Worksheet Life Cycle of Stars

1. Figure 1 shows the life cycle of a very large star.

Use the correct answers from the box to complete the sentences in Figure 1.

(b) Figure 2 shows the forces acting on a star when the star is stable.

Draw a ring around the correct answer to complete the sentence.

2. Stars go through a life cycle.

Some stars will finish their life cycle as a black dwarf and other stars as a black
hole.
(a) Table 1 gives the mass, relative to the Sun, of three stars, J, K and L.
Table 1

Which one of the stars, J, K or L, will become a black

dwarf? ........................................
Give a reason for your answer.
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(b) Scientists can take the measurements needed to calculate the mass of many
stars.
Scientists cannot calculate the mass of the star Betelgeuse.
They estimate that the star has a mass between 8 and 20 times the mass of the
Sun.
(i) Betelgeuse is in the red super giant stage of its life cycle.
What will happen to Betelgeuse at the end of the red super giant stage?
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(ii) Suggest one reason why scientists can only estimate and not
calculate the mass of Betelgeuse.

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(iii) In the future, it may become possible for scientists to calculate the
mass of Betelgeuse.
Suggest one reason why.
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(c) Describe what happens to a star, after the main sequence period, for
the star to eventually become a black dwarf.
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3. a) Stars are stable during the main sequence period of the life cycle. Why?
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(b) The table gives an estimated time for the number of years that three stars, X,
Y and Z, will be in the main sequence period of their life cycle.

(i) This data suggests that there is a pattern linking the mass of a star and the
number of years the star is in the main sequence period of its life cycle.
What is the pattern suggested by the data?
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(ii) Scientists cannot give the exact number of years a star will be in the main
sequence period.
Suggest why.
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(iii) Nuclear fusion is the process by which energy is released in stars.

Which one of the following can be concluded from the data in the table?

Draw a ring around the correct answer in the box to complete the sentence.

Explain the reason for your answer.

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(c) In this question you will be assessed on using good English, organising
information clearly and using specialist terms where appropriate.
Describe what happens to a star much bigger than the Sun, once the star reaches
the end of the main sequence period of its life cycle.
Your answer should include the names of the stages the star passes through.
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(AQA PH2HP Jan 13)
4. (a) Classify each of the following stars by ticking all the appropriate boxes in
the table.
M = one solar mass.

[3 marks]
(b) State two advantages and one disadvantage that a charge-coupled device
(CCD) has compared to a photographic emulsion.
Advantage
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Advantage
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Disadvantage .......................................................................................
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(c) (i) For most of its life (11 billion years) the Sun will burn hydrogen in its core.
A chemistry student might use the word burn to describe a chemical reaction
involving oxygen.
Explain fully the meaning of the word burn when used in astrophysics to describe
what happens in the core of a star. You may be awarded a mark for the clarity of
your answer.

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(ii) When the Sun nears the end of its life it will burn helium in its core for a further
100 million years and become a red giant star. When it has depleted the helium
in its core it is estimated that its surface temperature will fall from its present
value of 5780 K to 3160 K and its radius will increase from 6.96 10 8 m to 1.26
1011 m.

Show that the luminosity of the Sun will increase by a factor of about 3000 due to
these changes.
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(iii) A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is shown below.

Mark with an X the position of the Sun today.

Use the information given in (ii) to mark with a Y the position of the Sun when it
has depleted its helium core. [2 marks]
(d) (i) Near the end of its life the Sun will decrease in size and become a white
dwarf.
State two other ways in which this type of star differs from the Sun as it is today.
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(ii) Describe what will eventually become of a white dwarf star.
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(e) (i) Sirius A is the brightest star in the night sky. It is 8.6 light years from
Earth.
Show that this distance is approximately 8 10 16 m.
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(ii) Hence determine the intensity of Sirius A as seen from Earth.
The luminosity of Sirius A is 1.0 10

28

W.

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(iii) Calculate the mass being converted into energy in the core of
Sirius A everysecond.

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(iv) Sirius A has a surface temperature of 9900 K.
Calculate the peak wavelength of the radiation spectrum emitted by
Sirius A.
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6. (a) On the axes, sketch a graph to illustrate Wiens law. You do not need to
add scales but should include labels and units for each axis.

(b) The star Suhail (-Vel) has a very high luminosity of 9900 LSun, and a surface
area of 2.6 1023 m2. LSun represents the luminosity of the Sun: LSun = 3.9 10
26 W.
(i) Show that the surface temperature of Suhail is approximately 4000 K.

(b) The star Suhail (

-Vel) has a very high luminosity of 9900 L

, and a surface area of

2.6 10 23 m 2 . L

represents the luminosity of the Sun: L

= 3.9 10 26 W.
(i) Show that the surface temperature of Suhail is approximately 4000 K.
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(ii) The radius of the Sun rSun is 6.96 108 m. Calculate the radius of Suhail in
terms of rSun.
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(iii) Suggest what type of star Suhail is. Justify your answer, referring to
all relevant numerical values.
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(c) (i) What type of star is a pulsar?

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Answer Key(c) (i) What type of star is a pulsar?

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EdExcel-A-Level-Physics-Unit-3-Paper-1-Jan-2009.pdf

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