ASTR105G:M01/M02Coursewebsite:http://astronomy.nmsu.edu/tpicard/home.html

TA:TrevorPicardEmail:tpicard@nmsu.eduOffice:220AstronomyBuilding

OfficeHours:Thursdays2:00pm - 4:00pmPhones:(231)215- 3738[Mobile]

(575)646- 8180[Office]

YOURLABBIBLE

Expectations● Labisextremely important!(25%ofyourgrade)

● 2parts:in-class(groupsof3to4people,worth65points)+Take-Home(INDIVIDUALLYCOMPLETED,worth35points)=100pointsperweek

● Sinceyouwillonlyturnin1labreportpergroup,it’sexpectedthateveryonewillcontributeequally.Gradeswilldependonequalparticipation.

● ReadthemanualBEFORE labeachweek.YoushouldalreadybeendoingthisbecauseofyourSundayCanvasquizzes!

● Everyperson shouldhaveacopyofthelabmanual,andeachgroupshouldturninonecopyoftheanswersheeteachweek(chosenatrandom!).

● Pleaseshowupontime,andleavewhenyourgroupisfinished.

Plagiarism:JustDon’t.

● CiteyoursourceAND writeinyourownwords(nocopy/paste).Mixingaroundwordstoavoidexactmatchingofasentenceisalsounacceptable.

● Don’tputyournameonworkthatisn’tyours,worksomebodyelsedidforyou,orworkyou’veturnedinpreviously,anddon’twritesomeoneelse’sname.

● Etc.,etc.Thisisnotanexhaustivelist…***reviewthesyllabus***.

● 1stoffense:zeroontheassignmentandnotificationofyourprofessor

● 2ndoffense:Deanwillbecontacteddirectly

http://studenthandbook.nmsu.edu/student-code-of-conduct/academic-misconduct/

ImportantPoints● Youmayjoinanotherlabsectionifyouknowyouwillbeabsent,butpleasetellme

beforehand soIcanclearitwiththeotherTA.

● Alwaysshowyourwork.Thisisessentialtogetpartialcredit.

● Writeunits whereapplicable.Don’tlosepointsfornoreason!

● Taketheat-homequestionsseriously,butdon’tgooverboard…allyouneedtodoisanswereachquestioninafewcompletesentences(seeexamplesonsyllabus).

● Haveaquestion?Don’tjustsitthereandbeconfused.Askme!

LabMaterials:BreakdownThedifferentlabcomponentsoftenoverwhelmandconfusestudentsinthebeginning,solet’sgooverwhatyouneednow,slowlyandstep-by-step.

1. Yourgroup’sANSWERSHEET,whichwillneedtoturninforallsubsequentlabs(butnotthisone).Youwillturninonlyone ofthesepergroupwitheveryperson’snamewrittenintheirownhandwriting atthetopofthepage.

2. YourownLABMANUAL,whichcanbefoundontheCanvashomepageforthiscourse.Everyoneshouldbringtheirowndigitalorhardcopy andfollowalong.

3. TheTake-HomeSection,whichyouwillturninbythefollowingSundaynight@11:59pm(.pdf,.doc,or.docx only).Thepromptscanbefoundattheendofthelabmanuals,andduedatesshouldbeonCanvas.

NextWeek:Breakdown● Youshouldcometothenextclass(ontime)havingthoroughlyreadtheonline

syllabusand thelabmanual(Seasons) youaredoingthatday.

● Youwillmeetwithyourgroupsthatwereassignedtoyou,whichyouwillalready

knowviaanemailI willsendyou(Irecommendreachingouttooneanotherassoon

aspossibletodeterminelogistics!).

● You’llturninyourfirst“Take-HomeExercise”bytheendofthislab.

● Eachgroupshould bring enoughdigitalorhardcopiesofthelabmanual for

everyonetofollowalongwiththelessonsandquestions.

● ***EverygroupmemberMUSTbringananswersheet.***

Lab#1:MathematicsIntro● UnitConversion● MathExpressions● ScientificNotation● TheMetricSystem● Algebra● Graphing

Units(NoUnits=Dimensionless)

● 1meter(m) =40inches(in)à **#3andbeyond**

● 100meter(m) =111yards(yd)

● 1mile(mi) =1.6kilometers(km)

● 1AstronomicalUnit(AU)=149,600,000kilometers(km)

● 1lightyear(ly) =9,460,000,000,000kilometers(km)

● 1parsec(pc) =3.26lightyears(ly)

● 1liter(L) =1.101quarts(qt)

● 1kilogram(kg) =2.2pounds(lbs)

UnitConversion:FractionsAreYourFriend

Howmanymileslongisa10K(10kilometerrace)?

Thisisavery importantconcepttounderstand.Youwilluseitinevery lab,soifyoudon’tunderstand,speaknoworforeverholdyourpeace!

Exponents

ScientificNotationIt’seasiertowritereallybigandreallysmallnumbersinpowersof10.

Theexponentisessentiallyacountof0’safterthe1!(****)

ScientificNotation:ExampleInsteadofwriting89,347,598,324,itwouldbemucheasiertowrite…

Simplymovethedecimalpoint10placesright!Whataboutverysmallnumbers(-)?

Caution:Usenumbersintheset[Q, QR)beforethemultiplicationsymbol!(commonmistake)

TheMetricSystem:Prefixes● Giga- (G_):billion( 10? )

● Mega- (M_):million( 10@ )

● Kilo- (k_):thousand( 10E )

● Centi- (c_):hundredth( 10GH )

● Milli- (m_):thousandth( 10GE )

● Micro- (µ_):millionth( 10G@ )

● Nano- (n_):billionth( 10G? )

Example:Whatisthebestwaytowrite13.7billionyears?

13.7billionyearsà SE. T×SV? years= S. ET×SVSV years = 13.7Gyr

Algebra&Plotting

● Whatisavariable?Howarevariablesused?

● Expressionsvs.Equations:what’sthedifference?

● Equationsarelikeanumericbalance,andit’syourjobtokeepthatbalance.

● Solvingequations: rememberorderofoperations(Parentheses,Exponents,MultiplicationandDivision,andAdditionandSubtraction)→PEMDAS

● Plottinglinearequations:L = NO + Q (slope-interceptform)

● Theslope(rise/run)oftheplotism,andthey-intercept isb.

● Example:L = 2O + 3

● Howwouldweplotthis?

y-intercept(, = .)Slope(3) = ⁄rise run = ⁄3 1.5 = ;

Rise = <2 − <1 = 3 − 0 = .

Run= A2 − A1 = 0 − −1.5 = B. C

< = 3A + ,< = ;A + .

Beforewegetstarted...● Handinyourmathpretest/plagiarismquizwithyournameontop ifyouhaven’t

already(thisishowI willchooseyourlabgroupsfornextweek+beyond).

● TurninonlyONElabreportpergroup beforeyouleavetoday.Youshouldallbe

fillingoutyourowncopies,butonlyturninginonecopyofthelabreportwithevery

groupmember’snamewrittenonthetop.

● Inlieuofatake-homeexercise,thisweekyouonlyhavetheshort“gettoknowyou”

assignmentwithquestionsaboutplagiarism(onthebackonthemathquiz).

● Futuretake-homeswillbeturnedinonCanvas(pdf,doc,ordocx).

● Clarification:NoCampusObservatoryisrequiredforASTR105!