ASTRON 1101 Lecture 24: Astronomy 10.24.16
24 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
At relatively low density, the behavior of particles in a gas can be described by newton"s laws of motion. Particles exert force on each other as they collide. The force per unit area exerted by particles is the pressure, p = nkt: n = more particles = higher pressure, t = faster speeds = higher pressure. At very high density, the behavior of particles in a gas is described by quantum mechanics. Just as a wave of light also has properties of a particle, an electron also has properties of a wave. When electron waves overlap in a dense region, the electrons are degenerate: degenerate having lost the properties of one"s ancestors. One of the rules of quantum mechanics is the heisenberg uncertainty principle. 4 speed ( v: x = uncertainty in particle location, v = uncertainty in particle speed, m = particle mass, h = planck"s constant. As electrons are squeezed together, x decreases.
