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IntroductionTopic 3: Going Small

Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math

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ASTR/PHYS 109Dr. David TobackLectures 5 & 6



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Prep For Today (is now due) – L6

• Reading:– (BBBHNM Chapters 1-4)

• Pre-Lecture Reading Questions:– (Unit 1 Quiz parts A & B)

• End-of-Chapter Quizzes:– (EOC 2)

• Honors Section:– “Stage 0 Reading Selection Check”: Was due before class if you don’t already have Stage 0 approved



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Inside the ProtonThree quarks inside the proton–Protons are composite

–Quarks are fundamental

10-15 meters



Other Fundamental Particles?• Electrons and quarks (as far as we know) are fundamental

• Lots of other fundamental particles

• Recently discovered the Higgs Boson

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Anti-Matter Each fundamental particle has an anti-matter

version which is also fundamental

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Protons are stable live foreverNeutrons outside a nucleus are unstable

can decayNeutron Proton + Electron + Neutrino

Stable and Unstable Particles

Neutron

ProtonDecay Electron

NeutrinoNote that this only happens when Neutrons

are by themselves (not in an atom)



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Questions…

• How large are electrons and quarks?–We don’t know… that’s what I (and others) do for a living…

• Are we SURE they are fundamental? Could they made of something smaller? Strings?

• Are there other fundamental particles we haven’t discovered?



Lecture on Chapter 3 now complete

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IntroductionTopic 4: Scientific Methods


Next Topic: Scientific MethodsUnit 1:1. Introduction Done2. Going Big Done3. Going Small Done4. Evidence and the Scientific

Method TodayToday we move on to the Questions

and How we go about answering them

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Plan for the Next Few Weeks1. More on the Questions

and How we go about answering them

2. Some of the history to teach us about the method

3. Need to learn some physics

Today

} Unit 2 (Chapters 5-9)



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Next few Weeks Continued… The tools in our toolbox… Learning some PhysicsTo learn Cosmology will need to learn a bit about:1. Light and Doppler Shifts 2. Gravity, General Relativity and Dark

Matter3. Atomic Physics and Quantum

Mechanics4. Nuclear Physics and Chemistry5. Temperature and Thermal Equilibrium

Won’t spend too long on these, just enough to get back to the big picture…



Prep For Next Time – L6• Reading:

– BBBHNM Unit 2 (Chapters 5-9):– Recommended Reading:

• See P3 of http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/Syllabus.pdf• eCampus Stuff

– Warm-up Quiz Part 4 (Peerceptiv): Will assign next time• Pre-Lecture Reading Questions:

– Unit 2 Text Submission: Due before next class• Submit in eCampus quiz• Submit ONLY 4 questions, need all 4 to be excellent to pass• Pass/Revise assignment. If you don’t pass we will set up dates for Revisions after you

get Feedback– Unit 2 Quiz: Will assign next time

• End-of-Chapter Quizzes:– If we finished Chapter 4 then End-of-Chapter Quiz 4 (else just Chapters 1-3)

• Honors Section:– “Stage 0 Reading Selection Check”: Was due before class if you don’t already have Stage

0 approved– In a heavy reading stage

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