READING: Chapters 1 and 2.
Topics you should know and understand for Quiz #1 (not necessarily a complete list)
1) DEFINITIONS: Hypothesis, theory, Astronomical Unit, light year, solar mass, extrasolar planet, the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, entropy, biosphere, atomic number, atomic mass, ion, ionization, isotope, the Big Bang, the electromagnetic spectrum, cosmic microwave background, pair production, anti-matter, positron, deuterium, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy, primordial nucleosynthesis; alpha particle.
2) MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS: Scientific notation (Powers of 10 notation; exponential notation); the Drake Equation; E = mc2; energy conservation.
3) OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: The Scientific Method; the Second Law of Thermodynamics; why life doesn't violate the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics; the two most common elements in the Universe; the four most common elements in Earth lifeforms; why atoms make molecular bonds; the approximate relative sizes of the Sun and the Earth; the structure of the Milky Way; the relationship between the energy, frequency, and wavelength of light; the seven main regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, in order by increasing wavelength and decreasing energy; the conditions in the early Universe; three pieces of evidence for the Big Bang; the main nuclear reactions that occurred in the early Universe; why the centers of stars are hot.