HONORS PS 1500 - IT=S ABOUT TIME
Review for Exam #3
radiometric dating, half-life, and radioactive decay
Young's double-slit experiment with light
light, an electromagnetic wave
what it is
how it travels
what produces light
the electromagnetic spectrum (main divisions)
wavelength of a wave
frequency of a wave - the number of waves that pass by per second
Einstein=s postulates
the laws of
physics are the same for all observers in relative uniform motion
the speed of light is the same for all observers in relative uniform motion
downfall of simultaneity
time dilation and length contraction
E = mc
2Einstein=s equivalence principle - the laws of physics are the same for all freely falling observers
general relativity
matter tells space how to curve
curved space tells matter how to move
time slows down in curved space
blackbody radiation, blackbody spectrum and its characteristics
ultraviolet catastrophe - the incorrect prediction of classical physics that there should be an infinite amount of short-wavelength light energy in blackbody radiation
Planck's constant h - determines the size (tiny!) of quantum effects
photoelectric effect - light kicks electrons out from the surface of a metal - shows that light is a stream of particles (photons)
photon - a massless particle of light, energy depends on the frequency of the light
spectrum (wavelengths) emitted by a hot gas - bright, distinct emission lines of certain specific wavelengths (colors)
Bohr model of the hydrogen atom
what it is
electron
orbits
how it emits or absorbs a photon
electron and proton
de Broglie's matter waves (probability waves)
matter wavelength = h/(momentum)
wave-particle duality
everything
in nature interacts like a particle
everything in nature propagates (travels) like a wave
electron double-slit experiment - showed electron interference and that electrons propagate (travel) like waves
Heisenberg uncertainty principle - a particle does not have, at the same time, an exact position and an exact momentum
philosophical implications of quantum physics
end of
determinism
end of objective reality
Henri Poincaré=s influence on Picasso and Einstein
Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram (axes and types of stars: main sequence stars, giants, supergiants, white dwarfs)
Annie Jump Cannon and spectral types of stars (O B A F G K M)
Cecelia Payne Gaposhkin and the composition of stars
nuclear fusion in stars and the formation of elements up to iron
stellar evolution and white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes
event horizon, Schwarzschild radius, singularity
Henrietta Swan Leavitt and Cepheid variable stars
period-luminosity graph and how to find the distances to stars
Edwin Hubble and the expanding universe (Hubble flow)
Hubble=s law, Hubble=s constant, and the age of the universe
Olbers= paradox
the Big Bang and the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB)
the critical density and geometry of the universe (open, closed, flat)
Vera Rubin, dark matter and the rotation curves of galaxies
Big Bang nucleosynthesis of hydrogen and helium
the accelerating universe and Einstein=s cosmological constant
amounts of normal matter (4%), dark matter (23%), and dark energy (73%)
history of the universe - past and future
Return to Honors 1500 home page
Last modified: Sunday, April 24, 2005 04:45 PM