General Astronomy

Homework 05 (2021.04.12)
01. A hydrogen atom has a mass of 1.673×10−27 kg, and the temperature of the
Sun’s surface is 5800K. What is the average speed of hydrogen atoms at the Sun’s
surface?
02. The Sun’s mass is 1.989×1030 kg, and its radius is 6.96×108 m. (a) calculate the
escape speed from the Sun’s surface. (b) Using your answer to the previous question,
explain why the Sun has lost very little hydrogen over its entire 4.56-billion-year
history.
03. When the Moon originally coalesced, it may have been only one-tenth as far
from Earth as it is now. (a) When the Moon first coalesced, was Earth’s tidal force
strong enough to lift rocks off the lunar surface? (b) Compared with the net tidal
force that Earth exerts on the Moon today, how many times larger was the net tidal
force on the newly coalesced Moon? (This strong tidal force kept the one axis of the
Moon oriented toward Earth, and the Moon kept the orientation after it solidified. )
04. (a) Mercury has a 58.646-day rotation period. What is the speed at which a
point on the planet’s equator moves due to this rotation? (Hint: Remember that
speed is distance divided by time. What distance does a point on Mercury’s equator
travel as the planet makes one rotation?) (b) As a result of rotation, what difference
in wavelength is observed for a radio wave of wavelength 12.5 cm (such as is actually
used in radar studies of Mercury) emitted from either the approaching or receding
edge of the planet?
05. Venus’s sidereal rotation period is 243.01 days and its orbital period is 224.70
days. Use these data to prove that a solar day on Venus lasts 116.8 days.
06. For a group of properly attired astronauts equipped with oxygen tanks, a climb
to the summit of Olympus Mons, a very large shield volcano on Mars, would actually
be a relatively easy (albeit long) hike rather a true mountain climb. Why?
07. Roughly speaking, Jupiter’s composition (by mass) is three quarters hydrogen
and one-quarter helium. The mass of a single hydrogen atom is 1.6735×10−27
kg/atom; the mass of a single helium atom is about 4 times greater. Use these
number to calculate how many hydrogen atoms and how many helium there are in
Jupiter.
08. (a) Use Newton’s form of Kepler’s third law, Titan’s period (382.69 h), and
Titan’s semimajor axis (1.22×109 m) to calculate the orbital periods of particles at
the outer edge of Saturn’s A ring (semimajor axis = 136,600 km) and at the inner
edge of the B ring (semimajor axis = 92,000 km). If you were floating along with
the cloudtops at Saturn’s equator and the rotation period of Saturn is 10.2 hours,
would the outer edge of the A ring and the inner edge of the B ring appear to move
in the same or opposite directions?
09. The gravitational force of Neptune on Uranus is at a maximum when the
two planets are at their closest approach, which occurs when the Sun, Uranus,
and Neptune are aligned in a straight line. For this configuration, calculate the
gravitational force exerted by the Sun on Uranus and by Neptune on Uranus. Then
calculate the fraction by which the sunward gravitational pull on Uranus is reduced
by Neptune at that configuration. Based on your calculations, do you expect that
Neptune has a relatively large or relatively small effect on Uranus’s orbit?