PHYS466 STUDY GUIDE FOR FINAL EXAM

Last revised 04-29-2011 at 16:10  Equations are listed below, but I may add more later.

Study everything on the study guides for all previous tests.

Study all previous tests.

DO ALL THE ASSIGNED PROBLEMS
 

TOPICS:

Nature of EM radiation. Laws of radiation. Planckian or Black Body radiation curves. Stellar spectra and the production of absorption lines. Spectral Classes and relation to surface temperature of a star.

The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. Properties of the groupings in the H-R Diagram. Determining stellar masses. Spectroscopic parallax method.

The virial theorem.

Stellar Evolution: The order of the different stages of stellar evolution.  Study the evolutionary tracks in Chapter 6 in detail.

The defining characteristics of protostars, main-sequence stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. Reddenning, color excess, interstellar absorption.
 

QUESTIONS TO RESEARCH (Don't ask me for the answers, find them):

  1. Define absolute magnitude.
  2. In the H-R Diagram, why are most stars found to define a locus called the main sequence?
  3. What are the physical differences between white dwarfs and red dwarfs.
  4. What are the defining characteristics of main sequence stars?
  5. What is the mass-luminosity law and for what stars is this valid?
  6. What important effect do stars have on the galactic interstellar medium?
  7. What is a brown dwarf?
  8. Know what is meant by the Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction.
  9. What is the virial theorem regarding the total, thermal, and gravitational potential
  10.   energy in a star that has collapsed from an entended cloud of gas.
  11. Know why very early pre-main sequence stars are not usually visible.
  12. What is a T Tauri star?
  13. Know what is meant by the Kumar limit.
  14. What are the Hayashi tracks?
  15. What stage of evolution follows the main sequence stage for the Sun?
  16. What is the final stage of evolution for the Sun?
  17. How can a star with a mass 10 times the Sun's become a white dwarf star?
  18. What is the relationship between the age of a star and its chemical composition?
  19. Why would we not expect to find planetary systems around the first generation of stars that formed in the Galaxy?
  20. What is meant by the helium flash?
  21. What is the triple alpha reaction and when it occurs.
  22. What are Iben tracks?
  23. What us the virial theorem?
  24. What is the electron degeneracy condition?
Equations to Memorize:

All previous equations listed in the review for test 1.

Equations: 1-25, 4-81, 5-1, 5-5, 5-6, 5-7, 5-38, 6-37.
 
 

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