What properties of degenerate matter are important to the structure of stars? Why?

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Degenerate matter is when a gas is so dense that the electrons are not free to change their energy. Degenerate gas resists compression. To compress the gas requires pushing against the moving electrons, and changing their motions means changing their energy. That requires tremendous effort because you must boost them to the top of the energy ladder, which is why degenerate matter is harder to compress than the toughest hardened steel. The pressure of a degenerate gas does not depend on temperature. Pressure depends on the speed of the electrons, which can't be changed without tremendous effort. The temperature, however, depends on the motion of all the particles in the gas, both electrons and nuclei, so if you add heat to the gas, most of that energy goes into speeding up the motions of the nuclei, which move slowly and don't contribute much to the pressure. So changing the temperature of the gas has almost no effect on pressure.

Physics & Space Science

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Why is the primordial background radiation visible in all directions?

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Physics & Space Science

An object is placed to the left of a converging lens. Determine if the following statement is true or false. The image is always to the right of the lens

1.True 2.False

Physics & Space Science

A particle physicist observes cosmic rays creating a new particle high in the atmosphere, and the speed of this particle is measured at 99.7% the speed of light

It is unstable, and is observed to decay in an average 37.0 ?s. If this particle were at rest in the laboratory, what would be its average lifetime? A) 2.9 µs B) 18 µs C) 5.3 µs D) 12 µs E) 4.3 µs

Physics & Space Science

A 4.00 kg mass is connected to a spring with a spring constant of 9.00 N/m. The velocity is given by the expression v(t) = 8.00 cm/s sinWhat is the maximum acceleration of the simple harmonic motion?

A. 10.0
B. 16.2
C. 19.2
D. 20.2
E. 24.5

Physics & Space Science