PHYS 1404 Week 5 Lab Report

PHYS 1404 Week 5 Lab Report | Assignment Help | Central Texas College

Lesson 5 Lab: Atmospheric Retention

The Lesson 5 Lab: Atmospheric Retention goal is to gain an understanding of the concept of atmospheric retention – the influence of gravity and temperature on atmospheric retention. As we are learning in Lesson 5, the ability for a planet to hold onto an atmosphere of a specific composition is based on its escape velocity and the gas present. Recall that one of the properties of the Gas Giant planets and their Moons we are discussing this lesson it the differentiation between them and the Terrestrial planets. We are learning that the initial cores of the terrestrial planets never became massive enough to have an escape velocity large enough to hold onto light elements such as hydrogen and helium. Only those planets whose initial ice cores surpassed this critical mass were able to hold onto such light elements. In this lab, we explore this relationship and examine the Gas Giants, and their Moons, from the vantage point of the origin of their massive gaseous atmospheres. The Lesson 5 Atmospheric Retention Lab explores some of the elements that go into the retention or loss of an atmosphere by a planet. The Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution and escape velocity are introduced. This lab requires drawings. You may accomplish this by using simple document editor drawing capabilities or drawing by hand and scanning the document, or take its picture, for submission to the dropbox.

Getting started with Lesson 5 Lab: Atmospheric Retention:

·         First, select the following link and work through the Main Content sections of Escape Velocity, Projectile Simulation, and Speed Distribution at:

o    Atmospheric Retention Lab

                        Next, open the following link and familiarize yourself with the capabilities of the gas retention simulator through experimentation:

o    Gas Retention Simulator

                        You will also utilize simulators to explore the properties of the Gas Giants:

o    Gas Retention Plot

o    Projectile Simulator

o    Maxwell Speed Distribution Simulator

                        After familiarizing yourself with the simulation interactive, follow instructions and answer questions in the Lesson 5 Lab - Atmospheric Retention Worksheet.  Worksheet Documents Formats:

o    Word: Lesson 5 Lab - Atmospheric Retention Worksheet DOC Lesson 5 Lab - Atmospheric Retention Worksheet DOC.docx   

o    PDF: Lesson 5 Lab - Atmospheric Retention Worksheet PDF Lesson 5 Lab - Atmospheric Retention Worksheet.pdf 

Note: The Lab Simulators require Flash Player which is integrated into Windows 10 and work best with Internet Explorer (IE). To avoid technical issues IE is recommended for running the simulations. If you try another browser you will need to set up flash player options for that browser yourself. For example, if you are using Chrome, go to the upper left of the URL browser entry, select "Not Secure" then select "Allow" to give Chrome permission to open the simulator.

Submit your Lab Worksheet

·         Submit the completed Assignment Sheet for Lab 5 by selecting the Lesson 5 Lab: Atmospheric Retention link above and select Browse My Computer to attach your saved file. Make sure to select SUBMIT. Note: Save your file as a .rtf file or .doc to ensure that it can be opened at any computer.

Labs do not have a time limit but are due on the due date of the lesson posted in the Syllabus Page 2.

Simulations courtesy of Astronomy Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln website.