Kyle Colucci

Semester Project

Physics 1010

Part 1: Star Identification

1) Gamma Crucis

2) 88.6 light years

3) 1927

4) Gamma Crucis is 84 solar

5) 1,500 luminosity

1) Zeta Crucis

2) 360 light years

3) 1657

4) Zeta Crucis radius is 3.1 solar

5) 1950 luminosity

1) Iota Crucis

2) 321 light years

3) 1694

4) Alpha Crucis is 8.9 solar

5) 25000 luminosity

1) Delta Crucis

2) 345

3) 1672
4) Delta Crucis is 4.9 solar

5) 10,000 luminosity

The coal sack is a dark nebula that is located near the southern cross.

Part 2: Equation Analysis:

Equation 1: E = mc2

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 is your kinetic energy and a variable

M is your mass and is also a variable

C is the speed of light which is a constant

Question 2: What is the size of c2?

(3.00108)2 m/s which is 90000000000000000 m/s

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.

Mass and energy are related, the larger the mass the larger the energy output you can achieve
from the equation.

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, when looking at the equation it is possible for a little bit of mass to produce large
amounts of energy because c2 is such a massive number.

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 the second statement because the equation doesnt use weight as a factor at all. The
only thing that can affect a lighter object is air resistance, but where there is no air resistance the
weight the object will not matter.

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 the second statement because there isnt a variable for weight so as long as there is
no air resistance objects of different weights will fall at the same speed.

Now go online and view this link. If the link is inoperable go to google video and do a search on
Galileo hammer feather experiment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mTsrRZEMwA

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?

We as humans are stubborn people and we dont like to be wrong about things. It takes someone
who is willing to accept that everything they think is right could possibly be wrong to fix this.

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?

Inertia is the property of mass that compensates for that difference.

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 (Tcold)? Why or why not?

It is possible in theory if you Tcold is equal to 0. This allow e to equal 1 which is 100% efficiency.

Question 10: Is it possible, in practice, to achieve 100% efficiency by lowering the temperature
of the environment surrounding the heat engine (Tcold)? Why or why not?

It isnt possible because lowering the environmental temperature still leaves some friction to
convert thermal energy that can dissipate from the engine.

Question 11: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in theory, by raising the internal
operating temperature of the heat engine (Thot)? Why or why not?

It is not possible to achieve 100% efficiency in theory by raising Thot because no matter how
high you raise it, if e does not equal 1 exactly, then there is not 100% efficiency. You would have
to get the cold and hot temperatures to be zero.

Question 12: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in practice, by raising the internal
operating temperature of the heat engine (Thot)? Why or why not?
No it is not possible to achieve 100% efficiency. As mentioned in the previous question, e must
equal 1 in order to get 100% efficiency. There will always be a bit of kinetic energy being
released from friction

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.

In practice, it is not possible to build a 100% efficient car. There will always be a little bit of
friction causing energy to dissipate and become thermal kinetic energy. The energy isnt
completely conserved and used inside the engine, but a tiny bit escapes.

Part 3: Learning about a Law of Physics

Pick any Law or Principle of Physics in your textbook and:

Newtons third law of motion

1. Give me an explanation of what it is and what it means.

Newtons third law of motion states that whenever one object exerts a force on another object,
the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first object. This means that
whenever one objects exert its force upon another, there is an equal reactionary force that is
applied in the opposite direction of the original force.

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

A car pushes on the road. The road pushes back on the car.
A rocket pushes on gas. Gas pushes on the rocket
A person pushes on a wall. The wall pushes back on the person

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.

Fermis Paradox is the conclusion that there is no other intelligent life form in the universe,
because if there were, we would have had some sort of signal, sign, communication or visit from
them. Based on the size of the Milky Way, mathematically, there should be about 1,000 other
earth-like planets. Many of these planets have stars, or suns, that are billions of years older than
our sun, and therefore, these life forms would have achieved a level of intelligence billions of
years beyond our own. At least one of them should have created the technology by now to reach
out and explore other parts of the galaxy. Going outside our galaxy, there would be billions of
these types of planets with intelligent life forms that would have figured it out by now.

Since we havent ever received any communication, a sign, visit, or anything that would slightly
suggest that there is life out there, the conclusion from Fermi is that there is no other life out
there. We are all alone in this great universe because we would have heard of something by now.

2. List and briefly explain (like in a paragraph for each) 4 possible resolutions to the paradox.

1. One possible solution to the paradox is that we arent listening hard enough, or at the
right time. We have only been listening and searching for life outside of our own solar
system for fifty years. On the scale of time, that is a very short time compared to even the
age of our planet. Billions of years have passed since the earth was formed. With only
fifty years of listening, we very easily could have missed communication from outside.
Maybe it happened 100 years ago, or 1,000 years ago, or millions of years ago. We have
to listen at the right time, and know what to listen for. We are considered very young in
the scale of billions of years.

2. Another possible solution is that we may live in a very desolate and dark section of the
galaxy. Other civilizations may have just not worried about coming into our
neighborhood because there isnt anything to see or explore. This is comparable to early
settlers to this continent only exploring the east coast and not really worrying about the
west. Maybe later there will be someone coming down this way and discover us and
make themselves known to us.

3. Another possible solution to the paradox is that there may be predator species out there
and they are looking to prey on someone. Many planets nearby may know about this and
keep quiet, thus driving predator civilizations away from us. Though we may naively be
sending out signals, they we dont get a response because the neighbors dont want to
take a risk of revealing themselves to other predator civilizations.

4. One final possible solution to the paradox is that other civilizations do know that we
exist, but they are observing us and containing us like animals at a zoo. We could be
locked in and not able to get out. We are being observed and never know that we cant
even leave a certain radius around the solar system. We could be being influenced and
taught by those studying us so that one day we can become more advanced
technologically and be able to reach out. But for now, we are in a cage being studied.