Physics Signature Assignment

Fall 2020

Kaitlynn Burge
STARS…
Alpha Tauri
This star is also known as Aldebaran. It is forty-four times the sun radius. It is sixty-five
point two three light years away from earth. It is four hundred times as luminous as the sun. It
isn’t visible to the naked eye. It is around six point six zero five billion years old

Epsilon Tauri
This star is around six hundred twenty-five years old. It is one hundred forty-six point
eight light years away. It is ninety times more luminous as the sun. It is about thirty-nine times
the radius of the sun.

Gamma Tauri
This star is one hundred and fifty-three point three light years away. It is thirteen point
four times the radius of the sun. It is about eighty five times the luminous of the sun. It is
between four hundred and thirty million to five hundred and thirty million years old.

Pleiades Star Cluster

This star is four hundred and forty-four point two light years away from earth. It is four
times the radius of the sun. It is about forty times the luminous. It is one hundred million years
old.
Equation 1: E = mc2

Answer or do the following:

1. In this equation E = energy, M = mass, and C= the speed of light in a vacuum. In this
light in a vacuum is a constant and both energy and mass can vary

2. 671 million miles per hour (299,792,458 meters per second) is the speed of light in a
vacuum. Since we know these numbers, we can conclude that c^2= 8.98755179x10^16
m^2/s^2.

3. According to the above equation, mass and energy are related. The mass always includes
energy, therefore, when the mass increases, so does energy.

4. “If it is possible to change mass into energy a little bit on mass could produce a lot of
energy” is a little bit of truth and fallacy. It is not possible for mass to turn into energy,
but a little mass can have a lot of energy.

Equation 2: d = gt2/2
5. The only variables in that equation are time, distance and gravity, meaning that the
weight of an object has no variable. This is assuming, of course, that there is no air
resistance. In this case, everything would end up falling at the same speed. Also, only the
acceleration of gravity can influence how fast something can fall because it is a constant.
d = distance an object falls when released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at the Earth’s surface
t = time the object has been falling

Equation 3: v = gt
6. The weight is no object in this equation because it shows that gravity multiplied by the
amount of time that the object is actually falling is what equals velocity. Again, this is
also assuming that air resistance is left out of the equation as a factor.
v = velocity of a falling object if released from rest (no air resistance)
g = acceleration of gravity at Earth’s surface
t = time the object has been falling

7. The video “Galileo hammer feather experiment” confirms that when there is no air
resistance, all objects will fall at the same speed. As with any other concept that has not
been researched enough, the people throughout history believed that the heavier an object
is, the faster it falls when compared to the lighter objects. Of course, as time and research
progressed, it was confirmed that weight was not a factor. Since air resistance was
present, it likely wasn’t thought of as being a factor. This could be why many believed
that weight has some significance in determining speed of a fall.

8. The force called “weight” is a resulting determination of earth’s gravity. As mentioned in

above statements, it is confirmed that when there is no air resistance, all objects will fall
at the same speed. Inertia, meaning the resistance of an object to change motion, is what
compensates for the difference in applied forces.

Part 3: Learning about a Law of Physics

I chose Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which says “whenever an object exerts force on a
second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first.” This law
basically states that when there is an action applies, there is an opposite reaction that is applies,
as well. This means that there is a force that moves in the opposite direction of the first force.
As an example that most, if not all of us can relate to is when a car accelerates forward. The
ground is pushing forward as the wheels turn backwards on the ground. This shows the action
and opposing action, going in the opposite direction.
Another example is when a person is swimming. Generally, a person swims forward, meaning
that there is a resistance in the water, creating the opposing action that allows the person to swim
forward.
A third example is the forces applied when someone fires a gun. The action is to fire the bullet
forward by pulling the trigger. This will apply the opposing motion of the backfire, meaning as
the bullet moves forward, the gun itself will move backward.

Part 4: Explanation of Fermi’s Paradox and possible resolution

The physicists Ernico Fermi and Michael Hart played a huge role in Fermi’s Paradox, which
compares different opinions on existence of alien life in the universe. According to Hart and
Fermi, the sun is considered a young star, which would conclude that there are other older stars
that may have their own universe with planets such as the ones in our universe. In addition, this
would also imply that life has existed in these other universes for billions of years prior to our
existence. It is possible that these other universes have created similar technology to the ones that
we currently have, possibly more advanced, which would allow for the exploration and research
of other universes, like what we have. The reason that this is a paradox, is because it is a logical
possibility to assume that there is life existing elsewhere, but we have no evidence to support the
theory.

A few Resolutions…
1. We are technologically behind other universes
It is more than possible that we have not progressed as much as other universes may
have. This could be very surprising since we have come a long way in our “short” time of
our existence. There is a possibility that if these other universes have improved
technologically, that they may have discovered life on our planet. This, of course, is
riding on the idea that the Fermi paradox suggests, where the sun on our universe is
young compared to other universes and suns. This would give them more time to advance
technologically farther than we have.
2. Too much “space” between the universes
One of the possibilities that we have not made any discoveries about other universes/solar
systems, and therefore, we do not have any evidence collected to confirm or deny life in
other systems. This, or course, works the other way as well. There could be too much of a
distance between solar systems to be able to make discoveries about human life in our
universe. Also, there could just be a lack of interest in exploring other life forms for other
extraterrestrial life forms.
3. Unknown special wars between other life forms
On our planet, we have experienced many wars, mostly between countries and places on
the earth. It is possible that life forms in other universes have experienced similar
situations, although it could be entirely possible that those wars did not just happen on
planets like ours. It could be a war between planets, which could have resulted in
destruction. This could be one idea that is preventing others to make discoveries about
life in our solar system. There are just other things that are a priority, such as just
surviving.
4. Improvement technologically
We, as human beings, face the idea of continuous improvement in our daily lives. We
have witnessed the advancements of technology over the years, which has led to us
making new discoveries. Just like we have the obligation and opportunities to make those
improvements, we have a long way to go on improving our technology. This is something
that we have continued, and will continue, to work on throughout time. If we can stay on
this path of continuous improvement, we will soon have the technology available to
explore other planets, search for other life forms, and make observations that could be the
key to some of our problems on earth. This is an important thing for the human race and
all the future possibilities of communicating between solar systems/universes.
Cites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldebaran
https://nineplanets.org/aldebaran-%CE%B1-tauri/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epsilon_Tauri
http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/ain.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_Tauri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades