Homework 08
Please answer at least 4 of the following 5 questions correctly for full
credit:
Question 1
How do main sequence stars generate the energy that makes them shine? Make
sure your answer is correct for the main sequence, but also is specific
enough not to simply apply to all proper stars.
Question 2
Luminosity means energy is radiated off. In a proto-star: Where does this
energy come from?
Question 3
Is it the interplay between internal temperature and pressure or between
surface temperature and luminosity that allows newborn stars to reach
equilibrium and become main sequence stars?
Question 4
The relationship between pressure and temperature plays an important role in
regulating the rate of fusion at the center of a star. Does electron degeneracy
affect the temperature or the pressure when it undercuts the regulatory
function of this relationship?
Question 5 (the conceptual one...)
Which two energies must be stable in time and equal to each other for a star
to be in equilibrium, i.e. not to change size or luminosity?
Please submit your answer as plain test in the main message body of an e-mail to
kai-1060-hw@physics.utah.edu
before midnight (MST) on March 27, 2008. Plain text in the main
message body of your e-mail means
Last modified: Fri Mar 14 13:06:40 MDT 2008