General Astronomy - Spring
2011
Homework #2 - due January 31
Name __________________________
1. (5 pt) How long could the Sun remain at its current luminosity
if 20% of
the Hydrogen in the Sun can be converted into Helium?
2. (5pt) A UI student late on a Saturday evening makes a random walk
with 2 foot steps once every two seconds. How long does it take
(on average) for the student to reach a distance of 50 feet from the
origin of the random walk?
3. (2 pt) Which of the following parts of the Sun is the hottest: core,
radiative layer, or convective layer?
The following questions refer to the Mythbusters "Diet Coke and Mentos"
episode (season 4, volume 5 on DVD or collection 2, episode 7 on
Netflix). This will be shown in class on January 28.
4. (2 pt) What is the first hypothesis that Jamie makes (and
tests) about the Diet Coke and Mentos phenomenon?
5. (2 pt) Is their hypothesis a legitimate scientific hypothesis?
Why or why not?
6. (2 pt) Progress in science is often made by falisfying
hypotheses. Write down a hypothesis involving one chemical
component of Diet Coke that Adam falisfies.
7. (2 pt) Are there any flaws in the "proof" that nucleation on the
Mentos surface is important? What would be a better test?