Below is a picture of a nearby star-forming molecular cloud in our galaxy. Two southern hemisphere telescopes were used to take the pictures of protostars in this molecular cloud shown below. The next five questions test your understanding of the life of a star. Attributions Images ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO), J. Tobin; NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello; Herschel/ESA. Protostarts in Orion Molecular Clouds . (CC BY 3.0). Via NRAO.

 According to Dr. Kowallis, how are the destructions described in 3 Nephi best explained?

What would be the best method to determine the distance to a nearby star? (A star 10 light years away is an example of a nearby star.)

Carbon-14 (14C) is not stable and it spontaneously decays into nitrogen-14 (14N) and an electron by a radioactive beta-decay. Which of these is true about the decay?

This family (molecules 1, 2, 3, etc) of materials is likely to have what set of properties?

When baking soda is mixed with vinegar it bubbles vigorously and the material gets cold to the touch. What happens to the total entropy of the universe as the products are formed?

The gasoline engine of an automobile is considerably less than 100% efficient. This means that not all of the energy in the gasoline is turned into kinetic energy of the car. Which of these statements best explains why?

Semiconductors can behave like metals when you heat them up. Which of the following best explains how and why that happens?

A divergent plate margin bisects the Red Sea. What will happen to the Red sea as a result of the presence of this diverging plate boundary?   

The elements on the left side of the periodic table above are shaded a greenish tint. Suppose you were to combine the atoms of two of these greenish tinted elements from the fourth row of the periodic table. What characteristics will the product have at room temperature?