In a recent “AstroNote,” I described a simple exercise on the mass-luminosity relation for main sequence stars as an example of exposing students in a general education science course of lower mathematical level to the use of quantitative skills such as collecting and analyzing data. Here I present another attempt at a meaningful experience for such students that again involves both the gathering and analysis of numerical data and comparison with accepted result, this time on the relationship of the mass and lifetimes of main sequence stars. This experiment can stand alone or be used as an extension of the previous mass-luminosity relationship experiment.
References
1.
M. C.
LoPresto
, “The mass-luminosity relation in an introductory astronomy lab
,” Phys. Teach.
54
, 397
–398
(Nov.
2016
).2.
50 Brightest Stars, AstroPixels.com, http://www.astropixels.com/stars/brightstars.html.
3.
D.
Fleisch
and J.
Kergenow
, A Student’s Guide to the Mathematics of Astronomy
(Cambridge University Press
, Cambridge, UK
, 2013
), pp. 147
–149
.© 2018 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2018
American Association of Physics Teachers
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