Spectroscopy,
Waves, and Light
Waves, and Light
When white light goes through a prism, it separates into which colors?
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
What is the Nebular Theory of our Solar System?
Nebular Theory suggests that the Solar System was formed from gas and dust orbiting a center of mass, which eventually flattened into a disk, clumped together, and formed the Sun and the planets.
What is the difference between fission and fusion?
What are the three types of plate boundaries and which direction do the plates move at each one?
Convergent = moving towards, divergent = moving apart, and transform = moving past each other (side-by-side).
What are the basic particles that make up an atom? What are their charges? Where are the particles located within the atom?
Protons (+), neutrons (0), and electrons (-). Protons and neutrons are in the nucleus, and electrons are outside of the nucleus.
Describe the characteristics of ultraviolet light and infrared light. Hint: color, wavelength, frequency, and energy.
Ultraviolet Light: violet (beyond visible light), shorter wavelength, higher frequency, more energy.
Infrared Light: red (beyond visible), longer wavelength, less frequency, less energy.
Which moon phase takes place during a solar eclipse? Which takes place during a lunar eclipse?
A full moon takes place during a lunar eclipse, and a new moon takes place during a solar eclipse.
List at least three pieces of evidence for the Big Bang Theory and an Expanding Universe. Be sure to explain the concepts fully.
Galaxies showing a redshift in their spectra, the relative abundances of elements, and the leftover cosmic microwave background radiation.
Iron's density is 7.874 g/mL, and silicon's density is 2.329 g/mL. Which substance is more abundant in the Earth's core? Why?
Iron, because it is more dense.
List the three types of radiation from least to most dangerous.
Alpha, beta, and gamma radiation.
Draw the Bohr Model of the atom NEON.
Two rings: first ring has two electrons, second ring has eight. Nucleus may include ten protons and ten neutrons.
At the end of its life, could our Sun ever produce a black hole? If so, why? If not, why not?
Compare and contrast spiral and elliptical galaxies. Which type of galaxy is our Milky Way?
Answers will vary. Spiral: flat, center of mass, rod-shaped in the center, younger. Elliptical: oval/egg-shaped, dense and bright center, older. Our Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.
List two things that support Tectonic Theory.
If an object is 30g and it takes up 5mL of volume, what is the object's density?
6 g/mL
What happens to sound waves as they travel toward us? Hint: There are two possible answers.
The sound waves increase in amplitude (they get louder) and they increase in frequency (they become compressed).
Describe Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion so that an average elementary school student can understand them.
1. All planets orbit their suns in an specific way. It makes a shape called an ellipse. Ellipses are a little bit like ovals. 2. Planets move faster through space when they get pulled by closer and more massive objects, and slower through space when they are farther away from those objects. 3. Mercury moves the fastest around the Sun because it has less distance to travel.
They all begin as stellar nebula. They all condense into something with a center of mass... etc...
Explain how the convection current in our mantle operates like a lava lamp.
The light at the bottom of a lava lamp heats the wax. The wax becomes less dense and rises to the top. There, it cools, becomes more dense, and sinks. The cycle is repeated.
Will a hydrogen ion (H+) more likely bond with a fluorine ion (F-) or a potassium ion (K+)? Why?
The fluorine ion, because opposite charges attract each other to lower the overall charge.
Explain the concept of redshifting light and how it relates to an expanding universe.
Each light wave has a specific amount of energy, and a certain color associated with that energy (violet = high, red = low). As light travels away over very long periods of time, it can lose energy. The light from the galaxies that are moving away is therefore shifted towards the red side of the spectrum. The faster the galaxies are moving, the more redshifted their light appears.
The Earth is tilted on an axis that moves periodically throughout the year. In the northern hemisphere, the surface is tilted towards the sun, and it's the opposite in the winter. More direct sunlight over less area means warmer temperatures, and less means cooler temps.
Our universe is currently expanding. Give a hypothesis as to what may happen to it in the far future. Explain your reasoning.
Answers will vary.
Describe how the Hawaiian Islands were formed.
There is a hot spot under the Pacific Plate. The hot spot has periods of volcanic activity, which can create islands. As the plate moves NE, it "drags" the islands with them, creating an island chain.
A 200g sample has a half-life of 2 hours. How many half-lives have gone by after 6 hours? How large would the parent isotope be after that time?
3 half-lives. The parent isotope would be 25g.