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Listen&Learn: How Elements Are Made

6th September 2023 by Jaksyn Peacock
atom visualisation

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • element: one of the basic substances found on the periodic table
  • abundant: existing in large amounts
  • core: the centre of a planet or star
  • fuse: to create something new by joining multiple things together
  • collapse: to violently fall inward
  • dense: containing a lot of material in a very small area
  • remnant: a leftover piece of something that has been destroyed

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

The simplest chemical elements in the , hydrogen and helium, originally formed during the Big Bang. These are the most abundant elements out there. The cores of stars can make more helium through a process called nuclear fusion, where enough energy forces the centres of atoms together to make more atoms. Other light elements, like oxygen and carbon, also originate from this process. Iron is the heaviest element that a star can fuse. This usually happens near the very end of the star’s life. There are two ways that elements are made. The first is when stars, especially massive stars, collapse and die. The second is in a collision between two extremely dense star remnants, called neutron stars. These events create enough to fuse elements like lead and .

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. The most abundant elements in the universe are
    a. hydrogen and helium
    b. hydrogen and carbon
    c. helium and oxygen
  2. During its life, a star can’t use nuclear fusion to create
    a. helium
    b. iron
    c. gold
  3. Heavy elements can be made in a collision between two
    a. planets
    b. comets
    c. neutron stars

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Scientists are beginning to experiment with nuclear fusion as a possible power source. Current nuclear power plants use a process called nuclear fission, which does not produce as much energy. What do you think about nuclear power? Do you think it will help or harm the environment? Why?

Transcript

The simplest chemical elements in the universe, hydrogen and helium, originally formed during the Big Bang. These are the most abundant elements out there. The cores of stars can make more helium through a process called nuclear fusion, where enough energy forces the centres of atoms together to make more complex atoms. Other light elements, like oxygen and carbon, also originate from this process. Iron is the heaviest element that a star can fuse. This usually happens near the very end of the star’s life. There are two ways that heavier elements are made. The first is when stars, especially massive stars, collapse and die. The second is in a collision between two extremely dense star remnants, called neutron stars. These events create enough energy to fuse elements like lead and gold.

Answers to comprehension questions

1a 2c 3c

Listen&Learn: Quasars

4th January 2023 by Jaksyn Peacock

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • celestial: relating to space
  • emit: to give off energy
  • abbreviation: a shortened word
  • radio: a form of invisible waves of energy
  • nucleus: the centre of something
  • light year: the distance that light can travel in a year, about 9.46 trillion km

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

A quasar is a celestial object that emits enough radiation to glow brighter than a . The energy that a quasar emits comes from a supermassive black hole at its . When scientists first observed quasars in 1961, they thought they were , or star-like objects. The name “quasar” is an abbreviation for “quasi-stellar radio source”, because the first observed quasars looked like stars that emitted lots of radio waves. Scientists now know that quasars are the nuclei of galaxies. Even though quasars are very bright, most of them are billions of light years away, which means that observing them can provide information about the state of the universe in the distant . The oldest discovered quasar formed nearly 13 billion years ago, at the very beginning of the universe’s life.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. A quasar is
    a. a massive and luminous galaxy
    b. a star that emits an unusual amount of radio waves
    c. a bright galactic nucleus powered by a black hole
  2. Scientists first discovered quasars in
    a. 1913
    b. 1931
    c. 1961
  3. Most quasars are
    a. billions of light years away
    b. close to the Milky Way Galaxy
    c. almost as old as the universe

Discussion/essay questions

  1. What do you think the purpose of studying space is? Why do humans want to understand the universe?

Transcript

A quasar is a celestial object that emits enough radiation to glow brighter than a galaxy. The energy that a quasar emits comes from a supermassive black hole at its centre. When scientists first observed quasars in 1961, they thought they were stars, or star-like objects. The name “quasar” is an abbreviation for “quasi-stellar radio source”, because the first observed quasars looked like stars that emitted lots of radio waves. Scientists now know that quasars are the nuclei of young galaxies. Even though quasars are very bright, most of them are billions of light years away, which means that observing them can provide information about the state of the universe in the distant past. The oldest discovered quasar formed nearly 13 billion years ago, at the very beginning of the universe’s life.

Answers to comprehension questions

1c 2c 3a

Listen&Learn: The Speed of Light

13th July 2022 by Jaksyn Peacock

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • theory: a scientific explanation for something
  • vacuum: a completely empty space
  • constant: never changing or stopping
  • exoplanet: a planet outside of our solar system
  • visible: able to be seen

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Einstein’s theory of special relativity states that it is for anything to travel faster than light. In a vacuum, light travels at a constant speed of 299,792,458 metres per second. Scientists use the speed of light to distances between stars in space. A light-year is a that represents the distance that light can travel in a year. Even the closest stars and exoplanets are removed from our system by several light-years. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is about 4.25 light-years away. Some visible stars are thousands of light-years away. This means that the night sky is an image of the . In fact, it is possible that some of the stars we can see no longer exist.

Comprehension questions

See answers below

  1. Einstein’s theory of special relativity states that
    a. it is impossible for something to travel faster than light
    b. light travels at an accelerating speed
    c. the light from stars reaches Earth almost instantly
  2. A light-year is a measure of
    a. time
    b. distance
    c. energy
  3. The closest star to the Sun is about
    a. 4.25 light-years away
    b. 299 light-years away
    c. 1000 light-years away

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Einstein’s theory of special relativity also states that speed can change the way we experience time. Do you think time travel will ever be possible? Why or why not?

Transcript

Einstein’s theory of special relativity states that it is impossible for anything to travel faster than light. In a vacuum, light travels at a constant speed of 299,792,458 metres per second. Scientists use the speed of light to measure distances between stars in space. A light-year is a unit that represents the distance that light can travel in a year. Even the closest stars and exoplanets are removed from our solar system by several light-years. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun, is about 4.25 light-years away. Some visible stars are thousands of light-years away. This means that the night sky is an image of the past. In fact, it is possible that some of the stars we can see no longer exist.

Answers to comprehension questions

1a 2b 3a

Listen&Learn: Brown Dwarfs

4th May 2022 by Jaksyn Peacock

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • dwarf: a type of star that is small and faint
  • celestial: relating to space
  • classify: to sort something into a category
  • compress: to make something smaller and more dense
  • core: the centre of a planet or star
  • fuse: to combine things together
  • deuterium: a variation of hydrogen

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

A brown dwarf is a type of celestial object that can’t be classified as a or a star. Although brown dwarfs look more like planets, they form the same way stars do. A star is created when a of gas and dust begins to compress. The intense force of causes the star’s core to fuse atoms together, producing helium. Fusion is what causes a star to shine. Early in its life, a star fuses atoms of deuterium. It begins to use regular hydrogen as its core gets hotter. However, brown dwarfs never reach this stage. They stay at low and fuse deuterium until they run out. Brown dwarfs produce very little , which makes them hard to find. Scientists first theorized about brown dwarfs in 1963, but didn’t observe any until 1995. 

Comprehension questions

  1. Brown dwarfs look like
    a. planets
    b. stars
    c. asteroids
  2. Brown dwarfs are different from stars because
    a. they use deuterium for fusion
    b. they don’t have cores
    c. they reach extremely high temperatures
  3. It is difficult to find brown dwarfs because
    a. they don’t orbit anything
    b. they are smaller than most planets
    c. they emit very little light

See answers below

Discussion/essay questions

  1. Scientists are always learning more about space. What do you think will be discovered in the future?

Transcript

A brown dwarf is a type of celestial object that can’t be classified as a planet or a star. Although brown dwarfs look more like planets, they form the same way stars do. A star is created when a cloud of gas and dust begins to compress. The intense force of gravity causes the star’s core to fuse atoms together, producing helium. Fusion is what causes a star to shine. Early in its life, a star fuses atoms of deuterium. It begins to use regular hydrogen as its core gets hotter. However, brown dwarfs never reach this stage. They stay at low temperatures and fuse deuterium until they run out. Brown dwarfs produce very little light, which makes them hard to find. Scientists first theorized about brown dwarfs in 1963, but didn’t observe any until 1995. 

Answers to comprehension questions

1a 2a 3c

Listen&Learn: Nuclear Fusion

15th December 2021 by Jaksyn Peacock
nuclear fusion

Pre-listening vocabulary

  • reaction: a process where a substance undergoes a change
  • nucleus: the central part of an atom
  • electron: a small charged particle that moves around the outside of an atom
  • convert: to change something into something else
  • fuse: to join together
  • hydrogen: the lightest chemical element
  • replicate: to recreate something

Listening activity

Gapfill exercise

Nuclear fusion is a type of reaction that turns one chemical element into another. The Sun and other use nuclear fusion as a form of power. In high enough , the nucleus of an atom can be separated from its electrons. The heat causes the nucleus to move very quickly. When two nuclei come close enough to each other, they fuse, forming a larger nucleus. This method allows stars to convert hydrogen atoms into helium atoms, and even more atoms after that. Nuclear fusion is a difficult to replicate on Earth, because it requires a lot of heat and pressure. However, many research groups around the world hope to find a way to use it as an source.

Comprehension questions

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Discussion/essay questions

  1. Scientists are interested in nuclear fusion because it would be a clean and powerful energy source. Unlike the type of nuclear power we use today, nuclear fusion would not create dangerous waste. Can you think of any potential disadvantages to this type of energy?

Transcript

Nuclear fusion is a type of reaction that turns one chemical element into another. The Sun and other stars use nuclear fusion as a form of power. In high enough temperatures, the nucleus of an atom can be separated from its electrons. The heat causes the nucleus to move very quickly. When two nuclei come close enough to each other, they fuse, forming a larger nucleus. This method allows stars to convert hydrogen atoms into helium atoms, and even more complex atoms after that. Nuclear fusion is a difficult process to replicate on Earth, because it requires a lot of heat and pressure. However, many research groups around the world hope to find a way to use it as an energy source.