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  • Summary Notes - Topic 8 Astrophysics - Edexcel Physics IGCSE

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    The document provides an overview of astrophysics topics including: 1) Motion in the universe with galaxies containing billions of stars and solar systems containing planets orbiting stars. 2) Stellar evolution from nebulae to main sequence stars and changes like red giants, supernovae, and compact objects as stars age. 3) Evidence that supports the Big Bang theory including redshifts and cosmic microwave background radiation showing the universe expanded from a single point.

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    The document provides an overview of astrophysics topics including: 1) Motion in the universe with galaxies containing billions of stars and solar systems containing planets orbiting stars. 2) Stellar evolution from nebulae to main sequence stars and changes like red giants, supernovae, and compact objects as stars age. 3) Evidence that supports the Big Bang theory including redshifts and cosmic microwave background radiation showing the universe expanded from a single point.

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    53 views3 pages

    Summary Notes - Topic 8 Astrophysics - Edexcel Physics IGCSE

    Uploaded by

    Xiaoxu Ma
    The document provides an overview of astrophysics topics including: 1) Motion in the universe with galaxies containing billions of stars and solar systems containing planets orbiting stars. 2) Stellar evolution from nebulae to main sequence stars and changes like red giants, supernovae, and compact objects as stars age. 3) Evidence that supports the Big Bang theory including redshifts and cosmic microwave background radiation showing the universe expanded from a single point.

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    of 3

    Edexcel Physics IGCSE

    Topic 8: Astrophysics
    Summary Notes
    (Content in ​bold​ is for physics only)

    This work by PMT Education is licensed under https://bit.ly/pmt-cc


    https://bit.ly/pmt-edu-cc CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

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    Motion in the universe
    ● The ​universe​ is a large collection of billions of galaxies.
    ● A ​galaxy ​is a large collection of billions of stars.
    ● A ​solar system​ is a collection of planets orbiting a common star. Our ​solar system ​is in
    the ​Milky Way ​galaxy.

    The ​gravitational field strength ​is the force per unit mass on a body in a gravitational field and is
    measured in ​Newtons per kilogram (N/kg). ​It varies with the ​mass​ and ​size​ of the body and is
    therefore different on other planets and the moon compared to the Earth.
    ● weight = mass×gravitational f ield strength W = mg

    Gravitational force enables the various bodies to ​orbit


    around others. For example:
    ● Moons orbit planets
    o The orbits are ​slightly elliptical ​with ​near
    constant orbital speed
    ● Planets and comets orbit the Sun
    o The orbits of planets are ​slightly elliptical
    with ​near constant orbital speed. ​The orbits
    of comets are ​highly elliptical.
    ● Artificial satellites orbit the Earth
    The greater the orbital radius or the smaller the time period,
    the greater the orbital speed:

    ● orbital speed = 2×π×orbital radius


    time period v = 2πr
    T
    Comets have a ​greater ​speed nearer to the star (when r is smaller) because the ice inside them
    melts as they get closer (& warmer) - causing their mass to decrease.

    Stellar evolution
    ● A star begins as a cloud of dust & gas called a
    nebula.​ The particles experience a weak
    attraction towards each other due to gravity and
    begin to ​clump​ together.
    ● They continue to clump together until the
    pressure​ and ​temperature​ is great enough for
    nuclear fusion ​to occur.
    o Hydrogen​ nuclei fuse together to form
    helium nuclei which releases a large
    amount of energy and causes a great
    outwards pressure.
    o This outwards pressure ​balances​ with the
    inwards pressure ​due to gravity and the
    star is now stable and called a ​main
    sequence star.
    ● Eventually the hydrogen in the star is used up.
    There is no longer enough outward pressure from
    nuclear fusion and it ​collapses​ under its own
    gravitational attraction, becoming ​unstable.
    o If the star has a similar mass to the Sun, it expands massively and becomes a ​red
    giant.​ It then becomes a ​white dwarf ​(and finally cools into a black dwarf).

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    o If the star has a mass larger than the Sun, it expands and becomes a ​red super
    giant, ​before exploding in a ​supernova. ​What remains is either a ​neutron star, ​or if
    it was exceptionally massive, a​ black hole.
    Stars can be ​classified ​according to their ​colour.​ The colour of a star is related to its ​surface
    temperature,​ with ​hotter​ stars being ​bluer​ and ​cooler ​stars being ​redder.

    The ​brightness ​of a star depends upon where it is measured


    - at a standard distance it can be represented using ​absolute
    or ​apparent magnitude.
    - A star’s ​absolute magnitude​ is defined to be ​equal​ to
    the ​apparent magnitude​ that the star would have if it
    were viewed from exactly 10 parsecs (32.6
    light-years) away.
    - The ​apparent magnitude​ is how bright it appears at a
    particular point in space.

    A ​Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HR diagram) ​shows the


    relationship between a star’s ​surface temperature ​and
    brightness.​ The main components are shown in the diagram on the right.
    - Supergiants (top right)
    - Red giants (below supergiants)
    - The Main Sequence (a diagonal strip from top left to bottom right)
    - White dwarfs (bottom left)
    Other stages don’t show on the HR diagram because a star is only in them for a very short
    period of time.

    Cosmology

    The ​Big Bang ​theory states that the universe expanded outwards from a single point.
    Evidence for this theory includes:
    ● Red shift
    o The ​red shift ​of light from galaxies shows that they are all ​moving away ​from
    us and that those which are ​furthest away ​are moving the ​fastest,​ suggesting
    that the universe was formed from an explosion at a single point, evidence for
    the Big Bang. This is the principle of the Doppler effect.
    ● Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)
    o Just after the Big Bang, lots of ​short wavelength radiation ​should have been
    released. This radiation, as the universe expanded over time, would have been
    stretched to become ​microwaves.
    o The fact that there is ​cosmic microwave background radiation ​present
    wherever you point a telescope in the sky provides evidence for the Big Bang.
    As the Big Bang theory is currently the only theory which accounts for all the experimental
    evidence, it is the most accepted model.

    If a wave source is ​moving relative ​to an observer, there will be a ​change​ in the ​observed
    frequency and wavelength ​due to the ​Doppler effect. ​An example of this is when the siren of
    an ambulance is high-pitched as it approaches you, and low-pitched as it goes away.
    change in wavelength velocity of a galaxy λ−λ0 Δλ v
    ● ref erence wavelength = speed of light λ = λ = c
    0 0

    Doppler shift is responsible for the ​red-shift ​of light from galaxies which are ​moving away
    from Earth, which is when the ​wavelength​ of the light coming from them ​increases.​ The
    faster​ it is ​moving,​ the ​more ​its light is ​red-shifted.

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