transitions
Definition
an electron can rise from a low energy level to a higher one or fall from a high level to a lower one
Term
intensity
Definition
amount of radiation at different wavelengths
Term
continuous spectrum
Definition
no interruptions
Term
emission line spectrum
Definition
consists of bright emission lines against a black background
Term
absorption line spectrum
Definition
continuous light background with black absorption lines
Term
molecular bands
Definition
tightly bunched lines
Term
thermal radiation
Definition
temperature dependence of light; blackbody radiation; thermal radiation spectra are the most common type of continuous spectra
Term
Doppler effect
Definition
(Example: train or light moving closer or farther away)
Term
blueshift
Definition
the Doppler shift of an object coming toward us
Term
redshift
Definition
the Doppler shift of an object moving away from us
Term
rest wavelengths
Definition
wavelengths in stationary clouds of hydrogen gas
Term
focal plane
Definition
the place where the image appears in focus on the lens
Term
detector
Definition
any device that records light
Term
CCDs
Definition
charge-coupled devices; electronic devices; a chip of silicon that is extremely sensitive to photons
Term
pixels
Definition
picture elements - a grid of squares
Term
light-collecting area
Definition
how much total light the telescope can collect at one time
Term
angular resolution
Definition
the smallest angle over which we can tell that two dots are distinct
Term
diffraction limit
Definition
the angular resolution that a telescope could achieve if it were limited only by the interference of light waves
Term
refracting telescope
Definition
operates like an eye, using trasparaent glass lenses to collect and focus light; earliest telescopes
Term
reflecting telescope
Definition
uses a precisely curved primary mirror to gather light. this mirror reflects the gathered light to a secondary mirror that lies in front of it.
Term
spectroscopy
Definition
separating the various colors of light into spectra, which are then recorded with a detector
Term
light curves
Definition
graphs that show how an object's intensity varies with time
Term
turbulence
Definition
winds and other air currents ensure that air in our atmosphere is constantly moving and mixing around
Term
adaptive optics
Definition
technology that can eliminate much of the blurring in images caused by our atmosphere
Term
radio telescopes
Definition
most common; every satellite dish is essentially a small radio telescope designed to collect radio waves from a satellite in Earth's orbit (like reflecting telescope)
Term
infrared telescopes
Definition
SOFIA (airborne observatory); most infrared can only be seen from mountain tops or in the air
Term
ultraviolet telescopes
Definition
like infrared, must be done from the sky, because Earth's atmosphere absorbs almost all ultraviolet light
Term
grazing incidence mirrors
Definition
x rays merely graze their surfaces as they are deflected toward the focal plane; xrays are difficult to focus on
Term
gamma-ray telescopes
Definition
massive to withstand gamma-rays
Term
interferometry
Definition
takes advantage of the wavelike properties of light that cause interference; the procedure relies on precisely timing when radio waves reach each dish and on using computers to analyze the resulting interference patterns
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