PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

Study Guide for PHYS 104/114

Exam #1
Scientific Method and Distances:
What is the scientific method and how do we apply it?

How are large and small numbers written in scientific notation?

How are degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds related to each other?

How is an astronomical unit defined and where is it used to measure distances?

What is a light year and how is it used?

How is a parsec defined and where is it used?

 PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

Constellations and the Night Sky:

How are constellations used? How much of the sky is covered by the
constellations?

What is the celestial sphere and why is it still useful today even though it is based
on faulty ideas?

Know the details and important points about the celestial sphere, such as the
celestial equator, etc. How is the meridian defined?

What is the motion of the night sky as viewed from various locations on the
Earth? How can we tell where we are located on the Earth by examining the night
sky? What is the relation between the north celestial pole/Polaris and a persons
latitude?

What are circumpolar stars?

Know how right ascension and declination are defined and how to find the
location of a star using them.
 PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

Motions in the Night Sky:

What are the various motions we see in the night sky and what causes them?

What causes the seasons?

Know the important dates throughout the year and how they relate to where the
Sun is located, such as the equinoxes and where the Sun is on the celestial sphere
when they occur.

What is precession? What causes it?

Newtons Influence:
What are Newtons Laws and what are their implications for the motions of
objects?

Know the definitions of velocity, acceleration, and mass.

 PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

What does it mean for an object to be accelerating?

How do we apply Newtons Laws to understand gravity?

What is Newtons law for gravitation?

What was important about Newton rewriting Keplers third law? What did
Newton add to that law?

Know how the conservation of angular moment works.

Light:
What is important about the speed of light? How was the speed of light first
discovered?
 PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

Know the basic properties of light.

How do we know light has a wave nature? What experiment was used to show
this and who ran that experiment?

What are the properties of a wave? How are frequency and wavelength related?

Understand the different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

 PHYS 104/114 UW Oshkosh

Understand the photoelectric effect.

What is the relation between a photons energy and its wavelength?

How is temperature related to color?

Know the definition for a blackbody.

Understand Weins Law and the Stefan-Boltzmann Law and how are they applied.

What is a photon? How is its energy related to its wavelength?