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Nelson Thornes
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Finding the Masses: Earth, Sun and Black Holes
From Nelson Thornes, this resource helps students studying physics at post-16, A2 level. They help students to learn how the mass of cosmological objects are measured. Examples include the Earth, the Sun and finally the super-massive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way. Some of these measurements were made centuries ago in the time of Newton but the measurements on black holes and confirmation of their existence are still continuing. Students also apply the idea of escape velocity to a black hole. Where an object approaches the speed of light then the equations of relativity should really be used to obtain exact answers. In these questions, Newton’s equations are used but the answers are surprisingly accurate.
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