What a star's light shows: spectra and color

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. 1.

   Smooth rainbow; bright lines on black; dark lines on a rainbow. A hot, thin gas glowing in a tube gives which kind of spectrum, by Bo's reading?

   • One color, with no lines
   • A smooth rainbow
   • Dark lines crossing a rainbow
   • Bright lines on a dark background
2. 2.

   Starlight passes through the star's cooler outer gas. Which kind of spectrum reaches Kira's telescope?

   • A rainbow crossed by dark lines
   • Bright lines on black
   • Pure black
   • A smooth rainbow, since the gas is see-through

3. Read this first

   Table, Lab lines (NIST, air wavelengths), with columns Element, Lines (nm)

   Hydrogen, 656.3, 486.1, 434.0, 410.2; helium, 587.6; sodium, 589.0, 589.6; calcium, 393.4, 396.8.

4. 3.

   A star's dark lines sit at 656.3, 486.1, 434.0 and 410.2 nm. Which element matches, by Jun's reading?

   • Hydrogen
   • Sodium
   • Calcium
   • Helium
5. 4.

   A star shows two dark lines close together at 589.0 and 589.6 nm. Which element matches, by Luz's reading?

   • Hydrogen
   • Sodium
   • Helium, which has a line at 587.6 nm
   • Calcium
6. 5.

   A star shows dark lines at 393.4 and 396.8 nm. Which element matches, by Milo's reading?

   • Hydrogen, since 410.2 is close
   • Calcium
   • Helium
   • Sodium
7. 6.

   Four star dots colored red, yellow, white and blue. Which star has the hottest surface, by Noah's reading?

   • The yellow star, like the Sun
   • The red star
   • The white star, since white is brightest
   • The blue star
8. 7.

   One peaking at a shorter wavelength, one at a longer wavelength. As a star gets hotter, what happens to the wavelength where its light peaks, by Pia's reading?

   • It gets longer, shifting toward the red end
   • It gets shorter, toward blue
   • It stays the same
   • The peak disappears
9. 8.

   Two light curves: A peaking at 400 nm, B at 900 nm. Star A's light peaks at 400 nm (violet-blue); star B's peaks at 900 nm (infrared). Which is hotter, by Ren's reading?

   • Star B, peaking at 900 nm
   • Star A, peaking at 400 nm
   • They are equally hot
   • Star B, since redder light is hotter
10. 9.

    Why does each element have its own pattern of lines, by Zee's reading (NASA)?

    • Lines show just the star's color
    • Lines mark the colors an element lacks
    • Each element's atoms absorb and emit their own wavelengths
    • Lines show the star's size
11. 10.

    Bright lines on black, dark lines on a rainbow. An element's dark lines and its bright lines appear where, compared with each other, by Esme's reading?

    • At the same wavelengths
    • Dark lines sit where the element is missing
    • At random wavelengths
    • At opposite ends of the spectrum