Date | May 2012 | Marks available | 2 | Reference code | 12M.3.HL.TZ1.4 |
Level | Higher level | Paper | Paper 3 | Time zone | Time zone 1 |
Command term | State | Question number | 4 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
This question is about Hubble’s law.
State
(i) Hubble’s law.
(ii) the significance of the reciprocal of the Hubble constant.
The wavelength of a certain line in the hydrogen spectrum is measured to be 434 nm in the laboratory. The same line in the hydrogen spectrum of the galaxy 3C-273 is measured on Earth to be 504 nm.
Determine the distance of 3C-273 from Earth using a Hubble constant of 72 kms–1 Mpc–1.
Markscheme
(i) galaxies move away from each other/from Earth with a speed that is proportional to their separation/distance from Earth;
Accept answer in terms of equation with symbols defined.
(ii) it gives age of the universe/time since the Big Bang;
\(\frac{v}{c} = \left( {\frac{{\Delta \lambda }}{{{\lambda _0}}} = \frac{{504 - 434}}{{434}} = } \right)0.161\);
\(d = \left( {\frac{v}{H} = \frac{{0.161 \times 3 \times {{10}^5}}}{{72}} = } \right)672{\rm{Mpc}} \approx 670{\rm{Mpc}}\);
Alward [1] for 578(Mpc) if 504 used in the denominator.