Separate

Physics

Space
1

Space facts Fold page here

1) How many planets are there in our solar 1) There are eight planets and one dwarf planet (Pluto).
2 system? (Hz) × 2) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
2) Write the planets in the solar system in Neptune.
order. 3) A satellite is something in orbit around a planet. A
3) What is a satellite? What are the two types satellite can be natural (like the Moon) or artificial
of satellite? (like communications or weather satellites).
4) What galaxy is the solar system a part of? 4) The solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy.
5) What is a nebula? 5) A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas.
6) How is a star formed? 6) A nebula gets pulled together under gravity. Friction
heats hydrogen until the nebula is hot enough for
nuclear fusion to happen.
7) Once a star is formed, how does it reach 7) When a star is formed it is stable because the forces
equilibrium? within it are balanced. Gravity acts inwards. This is
balanced by the outward force of radiation from
nuclear fusion trying to make the star expand.
8) What are the stages in the life cycle of a star 8) Nebula → Protostar → Main sequence star → Red
of similar size to the sun? giant → White dwarf → Black dwarf.
9) What are the stages in the life cycle of a star 9) Nebula → Protostar → Main sequence star → Red
much more massive than the sun? super giant → supernova → neutron star/black hole
10) How are elements heavier than iron 10) In the explosion of a massive star (supernova)
produced? elements heavier than iron are spread throughout
11) What provides the force that allows planets the universe.
and satellites to maintain their circular 11) Gravity.
orbits?
12) How can the force of gravity lead to
changing velocity but unchanged speed. 12) Velocity is a vector, whereas speed is a scalar. As a
object orbits, its direction changes. Therefore the
13) What happens to the radius of an orbit if the velocity changes even if speed does not.
speed increases? 13) If the speed increases, then the radius of an orbit
14) What evidence do we have for the Big Bang? decreases.
14) There is an observed increase in the wavelength of
light from most distant galaxies. The further away the
galaxies, the faster they are moving and the bigger
the observed increase in wavelength. This effect is
called the red-shift. Cosmic microwave background
15) What does the red shift tell us about the radiation (CMBR) is another piece of evidence.
universe? 15) The red shift tells us that the universe is expanding
and that it began from a very small region that was
16) What happens to the wavelength of a wave extremely hot and dense.
if the source is moving towards us? 16) The wavelength decreases as the source moves
towards us (the Doppler effect). The opposite
17) What have observations of recent
Name ______________________________
happens if the source is moving away from us.
supernovae suggested? 17) Observations of supernovae suggest that distance
galaxies are receding even faster.

Class ______________________________
Teacher ______________________________
1 Our solar system is made of one star (the Sun)
2 plus eight planets (and a dwarf planet – Pluto)
3 that orbit around the Sun.

4 The solar system is a small part of the Milky Way

5 galaxy.

6 We can remember the order of the plants by

7 using the following mnemonic:

8 My Mercury
9 Very Venus
Terrestrial planets
10 Easy Earth
11 Method Mars
12 Just Jupiter
13 Speeds Saturn Gas giants
14 Up Uranus
15 Naming Neptune
16 Planets Pluto Dwarf planet
17

18 A nebula is a cloud of dust and gas (helium and

19 hydrogen) that gets pulled together under gravity.

20 Friction heats the gases until the nebula is hot

21 enough for nuclear fusion to happen.

22 For this to happen, the core temperature has to be extremely high – in excess of
23 10 million degrees.

24 Nuclear fusion in a star like the Sun involves the combination of lighter isotopes
25 of hydrogen to form helium, and the release of energy:
2 1 3
26 1 H + 1 H → 2 He+energy

27 Once these reactions have begun, the energy released

28 maintains the temperature in the star, and fusion continues
1 until all the reactants have been used.
Task: Complete in your exercise book

Basic

1. Name the eight planets in our solar system.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune. hydrogen dwarf planets Milky Way
2. Complete the sentences. Choose the answers from the box.
nebula fusion friction
There are eight planets in orbit around the Sun, along with
some dwarf planets like Pluto. The solar system is part of the galaxy which is called the milky way.

The Sun was formed when a nebula (made of dust and gas) in space was pulled together by gravity.
The force of friction caused these gases (mostly hydrogen and helium) to heat until they were hot enough to
generate its own energy through nuclear fusion.

Medium

1. Explain what is meant by nuclear fusion.

The joining of light nuclei to form heavier ones.
2. Name the: i) Four terrestrial planets Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars ii) Two gas giants Jupiter
and Saturn iii) Two ice giants. Uranus and
Neptune.
3. Explain why i) Venus is the hottest planet Very thick atmosphere which traps heat from the Sun. Also the
second closest planet to the Sun. ii) Neptune is the coldest planet. Farthest planet from the Sun.
4. Use the figure to the right to explain what happens to the mass of the Sun as hydrogen is converted to
helium. Why does this process release energy?
- The mass of the Sun decreases over time
- The combined mass of 4 H > mass of 1 He
- The surplus energy is released as EM radiation

Hard

The energy radiated by a main sequence star like the Sun is released by a nuclear fusion reaction in its
core.

Read the following information about this reaction then use it to answer the questions below.
• The net result of the nuclear fusion reaction is that four hydrogen nuclei produce one helium
nucleus. There is a loss of mass of 0.7%.
• For nuclear fusion to occur nuclei must collide at very high speeds.
• The energy released during the reaction can be calculated as shown:

energy released [J] = loss of mass [kg] × (speed of light [m/s])2

(The speed of light is 3 × 108 m/s)

(a) Calculate the energy released when 1g of hydrogen fuses to form helium.

use of E = mc2

mass in kg i.e. 0.001 × (0.7/100)

each gains 1 mark

 but 000007 gains 2 marks

2.1 × 103 gains 3 marks

evidence of 0.000007

mass in kg (i.e. 0.0007 or 0.7/100000)

each gains 1 mark

squaring the speed of light

but 6.3 × 1011 (credit alternative ways of stating this) gains 3 marks

units J/joule for 1 further mark

(N.B credit kJ, MJ, GJ but check power of 10 for full credit) 4

(b) The table shows the lifetimes and surface temperatures of main
sequence stars with different masses. The higher the surface
surface of a star, the higher the temperature and pressure in its
core.

(i) Describe the relationship between the lifetime of a main

sequence star and its mass.

idea that the bigger the mass the shorter the life

gains 1 mark

but idea that decrease in life is much more than proportional to increase in mass or more
than proportional to mass squared

gains 2 marks

(ii) Suggest an explanation for this relationship.

ideas that:

 greater mass means greater core temperature/pressure

 greater core temperature/pressure means greater rate of fusion

 increase in mass produces a proportionally much greater increase in the rate of

fusion

each for 1 mark for a max of 3 marks

(a) There are eight planets in orbit around the Sun.

Which other type of object orbits the Sun?

Tick one box.

Dwarf planet

Galaxy

Moon

Star

(1)

(b) Complete the sentences.

Choose the answers from the box.

black hole gravity friction

nebula protostar upthrust

The Sun was formed when a nebula in space was pulled

together by gravity.
(2)

The table shows some data about the eight planets that orbit the Sun.

Distance from Time to

Mean surface
the Sun orbit the
Planet temperature
compared to the Sun in
in °C
Earth years

Mercury 0.4 0.2 +125

Venus 0.7 0.6 +465

Earth 1.0 1.0 +22

Mars 1.5 1.9 –48

Jupiter X 12 –108

Saturn 9.6 30 –180

Uranus 19.3 84 –216

Neptune 30.0 165 –201

 (c) What pattern links the distance a planet is from the Sun and the time taken by the planet
to orbit the Sun?
the greater the distance (from the Sun) the greater the time taken to orbit the Sun (1)

(d) Estimate the value of X in the table.

Distance = accept 3 to 7 inclusive

(1)

(e) A student looked at the data in the table and wrote the following conclusion:

‘The mean surface temperature of a planet decreases the

further the planet is from the Sun.'

Explain why this conclusion is not totally correct.

 Some planets do not fir the pattern

 One named planet
 One reason – e.g. Uranus: its temperature is lower than expected

(3)
(Total 7 marks)

Life cycle of a star

1 When a star is formed it is stable because the forces

2 within it are balanced.
1 Gravity acts inwards. This is balanced by the outward force of the radiation
2 from nuclear fusion trying to make the star expand.
3 The life cycle of a star depends on the initial mass of the star. For a star of
4 similar size to our Sun, once hydogen starts to run out the force of fusion
5 decreases and the star therefore contracts. This increases the temperature
6 of the core until helium starts fusing. The increases the radiative force of
7 force and so the star expands to form a red giant.
8 Following this stage, the outer layers drift out into space as a planetary
9 nebula, and leaving behind a hot and dense white dwarf. Over time, this
10 then cools to form a black dwarf.
11 Stars which are much more massive than the Sun form a red supergiant.
12 Heavier and heavier elements start to fuse, until a massive explosion called
13 a supernova occurs. What then happens depends on the mass of the star.
14 Elements heavier than iron are produced in this supernova and this spreads
15 out these elements throughout the universe.

16 What happens next then depends on the mass of the star. The most
17 massive stars form a black hole, whose gravitational force is so strong that
18 not even light can escape.
19 Less massive stars leave behind a hot dense star called a neutron star.
1

2 Task: Fill in the blanks below.

Friction Planetary Nebula

Dust
Fusion
Hydrogen
Helium
Red Giant White Dwarf
Gravity

Iron
Red Supergiant

Neutron
Star
Supernova

Black Hole

Q1.
Astronomers claim that there are about 300 billion stars in the Milky Way.

(a) Describe how stars are formed.

 Dust / gas
 Pulled together
 By gravitational attraction
 (3)

(b) Use the correct answer from the box to complete the sentence.

decay fission fusion

Energy is released in stars by the process of nuclear Fusion.

(1)

(c) State why a star is stable during the ‘main sequence’ period of its life cycle.

Forces within the star are balanced (in equilibrium)

(1)

(d) The life cycle of a star after the ‘main sequence’ period depends on the size of the star.

A particular star is the same size as the Sun.

What are the stages, after the main sequence, in the life cycle of this star?

State them in order by writing in the boxes.

Red Supergiant

White Dwarf

Black Dwarf

(3)
(Total 8 marks)

Q2.
The early Universe contained only the lightest element.

(a) Use the correct answer from the box to complete the sentence.

hydrogen iron uranium

The early Universe contained only Hydrogen.

(1)

(b) Use the correct answer from the box to complete the sentence.

main sequence star protostar supernova

The heaviest elements are formed only in a Supernova.

 (1)

(c) Use the correct answer from the box to complete the sentence.

red giant red super giant white dwarf

Only a star much bigger than the Sun can become a red super giant.
(1)

(d) The Universe now contains a large variety of different elements.

Describe how this happened.

any four from:

• fusion takes place within stars

• hydrogen formed into helium

• fusion continued and formed larger elements

• elements heavier than iron were formed in supernova

• (heavy) elements were scattered by the supernova explosion.

(4)
(Total 7 marks)

Satellites

1 A satellite is something in orbit around a planet.

2 They can be natural (like the Moon) or artificial
3 (like communications or weather satellites).
4 Geostationary satellites orbit the Earth once
5 every 24 hours. They are used for communications.
6 Monitoring satellites (for weather) are lower and orbit every 2-3 hours.
7 Satellites orbit around planets in circular (or slightly elliptical) orbits. For
8 circular orbits, the force of gravity can lead to a changing velocity but
9 unchanged speed. This is because the direction of the satellite changes. As
1 velocity is a vector (consisting of both size and direction) then the velocity
2 must also change.
3 We can calculate the distance travelled by the circumference of the orbit.
4 Example question: Copy the model answer out in the space below.
5 A geostationary satellite orbits the Earth once every 24 hours. If the radius
6 of orbit is 42,371 km, what is the speed of the satellite (in m/s)?
Speed = distance / time

Speed = (42,371,000 x 2 x pi) / (24 x 60 x 60)

Speed = 3081.3 m/s

3100 m/s

Basic

1. What is the name of the force that keeps a satellite in orbit around a planet? Gravity
2. What are the two types of satellite that orbit the Earth? Natural and Artificial
3. Name two uses of man-made satellites. Communications, mapping, monitoring weather
4. Some satellites are put into orbit close to Earth and some are further away. What impact does this have on:
a) orbit speed? The larger the orbital radius the lower the orbital speed.
b) orbit time? The larger the orbital radius the longer the time period.
Medium

5. What is a geostationary satellite? Stay above a fixed point on the Earth’s surface. How often does it orbit the
Earth? Once every 24 h.
6. Most satellites orbit the Earth in a squashed circle called an ellipse. Comets orbit the Sun in a very extreme
elliptical orbit. Look at the diagram below and answer the following questions.
 Orbit of comet

S
The Sun
F

a) Mark on the diagram the place on its orbit where the comet will be traveling fastest.
b) Why do you think it will be traveling fastest at this point? Closest to the Sun at this point,
gravitational attraction is strongest here.
c) Mark on the diagram the place on its orbit where the comet will be traveling slowest?
d) Why do you think it will be traveling slowest at this point? Farthest from the Sun at this point,
gravitational attraction is weakest here.
7. When in stable orbit, a satellite travels at a constant
speed but its velocity is constantly changing. Why is
this? The direction is constantly changing. Velocity is
both speed and direction.
8. Which of the satellites (L or M):
a) Is a geostationary satellite? L
b) Is used as a monitoring satellite? M
c) Takes 24 hours to complete its orbit? L
Hard

9. If a geostationary satellite orbits 36,000 km above the surface of the Earth and the radius of Earth is 6,371
km, what is the speed of a geostationary satellite?
Speed = distance / time
Speed = (42,371,000 x 2 x pi) / (24 x 60 x 60)
Speed = 3081.3 m/s
3100 m/s
10. Light from the Sun takes about 3 minutes to reach Mercury, about 8 minutes to reach the Earth, Jupiter
takes about 11 years to orbit the Sun, whereas Mercury takes about 3 months. Which of the three planets
travels a) the slowest? Jupiter as it is furthest away from the sun, so it experiences the weakest gravitational
pull of the three. b) the fastest? Mercury as it is closest to the sun, so it experiences the strongest
gravitational pull of the three. Explain your reasoning.
 Q1. The figure below shows what scientists over
1000 years ago thought the solar system was like.

(a) Give one way that the historical model of the

solar system shown in the figure above is
different from what we now know about the solar
system.

1 any one from:

2 • Earth is at the centre (not the Sun)

3 • there are fewer planets
4 accept there is no asteroid belt
5 shown
6 accept there are only 5 planets (and
7 not 8)
8 accept other planets have no moons shown
9 1

(b) Give one way that the solar system shown in the figure above is the same as what we
now know about the solar system. (1)

10 Shows the moon in orbit around the Earth

11 accept the planets have circular orbits

(c) The first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth was launched into space in 1957.

Describe the orbit of an artificial satellite. (1)

Circular

(d) What provides the force needed to keep a satellite in its orbit? (1)

Gravity

(e) All stars go through a lifecycle.

The star Mira will go through a supernova stage in its lifecycle but the Sun will not.

How is the star Mira different to the Sun? (1)

Mira is much more massive

Q2. Man-made satellites can orbit the Earth, as

shown in the figure below.

The satellite experiences a resultant force

directed towards the centre of the orbit.

The resultant force is called the centripetal force

(a) What provides the centripetal force on the

satellite?

Gravitational attraction (accept gravity)

 (1)

(b) State two factors that determine the size of the centripetal force on the satellite. (2)

1. any two from mass, speed and radius of orbit

2.

(c) The table below gives data for five different satellites orbiting the Earth.

Average height
Time taken to
above Earth’s Mass of satellite
Satellite orbit Earth once
surface in in kilograms
in minutes
kilometres

A 370 93 419 000

B 697 99 280

C 827 103 630

D 5 900 228 400

E 35 800 1440 2 030

(i) State the relationship, if any, between the height of the satellite above the Earth’s
surface and the time taken for the satellite to orbit the Earth once. (1)

increasing the height (above the Earth’s surface) increases the time

(ii) State the relationship, if any, between the time taken for the satellite to orbit the
Earth once and the satellite’s mass. (1)

there is no relationship / correlation

(d) Over 300 years ago, the famous scientist Isaac Newton proposed, with a ‘thought
experiment’, the idea of satellites.

Newton suggested that if an object was fired at the right speed from the top of a high
mountain, it would circle the Earth.

Why did many people accept Isaac Newton’s idea as being possible?

Tick (✓) one box. (1)

Isaac Newton was a respected scientist who had made new discoveries before.

Isaac Newton went to university.

It was a new idea that nobody else had thought of before.

Thousands of satellites are now in orbit around the Earth. A student used the internet to
collect information about some of them.
Basic: Using the data in the table, calculate the circumference of the orbits of all the
satellites:
1) The Moon 2,459,239 km (all from 2 x pi x r)
2) GEO 265,150 km
3) Navstar 167,133 km
4) Lageos 77,283 km
5) HST 43,982 km
6) ISS 42,097 km

km → m × 1000

Average
distance from
Medium: Using Name of satellite the centre of the
Speed in metres Time taken to
per second orbit the Earth
your answers to the Earth in
kilometres
basic questions,
calculate the The Moon 391 400 1017 28 days
speeds of the GEO 42 200 1 day
satellites.
Remember to Navstar 26 600 12 hours

convert the time Lageos 12 300 3.8 hours

into seconds! The
HST 7 000 97 mins
first one has been
done for you. ISS 6 700 92 mins

1) GEO 3,069 km/s (all from circumference in metres / time in seconds)

2) Navstar 3,869 m/s
3) Lageos 5,649 m/s
4) HST 7,557 m/s
5) ISS 7,626 km/s
6) What conclusion on the relationship between the average distance and speed can
the student come to on the basis of the data in the table?
As the average distance between the satellite and the Earth decreases the speed of
the satellite increases.
 7) Explain this relationship in terms of the force of gravity.
As you get closer to the Earth the gravitational attraction increases. This means a
greater speed is required to maintain the orbit.
Hard: This question will really make you think! You will need to rearrange this equation for
speed. Be careful to convert units!

The Earth is orbiting around the Sun at an incredible speed of 107,000 km/h! Given
that the Earth takes 365.25 days to orbit around the Sun, calculate the distance from
the Earth to the Sun!

Speed = 107,000,000 m/h = 107,000,000 / 3600 = 29,722 m/s

Speed = distance / time

Distance = speed x time = 29,722 x (365.25 x 24 x 3600) = 937,962,000,000 m

Distance = 937,962,000 km

(Nb = You can check this by dividing by 2pi to get the distance to the Sun! (1 A.U)

Evidence for the Big Bang

1 The Big Bang theory suggests that the

2 universe began from a very small region
3 that was very hot and dense. It then
4 exploded outwards to form the Universe.
5 There are two pieces of evidence for this:
6 1) Red shifted light from far away
7 galaxies.
8 2) Cosmic microwave background radiation
9 When a police car drives past you, its siren sounds
10 higher pitched as it approaches, and lower pitched as
11 it moves away. This is the Doppler effect.

12 The same thing happens to the light emitted

13 by very fast moving objects, such as distant
14 stars, and can be seen in their spectra. This is
1 red shift. The wavelength of light from the most far away galaxies is
2 increased (but the frequency is decreased). This is the main evidence for
3 the Big Bang as it shows the Universe is expanding.

4 If a galaxy is moving towards ours, then the light from that galaxy is blue-
5 shifted. This means that the wavelength is reduced, but the frequency is
6 increased.

Task: Complete in your exercise book.

Basic
1. What happens to the light a galaxy gives off if the galaxy is moving away from us?
It red-shifts.
2. What was the Big Bang?
A very small region that was very hot and dense. It then exploded.
3. What is happening to the size of the Universe? Increasing.
4. What evidence do we have for the big bang? Red shifting of most galaxies and CMBR.
5. Galaxy X has a larger red-shift than
Galaxy Y. Which galaxy, X or Y is….
a) Nearer to us. Y
b) Moving away faster. X
6. What happens to the light a galaxy gives
off if the galaxy is moving towards us?
Blue-shifts
Medium
By measuring the red-shift. Hubble was able to
calculate the speed at which the galaxies are
moving away from the Earth. He was also able
to calculate the distance of these galaxies from
the Earth. The graph shows some of the data
calculated by Hubble.
1. What relationship between the speed of a
galaxy and the distance is suggested by
Hubble’s results?
They are directly proportional.
2. The data from the two galaxies, M and N has been included in the graph. The light from galaxy M has a
smaller red-shift than the light from galaxy N. What does the difference in red-shift tell scientists about
the two galaxies, M and N? The difference in velocity and distance of each of them relative to Earth.
3. The gradient of the line drawn on the graph gives a number known as the Hubble constant. The Hubble
constant can be used to estimate when the universe began. Use the graph to calculate the value of the
Hubble constant (in units of km/s per megaparsec).
Grad = change in y / change in x = 2000 / 3.85
= 519 km/s per megaparsec
Nb – the hubble constant is now believed to lie around 67 km/s per megaparsec. We have collected
much more data to refine this value since Hubble did in 1929! 😊

Hard
Astronomers use red shift in two ways.
They calculate the distance to each galaxy
from Earth. They also calculate the speed
at which galaxies are moving away from
Earth. The table shows some results.
Distance is given in zettametres (Zm). One
zettametre is 1021 metres.
1. Complete the data for time in the
table.
12.7, 12.8, 12.9 and 13.0
2. Explain how the data for time
provides evidence for the theory
that the origin of the Universe was a huge explosion (“Big Bang”).
Each galaxy has been moving away from the Earth for approximately the same amount of time.
This suggests that at a common point in the past all the galaxies existed at the same point in space.
This hot, dense event was the big bang.

Q1. Light is given out by the Sun and a distant galaxy.

(a) Compared to the light from the Sun, the light from the distant galaxy has moved towards
the red end of the spectrum.

(i) What name is given to this effect? (1)

Red shift

(ii) Complete the following sentence by drawing a ring around the line in the box that is
correct. (1)

The fact that light from a distant galaxy seems to move towards
the red end of the spectrum gives scientists evidence that

(b) Scientists have a theory that the universe began from a

very small point and then exploded outwards.

(i) What name is given to this theory? (1)

Big Bang Theory

 (ii) Which statement gives a reason why scientists think that the universe began with
an explosion?

Put a tick ( ) in the box next to your choice. (1)

At the moment it is the best way of explaining our

scientific knowledge.

It can be proved using equations.

People felt the explosion.

Q2. Scientists can use the visible light spectrum from distant stars to determine whether the
stars are moving.

The visible light spectrum from stars includes dark lines at specific wavelengths.

(a) The diagram shows the visible light spectrum from the Sun and from four other stars, A,
B, C and D.

(i) Which star, A, B, C or D, is moving away from the Earth? C

(1)

(ii) How does the speed of star B compare with the speed of star D?

Tick ( ) one box.

Tick ( )

The speed of star B is greater than the speed of star D.

The speed of star B is less than the speed of star D.

The speed of star B is the same as the speed of star D.

(1)