Class Project

Physics 1010-400, Physics 1010-401

Spring 2015
The Signature Assignment Parts
Part 1: Star Identification:

Name

Beta Crucis

Hadar aka
Beta
Centauri

Alpha
Centauri

Muhlifain aka
Gamma
Centauri

Distance from
Earth in light
years

280 Light years

525 Light
years

4.3 Light
years

130 Light
years

When the light from

the star now visible in
the skies of Earth
actually left the star

280 years ago

(1736)

525 years
ago
(1491)

4.3 years
ago
(January
of 2012)

130 years
ago (1886)

Its size
compared to the

about 14 times the

mass of the sun

It has a mass
of about 9.5
times that of

1.25
times the

2.8 times the

sun

Sun
The stars
luminosity
compared to the
Sun

2,000 times brighter,

except when you factor in
radiation, then it has a
luminosity of 19,600
times the suns
luminosity

the sun

sun

about 15,500
as luminous
as our sun

1.6 times
the Sun

95 times the
brightness of
the sun

Sources:
1- Howell, E. (2013, November 21). Becrux (Beta Crucis): Bright Star in the Southern
Cross. Retrieved April 6, 2016, from http://www.space.com/
2- Sessions, L. (2009, June 29). Hadar: Southern Pointer Star. Retrieved April 6, 2016,
from http://earthsky.org/
3- Sessions, L. (2015, May 19). Alpha Centauri, Closest Star System to Our Sun.
Retrieved April 6, 2016, from http://earthsky.org/
4- Kaler, J. B. (2016, March 25). STARS. Retrieved April 06, 2016, from
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu
Part 2: Equation Analysis:
Equation 1: E = mc2
Answer or do the following:
Question 1: Find out what the things in this equation (using your book or a net search
will do it) are and identify them as either variables or constants.
E=Energy (variable)
M=Mass (variable)
C=Speed of light in a vacuum
Question 2: What is the size of c2?
(299,792,458 m / s)= 8.988x10
Question 3: Are mass and energy related? Answer yes or no and then provide a brief
explanation of your answer based on the analysis of the equation.
Yes, they are directly proportional. I know this because they are both multiplying and on
opposite sides of the equation. If mass goes up, energy will also go up and vice versa.

Question 4: Analyze the statement: if it is possible to change mass into energy a little
bit of mass could produce a lot of energy. Is it true or not? Provide a brief explanation
based on your analysis of the equation
It is true, because if mass goes up by a little bit, that little bit is multiplied by the square
root of the speed of light which is a very big number. This makes energy go up a lot for
a little increase in mass.

Equation 2: d = gt2/2
where:
d = distance an object falls when released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at the Earths surface
t = time the object has been falling
Question 5. Which of the following statements do you agree with and why? Use the
equation to support your answer (you can also refer to the learning from equations
module files).
a) heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects
b) objects fall at the same speed (if no air resistance) and weight doesnt matter.
I agree with statement b. Because there is no place in the equation for mass to be
involved at all. The only variables in the equation are distance and time. Thus the only
things that can affect the speed (when there is no air resistance) is how long and far you
let the object fall from rest. Mass does not have an effect.

Equation 3: v = gt
where:
v = velocity of a falling object if released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at Earths surface
t = time the object has been falling
Question 6: Which of the following statements do you agree with and why? Use the
equation to support your answer (you can also refer to the learning from equations
module files).
c) heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects

d) objects fall at the same speed (if no air resistance) and weight doesnt matter.
I agree with statement d because the only variables in this equation are velocity and
time. Weight does not have any part in this calculation, so weight does not have an
effect. The only things that can affect the speed of a falling object (if there is no air
resistance and it is dropped from rest) is the time that it has been falling because
velocity is a directional representation of speed (it is a vector that means speed with
direction).

Question 7: For most of recorded history, people thought that heavy objects naturally
and under all conditions fall faster than lighter objects. Why did it take us so long to
realize the true state of affairs?
Because air resistance does play a key role, people saw heavier objects hitting the
ground first. For example, if you drop a piece of paper and a rock, the rock will hit the
ground first. This is only because the paper has a greater amount of air resistance
acting on it, but people did not realize that this was the case and assumed that they will
always fall at different rates. It also probably had a lot to do with force. When a heavier
object falls, it has more force than the lighter object even though they fall at the same
rate, this is because gravity does pull on the object harder.
Question 8: The Earths gravity DOES exert a greater force on heavier objects than
lighter ones (these forces are called weight). However, with no air resistance objects fall
at the same speed in a given gravity field. The weight difference can be thousands of
pounds to
one and the objects still fall at the same speed. What physical property of mass
compensates for the difference in applied forces?
Even though gravity pulls down at a greater force, both objects have different amounts
of inertia and this resistance to motion is what levels out the difference in gravitational
force. The heavier object is pulled by gravity more, but it also has more inertia.
Equation 4: e = 1 Tcold/Thot
where:
e = efficiency of energy use
Tcold = the temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine
Thot = the internal operating temperature of the engine
This is the equation for the efficiency of a heat engine (your car is a heat engine unless
you have an electric model). An e = 1 is 100% efficiency, meaning 100% of the energy
gets used to do what you want to do with no wasted, unrecoverable energy. An e = 0 is
an efficiency of zero with none of the energy going to what you want to do and all of the
energy being wasted or in unrecoverable forms.

The temperatures in this equation are in the Kelvin scale where the lowest temperature
is 0 degrees. There are no negative temperatures in the Kelvin scale. A temperature we
might encounter on Earth would be about 300 degrees Kelvin.
Question 9: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in theory, by lowering the
temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine (T cold)? Why or why not?
In theory, this is possible, because if the external temperature were to reach 0 degrees
kelvin the equation would equal 1-0 which is 1 which means that no energy was wasted.
Question 10: Is it possible, in practice, to achieve 100% efficiency by lowering the
temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine (T cold)? Why or why not?
In practice it is not possible to reach 100% efficiency by lowering the temperature to 0
degrees kelvin, because we are not able to lower the temperature that low. Even in a
lab we cannot get it that low because there is always some path for the energy to take.
Question 11: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in theory, by raising the internal
operating temperature of the heat engine (T hot)? Why or why not?
No, you would be able to get very close, because if you divided a smaller number by a
very large number you would be very close to zero, but you could never quite get to it.
As you raise the temperature the heat efficiency is greater because less energy is lost,
but it can never quite be zero.
Question 12: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in practice, by raising the
internal operating temperature of the heat engine (T hot)? Why or why not?
No, because it is not really even possible in practice. You cannot divide a number by
any number to get zero unless you are dividing zero by a number. It just isnt possible.
Question 13: If your car is not electric, it is a heat engine and is subject to the efficiency
equation. Is it possible to build a car, using any kind of burning fuel, that is 100%
efficient? Explain.
No, because we would not be able to get the heat ratio to zero no matter what it is. We
can never get the heat around the engine down to zero degrees Kelvin and there is no
number that we can divide a non-zero number by to get exactly zero, no matter how big
the dividing number is.
Part 3: Learning about a Law of Physics
1. Give me an explanation of what it is and what it means.
Newtons Third Law of Motion: Every action has an equal, but opposite reaction.
This means that when one object pushes on another object, there is always a force that
the other object exerts back, and that force is the same as the amount of force that was
exerted on it.

2. Give me 3 examples in the real world involving the law or principle.

1- when two cars hit each other both receive damage because the car that gets hit hits
back. The car that has the least amount of energy (ie the smaller car) will receive the
greater damage, because even though the action is equal the bigger car will have more
mass (and thus inertia) behind the action.
2- when you push against a wall the wall pushes back (which is why you dont fall over),
and it pushes back with the same force back on you (which is why you dont fall over the
other way.
3- when you hit something hard you hurt your hand because the hard thing hits you
back. The more force you exert on the object, the more it exerts on you, which means
that the harder you hit the object the more it hurts because it hits back with the same
force you hit it with.
4- (just because). When you hit a hammer into a nail, the nail hits back on the hammer,
but the hammer has greater inertia so the nail moves. This is why we use heavy
hammers to drive in nails :).
Part 4: Explanation of Fermis Paradox and possible resolution
This involves the possible existence of alien life in the Universe. A net search should
bring up some immediate information on the subject.
1. Clearly explain what this paradox involves and why it is a paradox.
The Paradox is that basically simply looking at the math, the chance of there being
other intelligent life in the universe is very high, and chances are that they are more
advanced (technology wise) than we are. If this is true, why have we not heard them?
We have organizations that spend all of their time looking for evidence of other
intelligent life, so why have we not heard about them???? If they are out therewhere
are they?
2. List and briefly explain (like in a paragraph for each) 4 possible resolutions to the
paradox.
1- They are too far away. We only have the ability to hear/see out so far into the
universe, there is so much of it that we cannot explore and we just cannot hear/ see the
evidence of other intelligent life because the evidence is just too far away.
2- The other intelligent life is avoiding us. If they are truly more advanced than us,
maybe they just dont want us to know about them and they are really good at hiding.
Maybe we are really annoying to them and they dont want to attract their attention so
they are keeping quiet.
3- We dont know what we are looking for. The people who spend all their time looking
for intelligent life are looking for things that we think intelligent life would have and give
off, but what if they are just more advanced than us and we are looking for the wrong

stuff. If they had moved past all of the things that we are using, there could be evidence
all around us and we simply do not know what we are looking at.
4- There arent any, we are just all crazy. There is always the argument that we missed
something and that there is no other intelligent life, that we are simply special. The
chances do not agree with this argument, but one could still make it. We could have all
of the wrong information to base our math off of but I dont think so.
Source:
Urban, T. (2016). The Fermi Paradox. Retrieved April 06, 2016, from http://waitbutwhy.com/

Reflective Writing
Physics 1010-400 and 1010-401
Spring 2015
Reflective Writing
I have learned a lot this semester in my Physics 1010 class. Throughout the
class, I learned how to answer real-life questions about physics, how to get
information from an equation, and a lot of things about how our world works every
day. While this class did teach me all of these things and more, it also left me with a
desire to ask questions about our world that I would not have wanted to know or
even care about before this class. This excitement for learning is something that will
serve me in my other general education classes and in my day-to-day life as well.
The class project included above is a good representation of the things that I have
learned about in my physics class, and the progress that I have made since the
beginning of the semester.
Before this semester, I did not know what practical application physics could
have unless you had a job as an engineer or something like it. I took the class
simply because it was a general education requirement and I needed to if I wanted
my associates degree. Now, I am very glad that I took this class. I learned so much
about how and why things work. It was a very interesting subject to me. I learned
that physics is an important part of astronomy (which has always been interesting
to me), stopping distances when driving, cooking and boiling points, and electricity;
all of which are things that are important to me every day.

In the above assignment I worked with many of my favorite parts of physics.

In the star chart I was able to identify and discuss specific traits of stars in the
Centaurus/ Southern Cross area of the Milky Way. It was very interesting to me to
see how other stars compare with our sun in size and brightness. I am excited to
learn more about different constellations and their stars as I study the ones we can
see in the northern hemisphere with my sister through her telescope.
In part two of my signature assignment I had the opportunity to analyze
equations to see how different parts of the equation affect other parts. This is a skill
that I can use, and have used, in my math classes. It is also a skill that I will need in
the science classes I will take in the future.
My favorite part of the signature assignment included above was section four.
In section four I had the opportunity to research and discuss Fermis Paradox and
possible solutions to it. This is my favorite kind of physics because scientists are
stumped and there is still so much to learn. To me, it was really cool to learn about
what Fermis Paradox is and what crazy ideas scientists have come up with to solve
it. The kind of critical thinking involved in such a question is not just usable in
physics though. It is useful in every aspect in life. The ability to brainstorm answers
to a question is a skill that I need in my other classes, my job, and my normal, dayto-day life.
Doing this signature assignment has increased my love for physics. I enjoyed
the opportunity to showcase what I learned about throughout the semester and to
explore new ideas. The questions that I had to find answers to for my signature
assignment gave me new questions that I am excited to find answers to in turn. This
chain reaction is one that I will follow and see where it takes me; I know that where

ever it goes, it will be interesting and stretch my thinking even more. Learning
should extend beyond the classroom, and this class project has given another
opportunity to take my learning beyond the boundaries of my online class.