Final answer:
High-mass main sequence stars are hotter, larger, and more luminous but live shorter lives than low-mass stars, which are cooler, smaller, less luminous, and have a longer lifespan. The color of these stars varies accordingly, with high mass stars appearing bluer and low mass stars appearing redder.
Step-by-step explanation:
When comparing low-mass and high-mass main sequence stars, several aspects should be considered: temperature, size, luminosity, lifetime, and color.
Temperature
High-mass stars are much hotter than low-mass stars. Consequently, high-mass stars appear blue in color, while low-mass stars appear red.
Size
High-mass stars are much larger than low-mass stars. This physical size difference is due to the amount of mass each star contains
Luminosity is greater in high-mass stars compared to low-mass stars, which means they shine more brightly.
The lifetime of a star is directly proportional to its mass and inversely proportional to its luminosity. Therefore, low-mass stars have longer lifetimes than high-mass stars, as they consume their fuel more slowly.
The color of a star is closely related to its surface temperature, with high-mass stars being bluer and low-mass stars being redder.