Cosmic Abundances Activity
This activity provides practice for reading and interpreting the log plot of solar system elemental abundances.
- Refer to the chart of the solar system abundances
From the plot, determine the abundances of the following elements:
- Hydrogen
- Helium
- Aluminum
- Gold
5. How much more hydrogen is there in the solar system than helium?
6. How much more hydrogen is there than aluminum?
7. How much more hydrogen is there than gold?
- Below is a table of the various processes in the universe that create elements. Also listed are the combined abundances (relative to hydrogen) of that particular groups of elements.
Process | Predominant elements | Combined Abundance |
Big Bang | H, He | 1.10 x 1012 |
Small Stars | C,N,O | 1.19 x 109 |
Large Stars | other elements with atomic numbers up through Fe | 2.56 x 108 |
Supernovae elements | with atomic numbers above Fe | 1.94 x 106 |
Cosmic Rays | Li, Be, B | 2.68 x 103 |
What are ways to illustrate or plot these data?
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