Prentice Hall Exploring Earth Science ch. 1 vocab
Terms
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- theory
- logical explanation for events that occur in nature
- law
- summarizing statement of observed experimental facts that has been tested many times and is generally accepted as true
- geology
- the study of the earth.
- meteorology
- study of the earth's atmosphere,weather, and climate.
- oceanography
- study of the earths oceans including their physical features,life forms,and natural resources
- astronomy
- study of the planets,stars,and other objects in space
- scientific method
- the systematic approach to problem solving.
- hypothesis
- proposed solution to a scientific problem
- variable
- factor being tested in an experimental setup
- control
- experiment run without a variable in order to show that any data from the experimental setup were due to the variable being tested
- data
- recorded observations and measurements
- metric system
- the scientific system of measurement
- meter
- the basic unit of length in the metric system
- centimeter
- one hundredth of a meter
- millimeter
- one thousandth of a meter
- kilometer
- one thousand of a meter
- light year
- the distance light travels in one year.
- liter
- the basic unit of volume
- milliliter
- measures volumes smaller than a liter
- kilogram
- basic unit of mass in the metric system
- gram
- measures the mass of small objects, such as a nickel
- milligram
- one-thousandth of a gram
- weight
- a measure of the attraction between two object due to gravity
- newton
- the basic unit of weight in the metric system
- density
- the relationship between mass and volume
- Celsius
- in the metric system the scale in which temperature is measured on
- cubic centimeter
- metric unit used to measure the volume of solids;equal to a milliliter
- dimensional analysis
- the skill of converting one unit to another
- conversion factor
- a fraction that always equals 1.
- refracting telescope
- a series of lenses is used to focus light.
- reflecting telescopes
- a series of mirrors is used to collect and focus light from distant objects
- electromagnetic spectrum
- arrangement of electromagnetic waves that includes visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared light, X rays, and radio waves.
- radio telescope
- telescope that gathers radio waves from distant objects on order yo produce images of those objects
- infrared telescope
- telescope that gathers infrared light from distant objects in order to produce images of those objects
- ultraviolet telescope
- telescope that gathers ultraviolet light from distant objects in order to produce images of those objects
- X ray telescope
- telescope that gathers X rays from distant objects in order to produce images of those objects