AST201H1 Chapter Notes -Electron Degeneracy Pressure, Triple-Alpha Process, White Dwarf

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orangeshark294

11 Aug 2013

School

UTSG

Department

Astronomy & Astrophysics

Course

AST201H1

Professor

Marija Stankovic

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AST201H1 Full Course Notes

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High mass stars do not last for too long, only a few millions years, which is much shorter than the life span of our sun (10 billion years). A few million years is too short for any life form to evolve or even for planets to form. High mass stars are quite hot and luminous, high energy radiation is detrimental to any living organisms. Sun slowly and steadily fuses hydrogen into helium in its core via the proton-proton chain. The sun shines steady since the whole star is in the hydrostatic equilibrium. Hydrogen fusion supplies the thermal energy that maintains a star"s thermal pressure and hold gravity at bay. However, fusion in the core of a low-mass star reduces the number of hydrogen atoms in the core; each fusion reaction converts four independent protons into just one helium nucleus. Slowly reduce the number of hydrogen nuclei available to fuse up.

Related Questions

1. The Jeans instability occurs when
Athe pressure in a gascloud is less than its gravitationalforce.
Bthe pressure in a gascloud is greater than its gravitationalforce.
Cthe temperature in acollapsing cloud is hot enough to fuseHydrogen.
Dthe temperature in acollapsing cloud is hot enough to fuse Helium.

2. At what stage in its life does a star pass through theprotostarphase?
AAfter condensationbut before nuclear reactions begin in itscore.
BWhile it is convertinghydrogen into helium in its core.
CAfter nuclear reactionsend in its core, but before the red giantphase.
DWhen it is expanding insize as a red giant or supergiant.

3. The characteristics of an open cluster of stars are
Aa few hundredmembers, often very young and still embedded in thegas and dustfrom which they were formed.
Bmany thousand members, ofdifferent ages.
Ca few dozen members, theremnant of a globular cluster of starsfrom which most of themembers have escaped.
Dhundreds of thousands ofmembers, all very old, and no or verylittle interstellar gas anddust.

4. What is a protostar?
AA star near the endof its life, before it explodes as asupernova.
BA sphere of gas aftercollapse from an interstellar cloud butbefore nuclear reactionshave begun.
CA small interstellarcloud, before it collapses to become astar.
DA shell of gas left behindfrom the explosion of a star as asupernova.

5. What is an H II region?
AA region of hot,ionized hydrogen around one or more O and Bstars.
BA region of molecularhydrogen inside a giant molecularcloud.
CA region of neutral,atomic hydrogen in interstellar space.
DA region of gas and dustformed by the explosion of a massive star.

6. The total time that the Sun will spend as a main sequencestaris
Aabout 4.5 millionyears.
Bat least 200 billion yearsyears.
Cabout 1 millionyears.
Dabout 10 billionyears.

7. How is a star's lifetime related to its mass?
AThe lifetimes ofstars are too long to measure, so it is not knownhow (or if) theirlifetimes depend on mass.
BA star's lifetime does notdepend on its mass.
CLower-mass stars runthrough their lives faster and have shorterlifetimes.
DHigher-mass stars runthrough their lives faster and have shorterlifetimes.

8. In the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, how does the position ofatypical star change while it is at the main sequence phase ofitsevolution?
AA star's position onthe main sequence is determined only by itsmass and not its age,and so, stars do not move along the mainsequence duringevolution.
BMassive stars (4 solarmasses) move toward the upper left as theirluminosity increases,while lower-mass stars move toward the lowerright as theirtemperature decreases.
CStars move from upperright to lower left while they are on themain sequence.
DStars move from upper leftto lower right while they are on themain sequence.

9. Why does the core of the Sun contain more helium andlesshydrogen than does the surface of the Sun?
AHelium condenses moreeasily so, when the Sun was forming the corebecame helium-rich;vast quantities of hydrogen were added onlyafter the core becamemassive enough.
BThe hydrogen has beenlifted out of the core by the Sun's magneticfield.
CHelium is heavier thanhydrogen, and has sunk toward the center ina process of chemicaldifferentiation.
DThermonuclear reactionshave converted much of the originalhydrogen in the core intohelium.

10. In terms of nuclear reactions, what is the next stage ofastar's life after the end of hydrogen burning in thecore?
AHydrogen burning ina thin shell around the core.
BHelium burning in thecore.
CCarbon burning.
DDeath (it becomes eithera supernova or a white dwarf).

The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion. In each chain reaction, four hydrogen nuclei fuse together to become a single helium nucleus. The total combined mass of the individual hydrogen nuclei before the reaction is greater than the mass of the helium nucleus. The mass lost as a result of this chain reaction is turned into energy according to Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc² (Chapter 39). Consider the first part of the chain reaction in which two hydrogen nuclei (each a single proton) fuse. Figure P8.56A shows the potential energy curve of a two-proton system. The energy in this graph is given in keV, where “eV” is the abbreviation for the unit electron-volt and 1 eV = 1.6 × 10−19 J. When the protons are more than about 2 fm (2 × 10−15 m) apart, the potential energy is positive. When the protons are close together, the potential energy is negative, and the protons are fused. Figure P8.56B shows a close-up of the potential energy curve when the protons are far apart.

a. What is the minimum mechanical energy required for the two protons to fuse? Give your answer in keV.
b. The mechanical energy of an average two-proton system in the Sun is around 2 keV. What is the minimum distance between the protons in such a system?
c. Explain why it seems impossible for fusion to take place in the Sun. Note: Of course, fusion must take place in the Sun. Although it seems impossible according to classical mechanics, quantum mechanics (Part VI) makes fusion possible. According to quantum mechanics, the seemingly impossible is merely improbable, and even events with a low probability of occurrence may still happen. Because there are so many protons in the Sun, there is a good chance that at any moment many of them will fuse.

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AST201H1 Chapter Notes -Electron Degeneracy Pressure, Triple-Alpha Process, White Dwarf

AST201H1 Full Course Notes

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