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    Lecture 6: Gravity, Energy, Light: Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

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    Nick Coish
    This document discusses tidal forces, blackbody radiation, and the properties of light. It begins by explaining tidal forces and their effects, such as causing spring and neap tides. It then discusses blackbody radiation and how the spectrum of radiation emitted by a blackbody depends on its temperature. The document concludes by reviewing some key properties of light, such as its wave-particle duality, and how photons have energy proportional to their frequency.

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    Lecture 6: Gravity, Energy, Light: Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

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    Nick Coish
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    This document discusses tidal forces, blackbody radiation, and the properties of light. It begins by explaining tidal forces and their effects, such as causing spring and neap tides. It then discusses blackbody radiation and how the spectrum of radiation emitted by a blackbody depends on its temperature. The document concludes by reviewing some key properties of light, such as its wave-particle duality, and how photons have energy proportional to their frequency.

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    This document discusses tidal forces, blackbody radiation, and the properties of light. It begins by explaining tidal forces and their effects, such as causing spring and neap tides. It then discusses blackbody radiation and how the spectrum of radiation emitted by a blackbody depends on its temperature. The document concludes by reviewing some key properties of light, such as its wave-particle duality, and how photons have energy proportional to their frequency.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    31 views33 pages

    Lecture 6: Gravity, Energy, Light: Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

    Uploaded by

    Nick Coish
    This document discusses tidal forces, blackbody radiation, and the properties of light. It begins by explaining tidal forces and their effects, such as causing spring and neap tides. It then discusses blackbody radiation and how the spectrum of radiation emitted by a blackbody depends on its temperature. The document concludes by reviewing some key properties of light, such as its wave-particle duality, and how photons have energy proportional to their frequency.

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    Lecture 6: Gravity, Energy, Light

    Map of the gravitational potential (blue) versus luminous matter (red) in the COSMOS survey of the distant universe.

    Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars

    Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

    From last time: Tidal Forces


    Since the strength and direction of gravity from another object varies with location across a large body like the Earth or the Moon, there are differential forces with respect to the centre of the body, called tidal forces. Formally: tidal field at a point = (gravitational field at a point) - (field at centre of body) e.g. in the Earth moon system:

    Moon produces weaker gravity here

    Moon produces stronger gravity here

    Net tidal field of the Moon on the Earth:

    Tidal Forces on Earth


    Bodies can respond strongly to tidal forces, particularly if they have liquid or gaseous components. e.g. on Earth, the Sun and the Moon both produce appreciable tides in the oceans

    Average tidal forces: 75% Moon + 25% Sun


    spring tide

    This leads to spring (very high) tides & neap (not as high) tides neap tide

    Other Tidal Effects


    Several other important tidal effects: - tidal forces on the Earths bulges slow the Earths rotation and transfer its rotational
    angular momentum Lrot to the Moons orbit, increasing the radius d of the Moons orbit. The effect conserves total angular momentum, so L = Lrot + Lorb = (2/5) MeRe2e + Mm d2 m ~ constant As a result, the day is slowing by ~ 1 second/century, and the Moons orbit used to be at 0.25 its current radius or less.

    mass Me radius Re rotational angular speed e

    mass Mm radius of orbit d orbital angular speed m

    Other Tidal Effects


    Several other important tidal effects:
    - tidal bulges on the Moon did this long ago slowed its rotation down to its orbital rate, so now it rotates synchronously and we always see the same face (tidal locking). Pluto and its moon Charon are both tidally locked, while Mercury rotates 3 times for every 2 orbits around the Sun.

    Other Tidal Effects


    Finally, tides can distort or stir planets or moons; friction converts this energy into heat e.g. Saturns moon Enceladus: In a 2005 flyby, Cassini-Huygens mission revealed fissures (tiger stripes) are venting liquid water How does the interior of this very small (500 km diameter) object retain any heat? Solution: tidal heating by Saturn? Similarly Jupiters Moon Io

    Tidal Disruption and the Roche/Tidal Limit


    Note that at some point tidal forces can become so strong objects can no longer form gravitationally; the Roche limit defines the boundary of this region. This tidal limit probably explains the existence of rings around the giant planets; in particular new results suggest the disruption of an icy moon formed Saturns prominent rings

    Comet Shoemaker/Levy being tidally disrupted into 21 separate components as it encounters Jupiter in 1994 (artists impression - NASA)

    Tidal Disruption and the Roche/Tidal Limit


    To calculate Roche limit, calculate magnitude of tidal force from large mass M:

    here the tidal force is evaluated over a distance r


    Fgm FtidM

    To calculate Roche limit r (= minimum orbital radius at which two small bodies can still be bound to one another), equate this to gravitational field of smaller body of mass m: we get an expression for the Roche limit:

    can also express this as a density ratio between the small body (radius r/2) and the average density within the orbit from mass M:

    The Physics of Light

    A common blackbody source. T ~ 5000K.

    Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars

    Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

    Reminder: forms of Energy


    Previously, we have discussed two forms of energy:
    kinetic K = 1/2 mV2

    (function of velocity only, not of position) potential, e.g. gravitational potential energy: U = -GmM/r or chemical potential energy: (function of position only, not of velocity) ( gravitational fields) ( electromagnetic fields)

    There are at least two other major forms:


    radiative rest-mass energy: E = hf = hc/ (h Plancks constant, c speed of light) energy carried by massless photons E = mc2 energy carried by massive particles Energy is always conserved, but can change from one form to another.

    Energy: units & examples


    Dimensionality: remember E = mc2, so E = mass x velocity2 = mass x length2 x time-2

    SI unit: Joule (J) = kg m2 s-2 1 Calorie = 4,184 J 2,500 cal. = 10 MJ We will also sometimes use the CGS (cm g s) unit, the erg 1 erg = 1 g cm2 s-2 107 erg = 1 J

    Energy versus Temperature


    N.B. even within an object at rest, individual atoms are in motion kinetic energy Thermal energy: sum of kinetic energies of individual particles Temperature: a measure of the average kinetic energy per particle For a number of particles n, T.E. ~ n x (3/2) x kT k Boltzmanns constant k = 1.381023 joule/kelvin NB 3 temperature scales: - Farenheit (Mercury) - Celsius (Water) - Kelvin (Physical)

    Temperature versus Heat Flow


    heat is the thermal energy exchanged by collisions between particles temperature describes mean kinetic energy ( speed) of particles, but heat flow also depends on number of collisions density, composition thus the air in a heated oven does less damage than boiling water gases in space are often very hot, but deliver little heat

    Mass (or rest mass) Energy


    In Einsteins theory of relativity, another very important form of potential energy: rest-mass energy E = mc2 e.g. 1 g of uranium (fission), or 1 g water (fusion) ~ 1 ton of oil

    note that in general, a particle has both kinetic and rest mass energy: E = (m2c4 + p2c2)1/2 so for massless particles: for massive stationary particles: for massive particles moving with v << c, p ~ mv and thus: E = mc2(1 + p2/m2c2)1/2 ~ mc2(1 + (v/c)2)1/2 ~ mc2 (1 + 1/2 (v/c)2) since p ~ mv (by series expansion) (p = momentum)

    E = pc and p = E/c E = mc2

    = mc2 + 1/2 mv2

    Light : Basic Properties


    Intrinsic Properties of Light: basic characteristics: direction, intensity, colour (and polarization) light transports (radiative) energy power = energy/unit time (watts = joules/second) In interaction with matter: - matter can emit light - matter can absorb light - matter can transmit light (N.B. opacity) - matter can reflect light (redirection around normal) - matter can scatter light (redirection in many directions)

    Light : Basic Properties

    Reflection - EM waves hitting conductive surface are redirected symmetric to normal

    Refraction - EM waves get bent as they move from one medium to another with a different speed of light (index of refraction = speed in vacuum/speed of in medium >= 1) Dispersion - index of refraction, and thus bending angle, depend on colour

    Light : Fundamental Nature


    Light consists of photons; these fundamental particles have both wave-like (wavelength, frequency) and particle-like (individual energies, individual emission and absorption) properties.

    N.B. : Wave Relations


    For any wave (including light) of a single frequency f, xf=v so for light, xf=c or = c/f or f = c/ f is measured in Hz (hertz, = 1/seconds) (where v is the speed)

    Light : Fundamental Nature


    Individual photons have colour, energy, momentum, wavelength , frequency f and in fact all are simply related e.g. Energy E = hf = hc/ momentum p = E/c = hf/c = h/ all photons travel at the same speed c ~ 300,000 km/s in the vacuum (and at v = c/n in other media)

    The Basic Unit of Matter: The Atom


    The atom: a nucleus of positively charged protons and neutral neutrons, held together by the strong force, plus surrounding clouds of electrically negative electrons.

    The Basic Unit of Matter: The Atom


    The atom: a nucleus of positively charged protons and neutral neutrons, held together by the strong force, plus surrounding clouds of electrically negative electrons. Atomic Number: number of protons (determines main chemical properties elements) Mass number: number of protons + neutrons determines total mass isotopes

    The Basic Unit of Matter: The Atom


    elements (Nprotons) and isotopes (Nnucleons)

    Phases of Matter
    Atoms assemble into molecules, which collectively are in phases (solid, liquid, gaseous, plasma) N.B. ions: O+, O3+, H+ Analogy to kicking planets out of their orbits: thermal energy increases the kinetic energy of individual molecules/atoms/ions and allows them to move to larger and larger orbits, eventually becoming unbound

    States within the Atom


    Individual electrons can occupy different orbits; energy levels discrete (quantized)

    Last time: Spectrum


    The photon distribution in the light coming from an object i.e. number of photons per sec. (or the intensity) versus energy

    Can imagine either as a graph of intensity vs. wavelength (top plot) or as a rainbow where brightness and colour indicate the same quantities

    Spectral Lines
    The fingerprint or bar code of an element, ionic species or molecule. Can appear in emission (from gas hotter than background) or in absorption (from gas cooler than background) Lines for a given species are at the same set of wavelengths in either case, so easily identified, e.g. the Balmer series of Hydrogen:

    emission absorption

    Black Bodies and Black Body Radiation


    Black body: a theoretical ideal radiator (no real system is an exact blackbody; some stars close; the microwave background comes closest) Perfect absorber; thermalizes absorbed radiation perfectly and re-radiates perfectly Emission depends only on temperature Does not emit the same amount at all wavelengths: instead spectrum has a characteristic shape

    The Blackbody Spectrum


    Planck Spectrum: Peak at a characteristic wavelength that depends on the temperature of the source, drops off at shorter and longer wavelengths

    Properties of Blackbody Radiation


    The wavelength of peak emission goes as (1/temperature): Wiens Law: max = 2,900,000 nm x (1 Kelvin/ temperature)
    so blue (short wavelength) hotter than yellow (longer) hotter than red (even longer wavelength)

    Hotter sources emit more radiation per unit area at all wavelengths Stefan-Boltzmann law : emitted power = T4 surface area
    Thus from Wiens law, can get temperature for continuum sources; from the Stefan-Boltzmann law get sizes.

    Examples:
    The Suns mean surface temperature is 5,800K. At what wavelength would it emit most strongly, if it were a perfect blackbody? Wiens Law: max = 2,900,000 nm x(1/5800) = 500 nm (= 5000) (yellow-green) Two stars (at the same distance) have the same temperature but one is observed to emit 10,000 times more energy than the other. Why? Stefans Law: emitted power/unit area = T4 but T the same, so surface areas must differ by 10,000 Surface area = 4R 2, so (R1/R2)2 = 10,000 so R1/R2 = 10,000 = 100 so one has a radius 100 times larger than the other

    Examples:
    Two stars of the same size have the same temperature but one is appears 10,000 times brighter than the other. Why? Now and T are the same, so difference must be due to distance apparent brightness goes as 1/d 2, so (d1/d2)2 = 10,000 so d1/d2 = 100 so one is 100 times closer than the other

    Summary of lecture 6
    1: Tides and Tidal Effects Tidal forces, tides on the Earth, tidal locking, tidal heating, tidal disruption, Roche limit 2. Forms of Energy kinetic, potential, radiative, rest mass energy, energy conservation, heat and temperature 3. Light basic properties: intensity, direction, colour, polarization, energy and power; wave properties: frequency, wavelength; quantum properties: photon energy; interactions: absorption, emission, reflection, scattering 4. States of Matter atoms, molecules, isotopes, elements, electrons, protons, neutrons, nuclei, phases of matter, phase transitions, pressure, ionization, ions, plasma 5. Spectra spectra, spectral lines, continuous spectra, blackbody spectra,

    Phys 275 Astrophysics I - Planets and Stars

    Lecture 6 January 20th 2011

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