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76 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What are the terrestrial planets? What are their characteristics? |
Mercury, Venus, Earth, MarsEach of these is rocky (i.e. made of rocks), has a metallic core, has an atmosphere (except for Mercury), and has few or no moons. |
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What are the Jovian planets? What are their characteristics? |
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and NeptuneCharacterized by being huge (all but about 1% of the mass of the solar system’s orbiting bodies) and made of gas and/or ice. Thus, they don’t have a real surface. |
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What is the current theory to explain the formation of the solar system? |
The nebular hypothesis |
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The solar system is a complex system of moving masses held together by what forces? |
Gravity |
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What is the mass distribution in the solar system? |
Sun 99.87% Jupiter is 50% of the rest of the Solar System mass |
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Where is the Asteroid Belt and what is it made of? |
Just beyond the Terrestrial planetsAn area of millions of objects - Some microscopic and up to many kilometers in diameter |
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Where is the Kuiper Belt and what is it made of? |
Beyond the Jovian planetsMuch larger and composed of objects mostly made of ice (in comparison to the Asteroid Belt), dwarf planet, Pluto |
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What is Kepler's 1st law? |
Elliptical Paths= All objects orbit in elliptical paths, with the sun at one of the foci. This applies to planets or comets, for example. |
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What is Kepler's 2nd law? |
Equal AreasAs objects traverse their orbit in an elliptical path, they travel at varying speed so that the area is equal time frames. What this means is that the velocity of the orbiting body increases as it gets closer to the sun. |
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What is Kepler's 3rd law? |
Harmonic LawRelates the orbital period with the average distance from the sun which is stated mathematically is (see book for equation)T is the period in years, R is the radius in Astronomical units. |
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What is an Earth-centered model of the solar system called? |
Geocentric Model |
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Which planet moves the fastest? |
Mercury
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The point of a planet's orbit farthest from the Sun is called what? |
Aphelion |
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The point of a planet's orbit Closest to the Sun is called what? |
Perihelion |
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What is the Moon's orbital tilt in degrees from the Earth's ecliptic plane? |
5 Degrees |
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How does a Foucault pendulum prove that the Earth rotates? |
a large pendulum that knocks down little tiles arranged in a circleAs the Earth rotates, the apparent direction will change - knock down the tiles throughout the day. |
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What is parallax and what does it prove? |
is the apparent motion of distant stars against a background of even farther away stars, due to our movement as we orbit.To prove the Earth orbits around the Sun. |
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How long does it take the Moon to complete one orbit around the Earth? |
29.5 Days |
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What is a solar eclipse and what is the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment? |
When the moon blocks sunlight from hitting a part of the Earth’s surfaceThe moon orbits the Earth in a slightly different plane than the Earth - Sun orbit, which results in a non-regular alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon. When the three bodies do align, eclipses occur. |
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A lunar eclipse can occur only when the Moon is in or near what phase? |
New Moon phase |
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What causes tides? What are Spring and Neap tides? |
As the Earth rotates and the moon orbits the Earth, these ocean levels variations occur on a regular basis.Spring: when the Earth-Moon-Sun lines up, the tides are particularly highNeap: When the Moon is at right angles of the Sun |
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What do we call the various portions of a shadow? |
Umbra is the completely blocked portion Penumbra is the partially blocked portion |
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What is displacement? Distance? |
Displacement: from A to B is a vector quantity between the two points. It is the straight-line length as the magnitude, plus the direction. Distance: is the magnitude of the actual path traveled. |
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What is velocity? Speed? |
Velocity: is a vector which represents the displacement/time Speed: is a scalar that represents an instantaneous value of distance/time |
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The rate at which an object's velocity changes with time is called what? |
Acceleration |
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An automobile's acceleration may be changed by using what? |
Velocity Magnitude |
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What are the units of acceleration? |
Length per time squared : commonly meters per seconds squared |
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What are vectors? Scalar? |
Vectors: measurements that have not only a value but a direction Scalar: quantities are numbers only, an object mass is a scalar |
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What type of acceleration does an object in uniform circular motion have? |
Centripetal Acceleration |
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According to Newton's second law, the force required to accelerate an object is equal to its what? |
Mass |
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How is linear momentum of an object determined? |
P = M x V (mass times velocity) |
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Newton's third law of motion states that whenever one object exerts a force upon a second object, the second object exerts what? |
A force back upon the first object |
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What is Newton's law of gravitation? |
Force equals (Gravitational attraction) Mass 1 times Mass 2 divided by R squared (the distance between the centers of the objects) |
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What are the main stable constituents of Earth's atmosphere? |
Nitrogen, Oxygen |
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What are the main variable constituents of Earth's atmosphere? |
Water Vapor, Dust Particles, Ozone |
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What do we call the fraction of insolation that is reflected by a celestial body? |
Albedo |
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Air circulation around a cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere as viewed from above is in what direction? |
Clockwise Rotation |
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A sea breeze on a coast is the result of what? |
During the day, the land warms up faster than the water, and so gives off heat to warm the lower atmosphere. That warmer air rises and is replaced by the cooler air over the ocean (on shore wind) |
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The lower 48 states of the United States lies predominantly in which wind zone? |
Trade Winds Cycle |
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What are the types of clouds that occur in the various atmospheric levels? |
Contrails, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus, Cirrus, Cumulonimbus, Altostratus, Altocumulus, Cumulus, Nimbostratus, Stratocumbulus, Stratus |
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How is the atmosphere divided based on temperature? |
Arctic (A)Polar (P)Tropical (T) |
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What types of air masses might affect the lower 48 states of the United States? |
Marine (M) or Continental (C) Temperature being either Tropical (T) or Polar (P) |
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What is the minimum wind speed for a hurricane? Under what conditions is a "watch" issued? A warning? |
74 miles per hour Watch: is issued for a severe thunderstorm when the atmospheric conditions are right for storm formation. Warning: is issued when a tornado has been spotted. |
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The boundary between two air masses is called what? What types of boundaries occur? |
A frontCold Front, Warm Front, Stationary Front, Occluded Front |
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What are the two processes that cause precipitation? |
Coalescence is the process where smaller droplets collide and coalesce into larger drops which fall. Bergeron Process involves the natural attraction of water molecules to ice crystals, so as small ice crystals form, they grow by attracting water molecules in the vapor. |
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What are the major types of precipitation? |
Rain, Drizzle, Snow, Sleet, Glaze (freezing Rain), Hail, Rime (ice crystals formed by the freezing of fog or cloud droplets). |
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The physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rock at or near the Earth's surface is called what? What are the common types? |
Weathering. Common Types: Air and Water attack rock crystals & Frost wedging |
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What are the components of a stream's load? |
Dissolved load( made up of the material that has been dissolved into the water), and the suspended load (the small particles that are suspended in the typically turbulent water flow.) |
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A loop-like bend in a river channel is called what? What is occurring at the bend? What may result? |
Meanders, at the inside of each curve, the flow is slower and decomposition create point bars, the outside curves erosion takes pace cutting into the banks creating a “cut bank”. |
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What do we call the sediment deposits at the end of a glacier? |
Moraines |
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What are some of the surface features we relate to glacier erosion or deposition? |
As Glaciers move they scrape the underlying surface removing material and leaving scratch marks and other features. |
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What are the components of the water cycle? |
Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation |
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About what percent of the Earth's water is freshwater? Where is most of it located? |
Only 3% is Fresh, and 2/3rds of it is frozen in glaciers and icecaps. |
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The shallow submerged areas that border the continental landmasses are called what? |
The Coast |
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The true edges of the continental landmasses are called what? |
Continental Slope |
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What is the geologic evidence that supports the theory of continental drift? |
Continents have similar forms as if they were puzzle pieces, and also fossils of similar types we found at the coast of very separated continents |
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Alfred Wegener speculated that the present continents were once part of a single supercontinent he named what? |
Pangea |
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Why was the idea of continental drift not generally accepted when it was proposed? |
There was no evidence for a system to cause this sort of drifting making the idea impossible. |
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What is the theory of seafloor spreading? About when was it proposed? |
The seafloor is expanding and moving away from the ridges & 1962. |
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A modern geological theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to be made up of moving plates is known as what? |
The Theory of Plate Tectonics |
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What is the classification for the Earth's interior? |
Inner Core, Outer Core, Lower and Upper Mantle |
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What are the three types of plate boundaries? |
Divergent, Convergent, and Transform |
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What do we call the movement (deflection) of one lithospheric plate under another? |
Subduction |
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What is the lithosphere? |
is the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. |
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What is the asthenosphere? |
is the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere. |
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The location on the Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's focus is called what? |
The Epicenter
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What is the basic mechanism(s) for plate movement thought to be? |
Earth’s internal heat, and gravity. |
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Most earthquakes are caused by what? |
When movement pressure causes cracks in the crust, this leads to faults that when they finally slip |
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What types of scales are used to measure an earthquake? What are their differences? |
Richter Scale & Modified Mercalli Scale the difference being that the The Richter accounts for energy released by quake. The Mercalli Scale also accounts for the environmental destruction and loss of human life in the severity of the quake. |
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What is the term for folded rock layers that resemble an arch? A trough? |
Arch= Anticlinal & Trough= Synclinal |
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What are the general types of faulting? |
Normal Fault- relative downward movement of the hanging wall. Reverse Fault- has relative upward movement of the hanging wall. Thrust Fault- is a low-angle reverse fault ( the hanging wall is being thrust over the foot wall). Transform Fault- Is also called a Strike-Slip fault and the footwall is thrust under the hanging wall. |
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What are the main processes for building mountains? |
Volcanic, Folding, or Faulting. |
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Solve the following types of problems: An object with a mass of 2.0 kg is dropped and takes 3.0 s to hit the ground. Then another object with a mass of 4.0 kg is dropped from the same point. How long does this second object take to hit the ground? |
As long as air resistance is not a factor these 2 objects will reach the ground at the exact same time if they are dropped from the same distance because gravity’s acceleration does not change. |
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A car is moving down a freeway in a straight line at a constant rate of 25 m/s. Its acceleration is what? |
If the car has absolutely no change in speed its acceleration(or change in velocity) is 0. |
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To increase the force of gravity between two masses by a factor of 9, how would the objects have to be moved? |
3x closer. |
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A comet is traveling at a speed of 50,000 mi/h when it is 100 million miles from the Sun. Compute its speed when it is 25 million miles from the Sun. |
because it is a ¼ of the distance to the sun’s gravitational pull the speed at which it is moving will quadrupled to 200,000 mi/h |