Let's compare the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of a Sun-like star to a white dwarf of similar mass. We know that the force of gravity comes from F= G*m_1*m_2/r^2 and that F = m * a from some of Newton's laws. As such, we know that the acceleration due to gravity is given by a_g = G*m/r^2. With that in mind, let's say that we have a white dwarf star is approximately the size of the Earth which is 1/100 radius of the Sun (0.01 R Sun) and that the white dwarf has a mass that is approximately half the mass of the Sun (0.5 M_Sun). What is the ratio of the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the white dwarf star (aka the surface gravity) compared to the surface gravity of the Sun-like star (assume its mass is 1 M_sun and radius is 1 R_Sun).?
Stellar evolution
We may see thousands of stars in the dark sky. Our universe consists of billions of stars. Stars may appear tiny to us but they are huge balls of gasses. Sun is a star of average size. Some stars are even a thousand times larger than the sun. The stars do not exist forever they have a certain lifetime. The life span of the sun is about 10 billion years. The star undergoes various changes during its lifetime, this process is called stellar evolution. The structure of the sun-like star is shown below.
Red Shift
It is an astronomical phenomenon. In this phenomenon, increase in wavelength with corresponding decrease in photon energy and frequency of radiation of light. It is the displacement of spectrum of any kind of astronomical object to the longer wavelengths (red) side.
Let's compare the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of a Sun-like star to a white dwarf of similar mass. We know that the force of gravity comes from F= G*m_1*m_2/r^2 and that F = m * a from some of Newton's laws. As such, we know that the acceleration due to gravity is given by a_g = G*m/r^2.
With that in mind, let's say that we have a white dwarf star is approximately the size of the Earth which is 1/100 radius of the Sun (0.01 R Sun) and that the white dwarf has a mass that is approximately half the mass of the Sun (0.5 M_Sun). What is the ratio of the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the white dwarf star (aka the surface gravity) compared to the surface gravity of the Sun-like star (assume its mass is 1 M_sun and radius is 1 R_Sun).?
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 3 steps with 2 images