Physics: Principles and ProblemsChapter 18:
Refraction and LensesProblem of the Week (1.0K) | SOHO
and EQUI-NO (9.0K)
This Problem of the Week is on two separate phenomena, both
related to the sun. The first is about the Solar and Heliospheric
Observatory, SOHO, which is a two-ton spacecraft devoted to
looking at the sun 24 hours a day. SOHO has found something
very intriguing inside the sun sounds. We all know sound
cannot travel through space, but sound can certainly travel
through the plasma of the sun. Sound waves course through the
sun's interior, reflecting off the surface and back into the
interior. SOHO has detected more than 10 million separate notes,
each of which has a unique path through the sun. | (0.0K) | As
the sound waves move into the interior of the sun, they encounter
increasingly denser material. The sound waves actually move
faster as the density increase. Consequently, the sound waves
will continuously refract through the plasma. Draw a circle
representing the sun and show a possible path that a particular
sound wave might take through the sun. Include at least three
reflections off the surface. | Fact
and Belief (6.0K)
An interesting fact is that Stonehenge is angled such that on
the equinoxes and the solstices, the sun rising over the horizon
appears to be perfectly placed between gaps in the megaliths.
Another common belief, but untrue, is that on the equinox, day
and night are equal length.
Well, all is not as it would seem. For instance, on the vernal
equinox, March 20th, the daytime is ten minutes longer than
the nighttime. | (0.0K) | If
you think really hard and review what you've learned in Chapter
17, then you can probably figure out the reason for the longer
day on the vernal equinox. Here is a hint: If Earth's atmosphere
was the same as Mercury's atmosphere, then the equinox would
be the true day of equality between night and light. | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) | (0.0K) |
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