Kinematics
Physics term for change in position / change in time
What is velocity?
The unit of force.
What is a newton?
The speed of light in a vacuum.
What is 300,000,000 m/s?
A cloud of gas and dust in interstellar space, the birthplace of stars.
What is a nebula?
The scientific theory of the relationship between space and time.
What is (special) relativity?
The term for the energy an object possesses due to its motion, denoted by 1/2 mv^2
What is kinetic energy?
The tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion and objects at rest to stay at rest, described by Newton's first law of motion.
What is inertia?
The name for the full range of wavelengths that cover all kinds of light.
What is the electromagnetic spectrum?
The type of astronomical event that occurred on April 8, 2024.
A (total) solar eclipse.
A region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light and other electromagnetic waves, is capable of possessing enough energy to escape it.
What is a black hole?
The rotational analogue of linear force.
What is torque?
The acceleration due to gravity on Earth.
What is 9.8 m/s2?
When an object recedes away from you, the frequency of the light it emits is shifted downward.
What is the Doppler effect (or red shift)?
A space telescope designed to conduct infrared astronomy, launched in 2021.
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
A discrete quantity of energy proportional in magnitude to the frequency of the radiation it represents. The minimum amount of energy involved in an interaction.
What is a quantum?
Along with energy, this is a key conserved quantity in isolated systems.
What is momentum (mass*velocity)?
The acceleration of a 15 kg box that has 500 N of force applied to the right.
What is an acceleration of 33.33 m/s2 to the right?
A fundamental tool in the field of astronomy that involves the study of the absorption and emission of light and other radiation by matter.
What is spectroscopy?
A large explosion of plasma and radiation from the outer layer of the Sun, denoted by the acronym CME.
What is a Coronal Mass Ejection?
The phenomenon of an object having multiple states or properties at the same time.
What is quantum superposition?
An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s2 for 32.8 s until is finally lifts off the ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff.
What is 1721 m?
In Newton's theory of gravitation, this is how the force of gravity varies with distance between the masses.
What is 1/r^2?
The equation for the relationship between frequency and wavelength of light.
c = f*lambda
A roughly straight-line configuration of three or more celestial bodies in a gravitational system.
What is a syzygy?
The difference in elapsed time as measured by two clocks, either because of a relative velocity between them, or a difference in gravitational potential between their locations.
What is time dilation?