Physical Science Homework Problems
Richard Goode
PHSC P112
Chapter 14
Thought Questions
1. Would the sun ever appear to travel along the celestial meridian?
2. What is a light year?
3. Why are astronomical distances not usually measured in units such as miles or kilometers?
4. Explain where the heat in the core of a protostar comes from as gravity pull the gas together.
5. Which star will have the longest life, our sun, a star with 6 times the mass of our sun or a star with
a mass 1/10 of our sun?
6. Explain the difference between absolute magnitude and apparent magnitude.
7. How are the temperature and the color of a star related?
8. What is the significance of the main sequence on the H-R diagram?
9. Describe the general life story of a star.
10. What is the source of all the elements in the universe that are more massive than helium?
Chapter 15
Thought Questions
1. Describe the nebular hypothesis for the formation of the solar system.
2. Describe how the nebular hypothesis explains the differences between the terrestrial planets and
the gas giants.
3. What are “shooting stars”? Where do they come from?
4. Where do comets come from?
Chapter 16
Thought Questions
1. Describe why we have seasons.
2. Describe why there are differing hours of daylight between summer and winter.
3. What is the meaning of the word solstice? What causes solstices? What are the approximate
dates of the solstices?
4. What is the meaning of the word equinox? What causes equinoxes? What are the approximate
dates of the equinoxes?
5. What is precession?
6. What is the approximate longitude and latitude of Porterville?
7. What is the significance of the “Tropic of Cancer” and the “Tropic of Capricorn”?
8. What is a lunar eclipse? Why do we not see a lunar eclipse every month?
9. What is a solar eclipse? Why do we not see a solar eclipse every month?
10. Describe the phases of the moon.
11. What are the smooth dark areas on the face of the moon? How did they form?
12. The moon and the earth are very close to each other. Explain why we don’t see the same number
of craters on the earth as on the moon.