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College of Science Outreach Astronomy Resources Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz Calculating the speed of light using chocolate (or other food item) This is a fun way for students to calculate the speed of light especially as they can eat their experiment when they are done! The speed of light can be calculated using the following equation: c = λf c is the speed of light ms-1 λ is the wavelength (m) f is the frequency (s-1) Materials a microwave oven a microwave oven safe dish that will easily hold the food item either chocolate chips, pappadums or grated cheese ruler Method 1. Remove the turntable from the microwave. 2. Add the food to the dish and spread so that it is a thin layer. 3. Cook on low heat for 30 seconds. The food will not cook evenly and will melt or cook at the hottest spots. 4. Open the microwave oven door and look at the food for hotspots – DO NOT move the dish until you can see hotspots. 5. If there are no hotspots close the door and cook the food in short bursts until you can see hotspots. 6. Remove the dish from the microwave. 7. Using the ruler measure the distance between two adjacent hotspots. Record your results in the table on the following page: Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz Distance Distance (cm) (m) 1Wavelength (m) 2Frequency or λ (s-1) or Speed of light f c = λxf (Distance x 2) 1. The distance between 2 hotspots is the distance between the peak and valley (crest and trough) of the wave which is half the wavelength of your microwave. To work out one wavelength the distance needs to be multiplied by 2. 2. Most microwaves have a frequency of 2458 MHz which is 2 458 000 000 Hz. One hertz is equal to 1 cycle per second (frequency s-1). Some interesting facts: The speed of light is 299,792,458 metres per second in a vacuum Light takes: o 1.3 s to travel from the moon to Earth o 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth o Four and half years to travel from Alpha Centauri to Earth (closest star after the sun) o 100,000 years to travel across the Milky way Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz Useful Websites: Classifying galaxies http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ Huge numbers of galaxies have been photographed by the Hubble and other telescopes around the world. It would take years from scientists to catalogue all these galaxies. So Astronomers have created this website where individuals can help classify these galaxies. After a quick training session you are then able to start classifying galaxies. Each galaxy will be seen by many individuals so it does not matter if sometimes you misclassify a galaxy. This website is a great way for students to quickly engage in a real astronomy project. It also enables students to gain some appreciation of how many galaxies are in our universe as well as their diversity. Pictures courtesy of Galaxy Zoo Sunspots http://spaceweather.com/ This website has a range of material from sunspots to near Earth Asteroids that would be of interest to students. The images of our Sun are amazing! Image courtesy of the Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz The Mars Rover http://marsrover.nasa.gov/home/ This website has a large range of resources including teacher resources, classroom activities and videos from the Mars rovers. There are also links to other interesting sites. Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech Solar system simulator http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/my-solar-system/my-solar-system_en.html This website enables students to create their own solar system. Students can investigate the orbits of various “bodies” such as planets or moons using the preset solar systems or they can create their own solar systems. Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz Space weather centre http://www.spaceweathercenter.org/education/01/01.html This website has a range of resources on the Sun and space weather. There are many excellent pictures highlighting the various features of the Sun such as magnetic loops and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The site also discusses space weather and how it can impact our lives. Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz The Solar System to scale This is a great exercise for students to understand the distances between the planets in our solar system. Size (mm) Distance from sun (m) Model Sun 139.0 0 Balloon Mercury 0.5 6 Pin Venus 1.2 11 Pin Earth 1.3 15 Pin Mars 0.7 23 Pin Jupiter 14.3 78 Marble Saturn 12.0 143 Marble Uranus 5.2 287 Tack Neptune 4.8 450 Tack Pluto 0.2 590 Small pin Alpha Centauri (closest 139.0 4040000 = 4040km star after our sun) Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz Draw an Astronomer Ask the students to draw what they think a typical astronomer looks like. This is a great way to look at what assumptions students make about scientists. Make your own solar system Have the students create their own solar system. Suggestions to get students started include: How many planets – what are their orbits? What type of Sun is in the solar system Are there any comets – if so what are their orbits? Do any of the planets have moons – if so how many and what are their orbits? Science Outreach: www.outreach.canterbury.ac.nz