Essential Cosmic Perspective
Essential Cosmic Perspective
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135795033
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
bartleby

Concept explainers

bartleby

Videos

Textbook Question
Book Icon
Chapter 1, Problem 39EAP

Group Activity: Counting the Milky Way’s Stars. Work as a group to answer each part. Note: This activity works particularly well in groups of four students, with each student taking on one of the following roles: scribe: takes notes on the group’s activities; pro-poser: suggests tentative explanations to the group; skeptic: points out weaknesses in proposed explanations; moderator: leads group discussion and makes sure everyone contributes.

a. Work together to estimate the number of stars in the Milky Way from just these two facts: (1) the number of stars within 12 light-years of the Sun, which you can count in Appendix F, and (2) the total volume of the Milky Way’s disk (100,000 light-years in diameter and 1000 light-years thick), which is about 1 billion times the volume of the region of your star count.

b. Discuss how your value from part a compares to the value given in this chapter. Make a list of possible reasons why your technique may have underestimated or overestimated the actual number.

Blurred answer
Students have asked these similar questions
A cylinder with a piston contains 0.153 mol of nitrogen at a pressure of 1.83×105 Pa and a temperature of 290 K. The nitrogen may be treated as an ideal gas. The gas is first compressed isobarically to half its original volume. It then expands adiabatically back to its original volume, and finally it is heated isochorically to its original pressure. Part A Compute the temperature at the beginning of the adiabatic expansion. Express your answer in kelvins. ΕΠΙ ΑΣΦ T₁ = ? K Submit Request Answer Part B Compute the temperature at the end of the adiabatic expansion. Express your answer in kelvins. Π ΑΣΦ T₂ = Submit Request Answer Part C Compute the minimum pressure. Express your answer in pascals. ΕΠΙ ΑΣΦ P = Submit Request Answer ? ? K Pa
Learning Goal: To understand the meaning and the basic applications of pV diagrams for an ideal gas. As you know, the parameters of an ideal gas are described by the equation pV = nRT, where p is the pressure of the gas, V is the volume of the gas, n is the number of moles, R is the universal gas constant, and T is the absolute temperature of the gas. It follows that, for a portion of an ideal gas, pV = constant. Τ One can see that, if the amount of gas remains constant, it is impossible to change just one parameter of the gas: At least one more parameter would also change. For instance, if the pressure of the gas is changed, we can be sure that either the volume or the temperature of the gas (or, maybe, both!) would also change. To explore these changes, it is often convenient to draw a graph showing one parameter as a function of the other. Although there are many choices of axes, the most common one is a plot of pressure as a function of volume: a pV diagram. In this problem, you…
Learning Goal: To understand the meaning and the basic applications of pV diagrams for an ideal gas. As you know, the parameters of an ideal gas are described by the equation pV = nRT, where p is the pressure of the gas, V is the volume of the gas, n is the number of moles, R is the universal gas constant, and T is the absolute temperature of the gas. It follows that, for a portion of an ideal gas, pV = constant. T One can see that, if the amount of gas remains constant, it is impossible to change just one parameter of the gas: At least one more parameter would also change. For instance, if the pressure of the gas is changed, we can be sure that either the volume or the temperature of the gas (or, maybe, both!) would also change. To explore these changes, it is often convenient to draw a graph showing one parameter as a function of the other. Although there are many choices of axes, the most common one is a plot of pressure as a function of volume: a pV diagram. In this problem, you…

Chapter 1 Solutions

Essential Cosmic Perspective

Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Physics
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Similar questions
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399920
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399944
Author:Michael A. Seeds
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
The Solar System
Physics
ISBN:9781337672252
Author:The Solar System
Publisher:Cengage
Text book image
Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based Text
Physics
ISBN:9781133104261
Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Astronomy
Physics
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:OpenStax
Text book image
Physics for Scientists and Engineers
Physics
ISBN:9781337553278
Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett
Publisher:Cengage Learning
General Relativity: The Curvature of Spacetime; Author: Professor Dave Explains;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7V3koyL7Mc;License: Standard YouTube License, CC-BY