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Earth Science midterm

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List and define the branches of Earth Science
Geology-the study of Earth's surface and interior
Astronomy-the study of the universe
Meteorology-the study of Earth's atmosphere
Oceanography-the study of the oceans
Describe the jobs of scientists in each branch
Geologist-find new oil sources
Astronomer-study radiations sent to space
Meteorologist-study effects of air pollution
Oceanographer-study icebergs
Identify and compare the layers of the Earth
Inner core-solid iron and nickel
Outer core-liquid iron and nickel
Mantle-heavy rocks made of iron, magnesium, and silicon
Crust-lighter rocks
Describe the Protoplanet Hypothesis
Great Cloud of gas and dust was transformed into the planets and natural satellites that make up our solar system
Describe the formation of Earth’s atmosphere
Original atmosphere-Came from volcanoes; 50% water vapor w/large amounts of Carbon Dioxide and sulfer gases
NO OXYGEN
Describe the formation of Earth’s oceans
Steam from volcanic gases and heat condensed into water to form oceans
Describe the formation of Earth’s lithosphere/continents
melted iron and nickel sank into Earth's core and forced the lighter rocks up to the Earth's surface
Tell the age and true shape of the Earth
age-4.55 to 5 billion years old
shape-oblate spheroid~a sphere that flattens at its poles and bulges at its equator
Describe the steps of the scientific method
1-Problem
2-Hypothesis
3-Experiment
4-Data
5-Observations
6-Analysis
7-Conclusion
Atomic Mass
The number of protons plus neutrons
Atomic number
The number of protons
Ion
electrically charged atom or group of atoms
Isotopes
atoms of the same chemical element with different atomic masses
atom
The smallest part of an element that has all of the properties of that element
The most widely accepted theory on the moon’s origin
Formed about 4.6 billion years ago from a collision between Earth and a Mars sized object
Identify the eight phases of the moon
New Moon
Waxing Crescent
Waxing Quarter
Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon
Waning Gibbous
Waning Quarter
Waning Crescent
Waxing phases
Waxes from new moon to full moon-illuminated on right
Waning phases
From full moon to new moon-Illuminated on left
Lunar eclipse
Only takes place during a full moon phase-moon passes into the Earth's umbra
Solar eclipse
Only occur at the new moon phase-occurs when the moon's umbra reaches Earth's surface
Differentiate between the umbra and penumbra of the eclipses
umbra-darkest part of shadow
penumbra-partial shadow surrounding the umbra
Explain the causes of the high and low tides
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon. The pull of the sun is added to or subtracted from the moon's.
Higher-when sun and moon are on same side
Describe spring and neap tides
Spring-new and full moons-sun and moon pull together-very high and very low tides
Neap-quarter moons-sun and moon pull against each other-small tidal range
Describe Earth’s rotation and revolution
rotation-Earth turns as it travels around the sun
revolution-the movement of Earth in its orbit around the sun
weight
gravitational pull on an object
mass
amount of material in an object or substance
Describe and give the dates of aphelion and identify position in Earth’s orbit
orbit it farthest from the sun-July 4
Describe and give the date of perihelion and identify position in Earth’s orbit
Orbit is nearest the sun-January 2
astronomical units(AU)
The average distance between Earth and the sun-about 150 million km
light years(LY)
The distance a ray of light travels in one year-about 9.5
apparent magnitude
How bright a star appears to an observer on Earth
absolute magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a star if placed 32.6 LYs from the sun
galaxies
a group of millions or even billions of stars held together by gravity
Identify the 3 types of galaxies
Spiral
Elliptical
Irregular
constellation
A group of stars that appears to form a pattern in the sky
weather
the state of the atmosphere at a given time and place
climate
typical weather patterns over a period of years in a given location
List and describe the 3 ways heat is transferred
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
Describe the water vapor in the atmosphere
enters air by evaporation-amount decreases with height
List the most abundant gases in dry air
Nitrogen-78%
Oxygen-21%
layers of Earth’s atmosphere
Troposphere
(tropopause)
Stratosphere
(stratopause)
Mesosphere
Thermosphere
What ozonosphere does
Where it is
What's causing it to destroy
absorbs 99% of ultraviolet rays
Stratosphere
release of CFC's into the atmosphere
Describe the Greenhouse Effect
atmosphere absorbs long heat waves after suns short waves passed through it
Possible causes of the Greenhouse Effect
Release of CO2 and CFCs-glaciers could melt and raise sea levels all over world
ozone
form of oxygen gas
Identify the types of stars on the H-R Diagram
Supergiants
Giants
Main Sequence
White Dwarfs
Explain how a star the size of our sun will die
Main Sequence
Red Giant
White Dwarf
Black Dwarf
Explain how a star five times larger than the sun might die
Main Sequence
Supernova
Neutron Star
Black hole
solar flares
a sudden outburst of energy that rises up in areas of sunspot activity
solar prominences
huge, red, flame-like arches of material that occur in the corona of the sun
solar wind
a stream of electrically-charged particles that are blown out from the sun in all directions
Define auroras and explain their origin
a glow in the nighttime sky produced in the upper atmosphere by solar radiation hitting Earth's magnetic field
Describe the parts of a comet
nucleus, coma, tail(points away from sun)
Give the location of most asteroids
Between Mars and Jupiter "Asteroid Belt"
Describe the three types of spectra
continuous-unbroken band of colors
bright-line-unevenly spaced series of lines of different colors and brightness
dark-line-continuous spectrum w/dark lines where light is absorbed
Distinguish between optical and radio telescopes
Optical-use lenses or mirrors to gather and focus starlight
radio-collects radio waves and feeds them to a receiver
Describe the difference between a reflecting telescope and a refracting telescope
reflecting-uses one large curved mirror to gather and focus starlight
refracting-uses two lenses(objective and eyepiece)
Doppler Effect
an apparent change in the wavelength of radiation-change in frequency of light or sound as it approaches and moves away from the observer
Doppler Effect as it relates to red and blue shifts
Blue shift-distance between star and Earth is decreasing;shorter wavelengths
Red shift-distance between star and Earth is increasing;longer wavelenghts
Volume
Amount of space in an object
Find the volume of a regular solid
L×w×H(cm3)
Find the volume of an irregular solid
Displacement of water(ml)
Find the volume of a liquid
use a graduated cylinder(ml)
Galileo
First to have a telescope and turn towards the sky
Kepler
3 laws of planetary motion-got info from Tycho Brahe
Newton
universal law of gravitation, three laws of motion
Tycho Brahe
Made the first long-term sky observations(before telescope was invented)
List and describe Newton’s 4 Laws
1-Universal law of gravitation-grav. force is greater between objects of greater mass and less between objects of lesser mass(gravity,a force, keeps the planets in constant motion around the sun)
2-First law of motion-an object in motion will stay in motion unless a force is applied. An object at rest will stay at rest unless force applied
3-2nd law of motion- F = m a
4-3rd law of motion-for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
List and describe Kepler’s 3 Laws of Planetary Motion
1-law of ellipses-planets travel in elliptical orbits w/sun at one of the two foci-planets distance from sun will change throughout its orbit
2-equal-area law-as a planet moves around the sun, an imaginary line joining the 2 will sweep over equal areas of space in equal periods of time-the speed at which a planet travels around the sun changes-planets travel faster when closer to the sun
3-harmonic law-P2=D3
Tell what can be determined by the color of a star
The hotness-hot stars are bluer in color and cool stars are redder in color
Describe the relationship between the composition and age of a star
If there is more helium than hydrogen then that means the star is older because over time the hydrogen uses fusion to convert to helium
Define solstice and give the dates
Identify the location on Earth where the sun is overhead at noon on these days
sol=sun;stice=stop
summer-June 21-longest period of daylight-sun is overhead at 23.5 degrees N latitude-Tropic of cancer
winter-Dec.21-0 daylight-sun overhead at Tropic of Capricorn-23.5 degrees S latitude
Describe the three causes of Earth’s seasons
1-the revolution of the Earth around the sun
2-the tilt of Earth's axis
3-the parallelism of Earth's axis
Give the dates of the equinoxes; describe the location of the suns Zenith at noon on these days, and the number of hours of daylight
sun is directly overhead at the equator
N. Hem. daylight and nighttime are equal in Length
1-Vernal or spring equinox-the first day of spring(March 21)
2-Autumnal equinox-first day of fall(Sept. 23)
Define solstice and give the dates. Identify the location on Earth where the sun is overhead at noon on these days
sol=sun;stice=stop
Summer-June 21, 1st day of summer, longest period of daylight, sun overhead at 23.5 degrees N latitude-Tropic of Cancer
Winter-Dec. 21, first day of winter, 0 daylight, 23.5 degree S latitude- Tropic of Capricorn
Be able to tell the number of daylight hours at the North and South Poles on each solstice
Summer-North pole-24 hr daylight
South pole-24 hr darkness
Winter-North pole-24 hr darkness
South pole-24 hr daylight
Describe the vertical rays from the sun and their effects on Earth
Vertical-hotter b/c spreads over larger areas
Equator-nearly vertical rays all yr=hot climate
Middle(U.S.)-near vertical rays in summer and less in winter
Poles-never at near vertical angles=cold all yr
Identify the two lines of latitude between which the vertical rays always found
Equator and the middle(U.S.) during the summer
Explain how to find the mass of Liquid
(mass of container + liquid) - (mass of container)
Explain how to find the mass of a Solid
triple beam balance(grams)
Explain how to find the mass of a Sphere that rolls off the pan
displacement of water
Be able to find the density of solids and liquids
d=m/v
Describe and give the origin of lunar features
layered structure
crust,mantle,core
-Rays-highlands(lighter in color)
-Maria-basins filled w/lava(darker in color)Galileo thought they were seas
Basalt-Igneous(no crystals)fast cooling-on surface
Gabbro-(larger crystals)slow cooling-below surface(heat trapped
Discuss periods rotation and revolution of the moon and why we always see the same side
rate of rot. and rev. around Earth are same-path is elliptical and on an angle so sun only illuminates half of the moon(nearside)
Describe gravity
pull towards Earth's core
Describe the sun’s core and nuclear fusion
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Identify the location where light is made on the sun
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Describe the sunspot cycle
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List and describe the types of electromagnetic radiation
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Describe the relationship between wavelength and frequency
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Explain how a spectroscope works
breaks down the "white" light coming from a celestial body into extremely detailed spectrum
List stellar features and characteristics that can be identified by using a spectroscope
temperature-looking at colors in the spectrum
chemical composition-looking at the lines to see what chemicals/elements are in it
Give evidence to support the Big Bang Hypothesis and expanding universe
found red shifts showed that distant galaxies were receding from Earth faster than nearby galaxies-universe expanding
microwave radiation from space was echo of Big Bang
force
F=ma
Push or pull on something
vector
arrow that indicates direction
acceleration
The rate of change of velocity with respect to time
inertia
Newton's first law
Distinguish between the control and variable in an experiment
Variable changes in an experiment-independent(change on purpose)and Dependent(outcome to independent var.)
Control-variable that does not change-no effect on outcome
Describe and locate the subatomic parts of an atom
neutron-nucleus(no charge)
proton-nucleus(+ charge)
electron-electron cloud(- charge)
Explain how the tilt of Earth’s axis affects the weather and amount of daylight
weather-sun heats different parts of earth b/c of tilt
daylight-Earth rotates around axis causes sun to light Earth for different periods of daylight
where on Earth would you weigh the most
more at sea level than at the poles b/c Earth is oblate spheroid
Identify the numbers of the brightest and dimmest stars
first magnitude stars-brightest stars
dimmest stars-sixth magnitude stars

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