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Online reading assignment: Kirchhoff's laws (NC campus)

Astronomy 210, spring semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.

The following questions were asked on reading textbook chapters and previewing presentations on Kirchhoff's laws.


Selected/edited responses are given below.

Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.
"The different types of spectra! They are different but eye catching and cute. My favorite is probably the continuous rainbow one."

"I enjoyed learning about the different spectra. I didn't know there different ones."

"The Doppler effect--I've always found the science behind different wavelengths to slightly fascinating whether it's about light or sound."

"For the Doppler effect it makes sense that the waves are higher frequency when they are more closely spaced."

"The Doppler effect and its ability to show if something is moving toward or away from you."

"The reasoning behind the noises of a car horn going by. This was interesting because I had not considered it before in terms of sound waves."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"The differentiation of spectrum types was confusing to me because I can't seem to grasp how it works in various scenarios."

"The difference between emission and absorption spectra."

"Keeping the different kinds of spectra straight is hard and confusing."

"I'm unclear on knowing which light spectrum goes to what when comparing a picture."

"I do not understand the different types of spectra and how they form."

"How one would use the Doppler effect to measure speeds of blobs of gas on the sun?"

I believe Pluto should be a planet. (Original responses.)
Strongly disagree.   ** [2]
Disagree.   *********** [11]
Neutral.   ********** [10]
Agree.   ******** [8]
Strongly Agree.   ** [2]

I believe Pluto should be a planet. (This is a follow-up question.)
Strongly disagree.  ** [2]
Disagree.  ******** [8]
Neutral.  ************ [12]
Agree.  ** [2]
Strongly Agree.  *** [3]

Briefly explain your answer to the previous question (whether Pluto should be a planet).
"It’s considered a dwarf planet lol. But it does still orbit around the sun which is what we use to describe a planet in our solar system. It just takes it over 200 years to make 1 full orbit."

"I'm starting to think that Pluto should be considered a planet because it passes the qualifications to be considered a planet."

"Pluto still is an OG and got done dirty."

"My answer hasn't changed, the qualifications for a planet aren't met by Pluto. If Pluto is to be regarded as a planet, we'd have to consider multiple other dwarf planets as plain planets."

"I don't have a good reason why Pluto should or shouldn't be a planet."

"As years go by we find new ways to categorize items in space. One day Pluto didn't fit the criteria to be considered a planet anymore. If when don't get specific with our organization, then we'll most likely end up with over 1,000 planets again."

"Pluto should be because it has its own uninterupted orbit around the sun."

"I honestly don't even care anymore if Pluto is a planet."

"My opinion previously was that it should be a planet but I haven't read enough to change my opinion."

"We now know that Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt. We also know that it’s rather small when compared to some moons. However, the issue of it being a planet or not just comes down to the current definition of the classification and I'm not vested in that being right or wrong."

"I guess I better understand why its not a planet and I can see why they switched its classifications but its hard not to think of it as a planet. Probably just because what I was taught growing up."

"Pluto isn't a planet because it doesn't meet all the criteria for being a planet. It falls short at being able to control its orbit."

"The current equation for what defines a planet clearly states that Pluto is a dwarf planet."

"If you follow the most recent diagram for detecting what is a planet Pluto clearly doesn't fit."

"Pluto is not considered a planet because it doesn't meet planet requirements (doesn't dominate orbit)."

"By definition it should not be a planet but it still hurts."

"It does it’s thing in the system just like everyone else."

"Pluto doesn’t have what is necessary to be considered a planet, because it does not dominate its gravitational orbit."

"I chose neutral because Pluto is part of our solar system and we learned in class that this planet is discovered."

"Based on the International Astronomical Union classification Pluto is not a planet because it doesn't dominate its orbit."

"I mean they should just pick one instead of going back and forth, I don't really have an opinion on it."

"Pluto is round and orbits the sun, but is not large enough to dominate its orbit which makes me come to the conclusion that it is not a planet."

"My reasoning has not change, while I believe it's kind of silly to revoke the status of 'planet,' I understand that their ARE reasons for this status change. Plus, this information doesn't effect or impact my every-day life, so I don't feel the need to 'protest the right to be called a planet' for Pluto, which is millions and millions of miles away from ME."

"I like the planet classification where Pluto is required to dominate its local gravitational neighborhood. It keeps our planet count to a reasonable number."

Match the spectrum type with their appearance.
(Only correct responses shown.)
Rainbow containing all colors: continuous [96%]
Rainbow with thin black lines: absorption [81%]
Colored lines on a black background: emission [78%]
Given off by hot, dense object: continuous [70%]
Given off by hot, diffuse gas atoms: emission [74%]
Passing through cool, diffuse gas atoms: [59%]

Hot, molten metal produces a(n) __________ spectrum, which appears as a:
continuous; rainbow.  ******* [7]
emission; series of bright lines on a dark background.  ********** [10]
absorption; series of dark lines on a rainbow background.  [6]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  **** [4]

The sun produces a(n) __________ spectrum, which appears as a:
continuous; rainbow.  ****** [6]
emission; series of bright lines on a dark background.  ********* [9]
absorption; series of dark lines on a rainbow background.  ********** [10]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  ** [2]

The lights atop the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, CA, produces a(n) __________ spectrum, which appears as a:
continuous; rainbow.  ******** [8]
emission; series of bright lines on a dark background.  *************** [15]
absorption; series of dark lines on a rainbow background.  * [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  *** [3]

Your instructor produces a(n) __________ spectrum, which appears as a:
continuous; rainbow.  **** [4]
emission; series of bright lines on a dark background.  ********** [10]
absorption; series of dark lines on a rainbow background.  ******** [8]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  ***** [5]

The balrog from The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring produces a(n) __________ spectrum, which appears as a:
continuous; rainbow.  **** [4]
emission; series of bright lines on a dark background.  ************* [13]
absorption; series of dark lines on a rainbow background.  ***** [5]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  ***** [5]

Suppose you are standing on the sidewalk as a car, with its horn continuously on, passes by (video link). The loudness of the car horn:
starts loud, then gets quieter.  [0]
starts quiet, then gets louder.  *** [3]
starts quiet, gets louder, then goes back down to quiet.  *********************** [23]
starts loud, gets quieter, then goes back up to loud.   * [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  [0]

Suppose you are standing on the sidewalk as a car, with its horn continuously on, passes by (video link, same as above). The pitch (high note/low note) of the car horn:
starts high, then drops lower.  ******** [8]
starts low, then goes higher.  * [1]
starts low, goes higher, then drops back down to low.  ************ [12]
starts high, goes lower, then goes back up to high.   ****** [6]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)  [0]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Please expand as much as possible on the different light spectra!"

"Is there a frequency of sound that would not produce this Doppler effect because the pitch was too deep or high?" (Not really, but it may have a frequency that is too low or too high for humans to hear.)

"Have you ever thought about if ocean were in the sky and how you would be able to walk down into the ocean floor without the water there?"

"P-dog, is that you in thermal camera photo above?" (Why, yes. Note my cool goatee.)

"Will we get our midterms back?" (You'll get them back in class, and we'll talk about your cumulative point totals.)

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