Earth Science midterm
Terms
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- List and define the branches of Earth Science
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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umbra-darkest part of shadow
penumbra-partial shadow surrounding the umbra - Explain the causes of the high and low tides
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Nitrogen-78%
Oxygen-21% - layers of Earth’s atmosphere
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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
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Supergiants
Giants
Main Sequence
White Dwarfs - Explain how a star the size of our sun will die
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Main Sequence
Red Giant
White Dwarf
Black Dwarf - Explain how a star five times larger than the sun might die
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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first magnitude stars-brightest stars
dimmest stars-sixth magnitude stars