Review Notes for Exam 2

You should be familiar with the topics listed below. It is an absolute certainty that you will see questions on Kirchhoff's laws of spectroscopy, the H-R diagram, and the proton-proton cycle. Know them—together they will account for about 30% of the total points on the exam. No kidding.

  1. Galileo's telescopic observations of 1609-10 and later experiments on motion and inertia
  2. The Scientific Method (537kB pdf)
  3. Definitions of speed, velocity, acceleration and mass
  4. Isaac Newton
    1. Newton's laws of motion
    2. Newton's law of universal gravitation
  5. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
    1. Wave-particle duality of EM radiation
    2. The relationship between energy, wavelength, and frequency of EM radiation
  6. Blackbodies
    1. Wien's displacement law and the Stefan-Boltzmann law
    2. Kirchhoff’s laws of spectroscopy
    3. Stellar spectra and their classification
    4. The relationship between luminosity, radius, and effective (i.e. surface) temperature of stars
    5. The spectrum of hydrogen (specifically, the Balmer series) and how it is produced
  7. Distance determinations
    1. Apparent magnitude vs. absolute magnitude
    2. Trigonometric parallax
  8. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and basic properties/classification of stars
  9. The Sun
    1. The solar interior and mechanisms of energy flow transport
    2. The proton-proton cycle
    3. The Sun's visible features: sunspots, flares, prominences, coronal mass ejections
    4. Properties of the solar atmosphere: photosphere, chomrosphere, transition region and corona
  10. Post-main sequence evolution of a Sun-like star
    1. Core hydrogen depletion and electron degeneracy
    2. Helium flash, triple alpha process, and red giant phase
    3. Helium depletion, red supergiant phase and helium shell flashes, instability and planetary nebula formation
    4. Chandrasekhar limit, white dwarfs and electron degeneracy
    5. Type Ia supernovae
  11. Evolution of Massive Stars
  12. Post-main sequence evolution of a very massive star
    1. Production of heavy nuclei (including significance of formation of iron-56)
    2. Core collapse, rebound, shockwave restart and Type II supernovae
    3. Neutron stars neutron degeneracy
    4. Pulsars
    5. Black holes

Exam 2 Sample Questions

To help you prepare for the style of questions I often ask, here are a few sample questions to solve:

  1. What is the triple-alpha process and when does it occur in the life of a star?
  2. Sketch a diagram or describe the atmospheric layers of the Sun.
  3. Explain why sunspots are darker than the surrounding photosphere.

Solutions to Sample Questions