Justin Behunin

Physics 1010-400 Semester Project

The photo below is of the Centaurus/southern cross region of the milky way. This is not
visible in our sky as our latitude on the Earth is too far north. These are star fields seen
generally in the southern hemisphere and some of the tropical latitudes of the northern
hemisphere.
Centaurus is a large constellation in terms of the area it covers. The easiest markers in
this constellation are the two brightest stars, alpha and beta Centauri. These are the two
brightest stars in the photo and are located just under the center of the photo. Alpha
Centauri is yellow and Beta Centauri is blue. Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system
to our own. Were we living in the Alpha Centauri system, looking back towards the Sun,
the Sun would look much like Alpha Centauri does from here.
If you draw a line from Alpha Centauri through Beta Centauri and move, from Beta
Centauri about 2.5 times the Alpha Centauri /Beta Centauri distance you will see a
bright red star. That bright red star is one of the stars of the Southern Cross.
Pick 4 of the stars in the photograph below. Label each of these stars on the photo.

Part 1: Star Identification: Crux/Southern Cross

Name

Distance from
Earth

Date light left

the star

Size relative to
the sun

Luminosity
relative to the
sun

Gacrux

88 Light Years

1927

Radius 84x
of the sun

15,000 times
that of the sun

Becrux

280 Light Years

1735

Radius 8.4x
of the sun

19,600 times
that of the sun

Delta Crucis

345 Light Years

1670

Radius 8x
of the sun

10,000 times
that of the sun

Acrux

321 Light Years

1694

Radius 4x
of the sun

25,000 times
that of the sun

Justin Behunin

Gacrux

delta Cru

Becrux

Acrux

Above: photo of the Centaurus/Crux (Southern Cross) sector of the Milky Way.

Centaurus/Southern Cross
star chart with Alpha and
Beta Centauri on the left

Australian flag with the Southern Cross on the

right and Beta Centauri in the lower left

Justin Behunin
Part 2: Equation Analysis:
Equation 1: E = mc2
Question 1: Find out what the things in this equation (using your book or a net search
will do it) are and identify them as either variables or constants.
E = Energy that any mass has at rest
E is variable because it is the result of the mass times the speed of light and
mass is variable so E cannot be a constant.
m = mass
m depends on what object or element is in question. The mass of 2 different
objects would be different making mass variable
c = the speed of light.
The speed of light is a constant which was discovered by physicist Clerk
Maxwell.
Question 2: What is the size of c2?
c = 300,000 km/s thus = , , , /
Question 3: Are mass and energy related? Answer yes or no and then provide a brief
explanation of your answer based on the analysis of the equation.
Yes, the equation is Energy = Mass times the speed of light squared. This gives
mass and energy a proportional relation. The larger the mass the greater the
energy the mass would have. Likewise the greater the energy produced the
greater the mass has to be.
Question 4: Analyze the statement: if it is possible to change mass into energy a little
bit of mass could produce a lot of energy. Is it true or not? Provide a brief explanation
based on your analysis of the equation
It is true that a little bit of mass would produce a lot of energy. Since the equation
is Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared with the speed of light
squared equals , , , / , 1 kg of mass would produced
, , , energy.

Justin Behunin
Equation 2: d = gt2/2
where:
d = distance an object falls when released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at the Earths surface
t = time the object has been falling
Question 5: Which of the following statements do you agree with and why? Use the
equation to support your answer (you can also refer to the learning from equations
module files).
a) heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects
b) objects fall at the same speed (if no air resistance) and weight doesnt matter.
B would be the correct statement. The equation = / includes
measurements for the distance (d) the object falls, the acceleration due to gravity
(g), and time (t) the object has been falling. Mass does not factor into the equation
and weight would be mass times gravity. Since mass (m) is not part of the
equations all objects in the absence of air resistance will fall at the same speed.

Equation 3: v = gt
where:
v = velocity of a falling object if released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at Earths surface
t = time the object has been falling
Question 6: Which of the following statements do you agree with and why? Use the
equation to support your answer (you can also refer to the learning from equations
module files).
c) heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects
d) objects fall at the same speed (if no air resistance) and weight doesnt matter.
D would be the correct statement. The equation = includes measurements
for the velocity (v) the object falls, the acceleration due to gravity (g), and time (t)
the object has been falling. Mass does not factor into the equation and weight is
calculated by mass times gravity. Since mass (m) is not part of the equations all
objects in the absence of air resistance will fall at the same speed.

Justin Behunin
Question 7: For most of recorded history, people thought that heavy objects naturally
and under all conditions fall faster than lighter objects. Why did it take us so long to
realize the true state of affairs?
It was a long held believe that Aristotles presumption that heavier objects fell
faster than lighter objects by the human race because of Aristotles authority.
Anyone that disagreed with this view for centuries would have been a social
outcast. It wasnt until almost 2000 years later when Galileo came along and
disproved this by dropping objects of differing masses off of the leaning tower of
pizza proving they hit the ground at the same time before this view was changed.
It wasnt until later until Isaac Newton came along that an explanation of why this
is true was given.
Question 8: The Earths gravity DOES exert a greater force on heavier objects than
lighter ones (these forces are called weight). However, with no air resistance objects fall
at the same speed in a given gravity field. The weight difference can be thousands of
pounds to one and the objects still fall at the same speed. What physical property of
mass compensates for the difference in applied forces?
This is given by Newtons first law of motion involving inertia where objects at
rest tend to remaining at rest and objects in motion tend to stay in motion. The
greater the mass of an object the greater its inertia is. The greater the inertia of
the object the greater the resistance it has to change of motion which by
Newtons second law of motion stating that for every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction the force of resistance do to inertia cancels out the force of
gravity due to mass.

Equation 4: e = 1 Tcold/Thot
where:
e = efficiency of energy use
Tcold = the temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine
Thot = the internal operating temperature of the engine
This is the equation for the efficiency of a heat engine (your car is a heat engine unless
you have an electric model). An e = 1 is 100% efficiency, meaning 100% of the energy
gets used to do what you want to do with no wasted, unrecoverable energy. An e = 0
is an efficiency of zero with none of the energy going to what you want to do and all of
the energy being wasted or in unrecoverable forms.
The temperatures in this equation are in the Kelvin scale where the lowest temperature
is 0 degrees. There are no negative temperatures in the Kelvin scale. A temperature we
might encounter on Earth would be about 300 degrees Kelvin.

Justin Behunin

Question 9: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in theory, by lowering the

temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine (T cold)? Why or why not?
In theory if you were able to lower Tcold to zero degrees kelvin then for any
degree greater than zero for Thot would give e = 1 where we would have 100%

efficiency. Ex = () > = = .
Question 10: Is it possible, in practice, to achieve 100% efficiency by lowering the
temperature of the environment surrounding the heat engine (Tcold)? Why or why not?
In practice is would be not be possible to achieve 100% efficiency by lowering
Tcold. It would be extremely difficult to lower the surrounding temperature to
zero degrees Kelvin which would be approximately -457 degrees Fahrenheit or
272 Celsius which is far colder that we experience in our natural environment on
Earth.
Question 11: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in theory, by raising the internal
operating temperature of the heat engine (Thot)? Why or why not?
In theory by raising the temperature of Thot is not be possible to reach 100%
efficiency. As we take the limit of Thot as it approaches infinity Tcold/Thot would
approach zero but never reach zero always giving a value where e would always
be just less than one. You would not be able to get a result of Tcold/Thot that
would equal zero.
Question 12: Is it possible to achieve 100% efficiency, in practice, by raising the
internal operating temperature of the heat engine (T hot)? Why or why not?
In practice it wouldnt be possible to achieve 100% efficiency by raising Thot. For
example if Tcold was 1 degree Celsius and Thot was 100 degrees Celsius we

would have = = . which is 90 % efficiency. If we

increased Thot to 1000 degrees Celsius we would have 99% efficiency. It would
be possible in practice to raise temperatures well beyond 1000 degrees Celsius to
achieve near 100% efficiency.
Question 13: If your car is not electric, it is a heat engine and is subject to the efficiency
equation. Is it possible to build a car, using any kind of burning fuel, that is 100%
efficient? Explain.
IT would not be possible to build a heat engine with 1005 efficiency. The
surrounding air on Earth is much greater than zero degrees Kelvin. We wouldnt
be able to build an engine that would withstand temperatures greater that 1000
degrees Celsius which would be required to reach near 100% efficiency by
increasing the Thot temperature.

Justin Behunin

Part 3: Learning about a Law of Physics

Pick any Law or Principle of Physics in your textbook and:
1. Give me an explanation of what it is and what it means.
The law of the Conservation of Momentum. It means that in the absence of an
external force the overall momentum of the system being consider remains
unchanged. Momentum is p = mv where p is momentum, m is mass, and v is
velocity. When you take the initial momentum of 2 objects they have to equal the
final momentum of the objects.

2. Give me 3 examples in the real world involving the law or principle.

Firing a gun or cannon would be an example. Both objects would initially be at
rest. Once fired the gun or cannon would recoil and the ammo would go shooting
off in the opposite direction. Because the velocity of each mass is traveling in
different directions there sum would be equal and opposite and still equal zero
for the overall system.
Hitting a que ball on a pool table at another ball on the table would be another
example. Before the que ball strikes the other ball is would have momentum
based on its mass and velocity. Once it strike the other ball which is stationary
the que ball then becomes stationary and the ball struck would travel with the
exact same momentum that the que ball had.
If one vehicle on the road crashed into the rear end of another vehicle and they
became stuck together, the combined momentum of both vehicles would equal
the individual momentums of the vehicles prior to the crash. The momentum
would change when the brakes are applied because this would be an external
force.

Justin Behunin
Part 4: Impact Crater Identification
Wanapitei, a lake crater in Ontario, Canada, estimated age is 37 Million Years old.

Barringer, In Arizona U.S., estimated age is 500,000 years old.

Justin Behunin
Lake Bosumtwi crater, in Ghana, Africa., Estimated age 1.07 million years old.

Roter Kamm in Namib Dessert, Namibia Estimated age is 4-5 million years old