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| Critical thinking |
(1) Suppose you are standing a few feet away from a bonfire on a cold fall evening.Your face begins to feel hot. What is the mechanism that transfers heat from the fire to your face ? ( Hint :- Is the air between you and the fire hotter or cooler than your face ? )
(2) Suppose the proton proton cycle in the Sun were to slow down suddenly and generate energy at 95 % of its current rate. Would an observer on Earth see an immediate decrease in the Sun's brightness ? Would she immediately see a decrease in the number of neutrinos emitted by the Sun ?
(3) Most distances in the Galaxy are measured in light years instead of meters. Why do you think this is the case ?
(4) Which type of object would likely cause more damage if it struck near an urban area a small metallic object or a large stony/icy one ?
(5) Earth contains radioactive elements whose decay produces neutrinos. How might we use neutrinos to determine how these elements are elements are distributed in Earth's interior ?