SPACE

PHYSICS
1
(a) Explain why there are different time zones on earth

(b) Explain why the southern hemisphere experiences the opposite seasons to
the northern hemisphere

(c) With the aid of a diagram, explain why a full moon is seen 14 days after a
new moon

(d) A communication satellite orbits at a height of 35 800km above the earth of

(i) Calculate the orbital period in seconds

(ii) Calculate the orbital period in hours and comment on its significance
2 fig 2.1 shows some information about planets

Fig 2.1

(a) What is the relationship between the mass of the planet and gravitational
field strength?

(b) What is the relationship between the orbital period and distance from the
sun?

(c)
(i) Describe the solar system including the characteristics and order of the
planets and their orbits
 (ii) Describe the accretion model for the formation of the solar system

(iii) Name a dwarf planet

(iv) State the location of the asteroid belt

(v) Describe with a diagram showing the position of the sun, the orbital
path of a comet

(vi) Using the data in fig 2.1, describe the relationship between the
following:
(a) Average surface temperature and distance from the sun

(b) Orbital velocity and distance from the sun

[6]
(a) describe the inward force and the outward force which will balance when a
protostar becomes a stable star

(b) will a star with a mass less than our sun eventually become a black hole? Explain
your answer.

4
4 fig 4.1 shows the orbits of some of the planets in the solar system, not drawn to
scale. Fig 4.2 shows the time for some planetary orbits

Orbital period in
Planet
years
Earth 1

Mars

Jupiter 12

Saturn 29

Uranus 84

Neptune 165

Fig 4.1 fig 4.2

(b) Are the missing planets classes as rocky or gaseous?

(c) Using the data from fig 4.2, deduce the approximate orbital period of mars.

(d) Explain the variation in orbital period shown in fig 4.2

(e) Halley’s comet visits the inner solar system every 75 years.

(i) State the shape of the comets orbit.

(ii) Describe and explain the variation in the comets speed during its orbit
5 there are many billions of galaxies making up the universe

(a) State the name of the galaxy we are in

(b) Explain how astronomers use light from different galaxies to provide evidence for
the idea that the universe is expanding
5
(a)
(i) Explain why the gravitational field strength at the International Space
Station is about 90% of the gravitational field strength at the earth’s
surface
(ii) Calculate the time taken for light to travel from the earth to the dwarf
planet, Pluto which is 5.024 billion km away from the earth
(iii) Calculate the distance between the Earth and the Sun if light takes 8
minutes to travel from the sun to the earth
(iv) Using the following data calculate;
Mass of the sun = 1.99 x 1030
Mass of the earth= 5.97 x 1024
Mass of Jupiter =1.90 x 1027
(1) The mass of the earth as a percentage of Jupiter’s mass
(2) The mass of Jupiter as a percentage as the mass of the sun
(v) Halley’s Comet has a period of about 75 years. Explain this statement
(vi) Explain why Halley’s comet travels at high speeds as it approaches the
earth in its orbit but much slower when it approaches Pluto
(vii) A star Sirius is 8.6 light years from the earth
(1) How long does the light take to reach from Sirius
(2) Calculate the distance between Sirius and the earth in meters
(viii) The closes major galaxy to the milky way is andromeda, it is
approximately 2.4 x 1022 m from the earth. Calculate the distance
between the andromeda galaxy and the earth in light years
(ix) Describe how a protostar becomes a stable star
(x) Describe what is meant by redshift of light from other galaxies
(xi) Compare the observed wavelength of light emitted from distant
galaxies to the wavelength of light emitted on the earth. Explain what
this tells us about distant galaxies
(xii) Astronomers have discovered that the further away a galaxy is, the
more light it emits is redshifted. Explain what can be deduced from this
observation
(xiii) Explain the origin of CMBR and how this provides evidence for the
expanding universe
(xiv) Define the Hubble constant H0
(xv) Calculate the Hubble constant if a galaxy 2.4 x 1019 km away from
earth is receding with a speed of 52 800m/s
(xvi) Use Hubble’s law to estimate the age of the universe in years
6

7
8