Cody Garrett
Physics 1010
Part 1 : Big Dipper
Alkaid (Eta Ursae Majoris ) – is 101 light years away from our sun making it the 2 furthest
away from our planet. Its mass is 6 times that of the sun. Its apparent magnitude is 1.9. It is the
most eastern star of the big dipper. Its name derives from an Arabic phrase meaning “the leader
of the daughters of the bier.” It is one of the mourning maidens which are the 3 stars that make
up the handle of the big dipper.
Mizar- is 78 light years away from our sun. Its apparent magnitude is 2.1. It is the second star
from the end of the big dippers handle. Its name comes from the Arabic meaning waistband.
What is very interesting about this star is its star companion. Alcor is that stars name is a star is
most likely gravitationally bound to
Mizar. It is very close but can still be
seen with a naked eye.
Alioth- is 81 light years away from our
sun. Its apparent magnitude is 1.8 making
it the brightest star of the group. It is
locates as the first star off of the bowl. It
is also a member of the large and diffuse
Ursa Major moving group which is a set of stars with common velocities in space. This group
makes up most of the big dipper.
Megrez- is also 81 light years away from our sun. Its apparent magnitude is 3.3 which makes it
the dimmest star of the group. This star is the only star of the bowl connected to the stars that
make up the handle. It is bluish –white in color. It also has 2 faint companions
Part 2: E = mc2
1) It means the energy contained in matter (e) is equal to the mass of the matter (m) times
the speed of light (c) squared.
2) C^2 is a fairly big number. It is 670 million miles per hour squared. The speed of light^2
= 8.98755179 × 1016 m2 / s2.
3) Given the formula Energy = matter X Speed of light squared, we can see a relation with
matter and energy. What this means is that mass can be converted to energy, a lot of energy, in a
nuclear process as occurs in the Sun, a nuclear bomb, or a nuclear reactor.
4) “If it is possible to change mass into energy a little bit of mass could produce a lot of
energy”. I believe this statement is true and there is proof of this. As I have said from the above
statement we see this in the sun and nuclear bombs. Is it true or not? Provide a brief explanation
