Description
Remember that the lab needs to start with a title page and an introduction. The introduction should discuss what you think the lab will be about, what you hope to learn, etc.
For each of the first several questions you will determine an estimate and justify your answer. Remember this is suggestive so it isn't wrong, you just need to explain why you are presuming that value. Also, you want to give a range about that number that you would still find reasonable.
For example: What percentage of students do you think skip breakfast? You would give a specific percentage (say 30 percent) and then you would give a range about that percentage (between 20 and 35 percent).
1) R* -- Average rate of star formation in our galaxy. This is a quantity that you can look for using your favorite search engine. Find a few values given in a few different locations and then assume one based on what you find. Units will be in stars per year.
2) f(p) -- The fraction of these stars that have planets. In other words, what percentage of stars do you think will end up with planets around them? Give your answer in the form of a decimal (do this for all percentage questions). This is a dimensionless quantity.
3) n(e) -- The average number of planets that one of these stars will have. Another way to phrase this is given a star that has planets, on average how many planets do you think it will have? The units are planets per star.
4) f(1) -- Fraction of planets that have actually developed life at some point. Another way to phrase this is what percentage of the habitable planets have actually developed life at some point? This is a dimensionless quantity.
5) f(i) -- Fraction of planets with life that actually develop into civilizations. Again remember that these are extremely suggestive. All you need to do is give the percentage you feel is most likely and tell why. The units here are civilizations per planet.
6) f(c) -- Fraction of civilizations that develop to the point of being detectable. This could be spaceships flying around, outgoing communication signals, etc. This is a dimensionless quantity.
7) L -- The length of time that such a civilization will be detectable. Basically this is the length of time from when they become detectable to when they destroy themselves. The units here are years.
8) To find the the number of civilizations you would expect to find in the galaxy at this point in time, multiply all of the numbers from (1) through (7) together.
9) The formal analysis of the variation you might expect given your ranges is beyond the scope of the class. To see their effect, however, you can come up with both an optimistic and a pessimistic final value.
For the optimistic value choose the highest value in each range. For the pessimistic value choose the lowest value in each range.
Comment on the difference between these two values.
Don't forget your conclusion.
Explanation & Answer
Attached.
Running head: DRAKE’S EQUATION
1
DISCUSSION ON DRAKE’S EQUATION
Name of the student
Institution affiliation
Date
DRAKE'S EQUATION
2
Introduction
This lab report discusses Drake’s equation. Drake’s equation is a summary of the variables that
are relevant in determining the measure of intelligent civilizations that were in the Milky Way
galaxy that were broadcasting radio signals at that specific time. The equation is made up of seven
terms, and the first six determine the frequency at which intelligent civilizations are formed while
the last value L determines the time it takes for the civilizations to destroy themselves after they
are discovered. Drake equation applies only to intelligent civilizations; the others are far away that
they cannot detect their radio signals.
Question 1
The approximation of the sum of stars that exist in the milk way varies from 100 billion on the low
end and 400 billion on the highest end. The estimated oldness of the milky way galaxy ranges from
800 million to 13 billion. Taking the lowest number of stars formed and the eldest age of the milky
way galaxy, the frequency of star formation will be 7.7 stars per year. When we consider the
youngest age of the milky way galaxy and the highest value of the number of stars formed, the
average frequency of star formation will be 500 st...
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