Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced
13th Edition
ISBN: 9781305980686
Author: Michael A. Seeds; Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning US
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Chapter 8, Problem 17P
To determine
The changes in mass percentage for hydrogen and helium.
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Assuming that (1) the solar luminosity has been constant since the Sun formed, and (2) the Sun was initially of uniform composition throughout, as described by Table 9.2, estimate how long it would take the Sun to convert all of its original hydrogen into helium. [Hint: Calculate the mass of hydrogen in the sun and then divide it by the rate of hydrogen fusion (PPT slide 47.)]
Assume that Hydrogen comprises 79% of the Sun's mass. How much mass is this? 1.57e+30 kg
Only about 11% of the initial Hydrogen in the Sun is in the core where it is hot enough to burn. What was the total mass of the inital H in the core of the Sun?
Hint: Use the answer above and the percent in the core to determine the total mass.
Using the results from above, how much total energy is available to the Sun via nuclear fusion over its lifetime? (HINT: only 0.71% of the total mass of the available H in the core is converted into energy)
Hint: E = m c^2
Assume that the solar wind causes the Sun to lose mass at a rate of 2 x 10’ kg/s. If you assume the
wind is emitted a constant rate, estimate the time (in units of Gyr =Gigayears = 10° years) that it
will take the entire Sun to evaporate via its solar wind emission.
(Of course, the rate won't be constant throughout the lifetime of the Sun---this is just a rough
estimate to understand the timescale associated with this process.)
[Hint: you need to look up a number and do several unit conversions; this is a *rate* problem. Enter
your answer as an integer or decimal, NOT in scientific notation.]
Chapter 8 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced
Ch. 8 - Prob. 1RQCh. 8 - Prob. 2RQCh. 8 - Prob. 3RQCh. 8 - Prob. 4RQCh. 8 - Prob. 5RQCh. 8 - Prob. 6RQCh. 8 - What evidence can you give that granulation is...Ch. 8 - Prob. 8RQCh. 8 - Prob. 9RQCh. 8 - Prob. 10RQ
Ch. 8 - Prob. 11RQCh. 8 - Prob. 12RQCh. 8 - Prob. 13RQCh. 8 - Prob. 14RQCh. 8 - Energy can be transported by convection,...Ch. 8 - Prob. 16RQCh. 8 - Prob. 17RQCh. 8 - Prob. 18RQCh. 8 - Prob. 19RQCh. 8 - Meridional is derived from meridian. Look up the...Ch. 8 - Prob. 21RQCh. 8 - Prob. 22RQCh. 8 - How can solar flares affect Earth?Ch. 8 - Prob. 24RQCh. 8 - Why does nuclear fusion require high temperatures...Ch. 8 - Prob. 26RQCh. 8 - Four protons are combined in the proton-proton...Ch. 8 - Give an example of a charged subatomic particle...Ch. 8 - Prob. 29RQCh. 8 - Prob. 30RQCh. 8 - Prob. 31RQCh. 8 - Prob. 32RQCh. 8 - Prob. 33RQCh. 8 - Prob. 1DQCh. 8 - Prob. 2DQCh. 8 - Prob. 3DQCh. 8 - Prob. 4DQCh. 8 - Prob. 5DQCh. 8 - Prob. 6DQCh. 8 - Prob. 7DQCh. 8 - Prob. 8DQCh. 8 - Prob. 9DQCh. 8 - Prob. 10DQCh. 8 - The radius of the Sun is 0.7 million km. What...Ch. 8 - Prob. 2PCh. 8 - Prob. 3PCh. 8 - What is the angular diameter of a star the same...Ch. 8 - If a sunspot has a temperature of 4200 K and the...Ch. 8 - How many watts of radiation does a 1-meter-square...Ch. 8 - Prob. 7PCh. 8 - Prob. 8PCh. 8 - Prob. 9PCh. 8 - Prob. 10PCh. 8 - Prob. 11PCh. 8 - Prob. 12PCh. 8 - Prob. 13PCh. 8 - Prob. 14PCh. 8 - The United States consumes about 2.5 1019 J of...Ch. 8 - Prob. 16PCh. 8 - Prob. 17PCh. 8 - Whenever there is a total solar eclipse, you can...Ch. 8 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 8 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 8 - Prob. 4LTLCh. 8 - Prob. 5LTLCh. 8 - The two images here show two solar phenomena. What...Ch. 8 - Prob. 7LTL
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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
- The radius of the Sun is 0.7 million km. What percentage of the radius is taken up by the chromosphere? (Hint: Refer to Figure 8-1.)arrow_forwardIf a sunspot has a temperature of 4200 K and the average solar photosphere has a temperature of 5780 K, how much more energy is emitted in 1 second from a square meter of the photosphere compared to a square meter of the sunspot? (Hint: Use the Stefan-Boltzmann law, Eq. 7-1.)arrow_forwardAdd a fourth column to Table 13-1 and write in the atomic mass for each rows fuel element (see Appendix Table A-14). Review the curve of binding energy, Figure 8-15. Explain the trend of fusion time versus fuel atomic mass.arrow_forward
- Show that the statement that 92% of the Sun’s atoms are hydrogen is consistent with the statement that 73% of the Sun’s mass is made up of hydrogen, as found in Table 15.2. (Hint: Make the simplifying assumption, which is nearly correct, that the Sun is made up entirely of hydrogen and helium.)arrow_forwardSuppose an eruptive prominence rises at a speed of 150 km/s. If it does not change speed, how far from the photosphere will it extend after 3 hours? How does this distance compare with the diameter of Earth?arrow_forwardWhy do you suppose so great a fraction of the Sun’s energy comes from its central regions? Within what fraction of the Sun’s radius does practically all of the Sun’s luminosity originate (see Figure 16.16)? Within what radius of the Sun has its original hydrogen been partially used up? Discuss what relationship the answers to these questions bear to one another. Figure 16.16 shows how the temperature, density, rate of energy generation, and composition vary from the center of the Sun to its surface.arrow_forward
- The text says that the Local Fluff, which surrounds the Sun, has a temperature of 7500 K and a density 0.1 atom per cm3. The Local Fluff is embedded in hot gas with a temperature of 106 K and a density of about 0.01 atom per cm3. Are they in equilibrium? (Hint: In pressure equilibrium, the two regions must have nT equal, where n is the number of particles per unit volume and T is the temperature.) What is likely to happen to the Local Fluff?arrow_forwardNow suppose that all of the hydrogen atoms in the Sun were converted into helium. How much total energy would be produced? (To calculate the answer, you will have to estimate how many hydrogen atoms are in the Sun. This will give you good practice with scientific notation, since the numbers involved are very large! See Appendix C for a review of scientific notation.)arrow_forwardDescribe how energy makes its way from the nuclear core of the Sun to the atmosphere. Include the name of each layer and how energy moves through the layer.arrow_forward
- Do you think that nuclear fusion takes place in the atmospheres of stars? Why or why not?arrow_forwardAssuming an average sunspot cycle of 11 years, how many revolutions does the equator of the Sun make during that one cycle? Do higher latitudes make more or fewer revolutions compared to the equator?arrow_forwarda) At solar maximum sunspots might cover up to 0.4% of the total area of the Sun. If the sunspots have a temperature of 3800 K and the surrounding photosphere has a temperature of 6000 K, calculate the fractional change (as a percentage) in the luminosity due to the presence of the sunspots. b) A star of the same stellar class as the Sun is observed regularly over many years, and a time series of its bolometric apparent magnitude is collected. What would be the signal in this time series which indicated that the star had a magnetic dynamo similar to the Sun? Briefly describe two or three possible sources of other signals which could confuse the interpretation of the data.arrow_forward
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