Chapter 1 - Introduction To Earth Flashcards
1
Q
Earth’s diameter is closest to ___ km.
A
12,000
2
Q
The response to earth’s rotation is…
A
Polar Flattening
3
Q
The first nearly correct measurement of the earth’s circumference was made by…
A
Eratosthenes
4
Q
“Greenwich Mean Time” is also known as…
A
Universal Time Coordinated
5
Q
The sun’s rays are directly overhead at the ___ on or about December 21.
A
Tropic of Capricorn
6
Q
The north end of the earth’s axis points towards…
A
Polaris
7
Q
How many degrees of latitude are between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?
A
47
8
Q
The Greenwich Meridian is also known as the…
A
Prime Meridian
9
Q
At the equator, a given point on earth’s surface travels about ___ km/hr.
A
1,600
10
Q
Near the North Pole, one degree of latitude extends ___ km on the ground.
A
111
11
Q
At the North Pole, one degree of longitude extends ___ km on the ground.
A
0
12
Q
The world is divided into ___ standard time zones.
A
24
13
Q
Before time zones were created in the 1880s, one could encounter ___ time standards on a rail trip across the U.S..
A
More than 20
14
Q
Of the following, which is a greater circle?
A
Equator
15
Q
Of the following, which is the first day of spring?
A
Vernal Equinox
16
Q
The maximum distance between earth and sun occurs in July and is called the ___.
A
Aphelion
17
Q
On June 21, the sun’s rays are directly over the…
A
Tropic of Cancer
18
Q
The fact that at any time during the year, the earth’s axis is parallel to it’s orientation at all other times is called its parallelism, or…
A
Polarity
19
Q
Russia contains ___ time zones.
A
9
20
Q
The altitudinal difference between the top of the tallest mountain and the bottom of the deepest ocean trench is CLOSEST to ___ km.
A
20
21
Q
The U.S. Spans ___ time zones.
A
6
22
Q
The closest position taken by the earth relative to the sun is ___ million km.
A
147
23
Q
When the circle of illumination just touched the arctic circle and the North Pole is dark, the date is closest to…
A
December 21
24
Q
The geographic grid mine 180 degrees of longitude from the prime meridian is the…
A
180th meridian
25
Our solar system contains ___ moons revolving around the planets.
More than 100
26
A cross section of earth cut from pole to pole would reveal which shape?
Ellipse
27
How many time zones are contained within Alaska?
1
28
A ___ separates earth into two hemispheres.
Great circle
29
Longitude is divided into multiples of ___ degrees for the purpose of delimiting standard time zones.
15
30
Eratosthenes was the first to accurately measure the earth's...
Circumference
31
Universal Time Coordinated is also known as...
Greenwich Mean Time
32
The 0 degree meridian is the same line as the...
Prime Meridian
33
A spot on the earth's surface rotates fastest at the...
Equator
34
One degree of longitude equals 0 miles on the ground at the...
North Pole
35
The distance of 150 million km is CLOSEST to being...
The average earth/sun distance
36
The MilkyWay is one of, at least, ___ galaxies in the universe.
200 billion
37
The earth/sun aphelion occurs once per year during the month of...
July
38
When the sun's rays are directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn, it is...
December 21
39
At the time of the aphelion, earth is ___ million km from the sun.
152
40
The MilkyWay is a galaxy some ___ light years in diameter.
100,000
41
The solar system's Jovian planets are more likely composed of...
Gas
42
The moon is some ___ km from earth.
385,000
43
In science, the term theory is...
The highest order of understanding
44
At the International Date Line, there is a change of...
Day
45
The farthest north the vertical rays of the sun ever reach north of the equator occurs on or about...
June 21
46
Standardization in world time zones dates from...
1884
47
The earth is 3.3% closer to the sun during the northern hemisphere ___ than when it is farthest away.
Winter
48
On both the spring and fall equinoxes, the sun's rays are vertically overhead at the...
Equator
49
The highest numbered latitude used in the geographic grid is ___ degrees.
90
50
Which of the following is a central meridian in the standardized time zone...
15 degrees W
51
A ___ is a vertical piece of metal on a sundial.
Gnomon
52
The constant angle between earth's axis and the plane of the ecliptic is called earth's...
Polarity
53
The circle of illumination just touches the Antarctic circle on or about...
June 21
54
The acceptance of a theory or hypothesis is based on...
A preponderance of evidence
55
Numbered meridians are...
Semicircles
56
The most important physical effect of the earth's rotation is...
The alternation of sunlight and darkness
57
The solid, inorganic portion of the earth system is known as the...
Lithosphere
58
The size of the universe is best described as...
Vast beyond comprehension
59
A nebula is...
A cloud of gas and dust.
60
The surfaces of the inner planets of our solar system seem to be composed of...
Mineral matter
61
The MilkyWay is one of over ___ galaxies in the universe.
Many billions
62
After it was part of a nebula and before it was the sun, our sun was a...
Protostar
63
Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain on earth and its altitude is closest to ___ m.
9,000
64
The best description of the actual shape of the earth is an...
Oblate spheroid
65
The earth is one of ___ planets in the solar system.
8
66
The earth rotates about its...
Axis
67
Which of the following is NOT defined by latitude?
Meridian
68
Which of the following distances is CLOSEST to the actual distance associated with one degree of latitude?
100km
69
Which of the following best describes the latitude and longitude of North America?
Northern & Western Hemispheres
70
Suppose you are standing on the standard time meridian of 75 degrees W. Which would be the next standard time meridian to your west?
90 degrees W
71
Which of the following takes the longest time?
A revolution of the earth
72
The angular inclination of the earth's axis with respect to a line perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic is...
23.5 degrees
73
At the June solstice, day length varies from ___ hours at the equator to ___ hours at the North Pole.
12,24
74
The perihelion is during the month of...
January
75
Which of the following subsystems includes all living things on earth?
Biosphere
76
Pluto is now classified as a...
Dwarf planet
77
The earth's polar and equatorial diameters vary by ___ percent.
0.3
78
The line connecting the points of maximum flattening on earth's surface is called the...
Axis
79
Which of the following is also an entire great circle?
Equator
80
In angular measurement, a minute contains ___ seconds.
60
81
At the equator, one degree of latitude is approximately equal to...
One degree of longitude.
82
The "natural" baseline which serves as a baseline to measure longitude...
Does not exist.
83
The term "a.m." means...
Before solar noon.
84
Any standard time zone extends ___ degrees of latitude to the east and west of the central meridian.
7.5
85
An Equinox has the property of...
12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night at all latitudes.
86
When the vertical rays of the sun cross the equator on their way northward, the date is known as ___ in the northern hemisphere.
The vernal equinox
87
Geography is...
A combination of physical and social sciences
88
Earth is...
One of the inner planets.
89
The universe is thought to be on the order of ___ billion years old.
13.7
90
Our earthly grid system is also referred to as a ___ and consists of lines of latitude and longitude.
Graticule
91
Which of the following is not contained within earth's system of latitude and longitude?
A longitude of 185 degrees E
92
The cause of the earth's seasons is the...
Polarity of the axis
93
In NYC, this is the shortest day of the year and the sun is also the lowest in the sky.
December solstice
94
At times, latitudes higher than ___ degrees can have 24 hours or more of continuous darkness.
66.5
95
The plane of the ecliptic is...
At an angle from the plane of the equator.
96
Using a gnomon, one can...
Tell local time.
97
The Sun is a star in the ___ Galaxy.
MilkyWay
98
The shape of the MilkyWay is similar to a...
Spiral-shaped disk
99
The amount of time the earth takes to revolve around the sun is most properly known as a...
Tropical year
100
___ is considered a dwarf planet.
Pluto
101
___ is the deepest spot in the ocean.
Mariana Trench
102
To earth people, Polaris is an important star because...
It is a guide for navigation.
103
The graticule of the earth is also known as...
Latitude & longitude
104
One can tell it is solar noon by observing...
The length of shadows.
105
What happened between 4.5 and 5 billion years ago?
The beginning of our solar system occurred.
106
The word geography comes from the Greek, meaning...
Earth description
107
Which of the following is not a major topic taught in a course of introductory physical geography?
Population
108
The shape of earth's orbit around the sun is an...
Ellipse
109
The ___ is the name of the plane on which the earth revolves.
Ecliptic
110
Pluto's orbit is in the...
Kuiper belt
111
The ___ Equinox of the Southern Hemisphere takes place when the vertical rays of the sun cross the equator on the journey southward.
Vernal
112
The "living zone" in the atmosphere extends from earth's surface to an altitude of approximately ___ km.
5
113
The origin of the universe is incompletely understood and is called...
The "Big Bang"
114
Earth rotates on it's rotational axis. A plane at a right angle to and bisecting earth's axis is known as the...
Plane of the equator
115
Earth revolves around the North Star.
False
116
The North Star is also known as Polaris.
True
117
Almost all countries in the world base their time on UTC.
True
118
The circle of illumination divides the earth into a light and dark hemisphere.
True
119
The prime meridian was adopted as a result of an international conference in 1884.
True
120
The plane of the ecliptic is the same thing as the perihelion.
False
121
The equator is an example of a great circle in the geographic grid.
True
122
The vertical rays of the sun take one year to travel from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn and back to the Tropic of Cancer.
True
123
The northern hemisphere's vernal equinox occurs on September 23.
False
124
The Tropic of Cancer is an example of a great circle.
False
125
The plane of the equator and the plane of the ecliptic are the same thing.
False
126
The earth's circumference is close to 40,000km.
True
127
In the northern hemisphere the longest day of the year is at the vernal equinox.
False
128
The shortest distance between the earth and the sun during the year is approximately 147 million km.
True
129
The northern hemisphere's shortest day of the year is at the autumnal equinox.
False
130
At the equator, the sun's rays at noon strike the earth at an angle of 90 degrees above the horizon twice each year.
True
131
On December 22, all areas inside the Antarctic circle are in daylight for a full 24 hours.
True
132
The earth year's length of 365.25 is known as the perihelion.
False
133
At the North Pole, the speed of rotation of the earth is 0 km/hr.
True
134
Larger angles of solar incidence concentrate solar energy in smaller areas of earth's surface.
True
135
The international date line and the 180th meridian are the same line.
False
136
There are 24 minute for each degree of latitude.
False
137
At one time, several nations had their own prime meridians.
True
138
There is a parallel or meridian for every degree, minute, and second on the globe.
True
139
The international date line follows the arctic and Antarctic circles.
False
140
The vertical distance between earth's highest mountain and deepest ocean trench is approximately 20km.
True
141
The circle of illumination is a small circle.
False
142
The lowest point of the sea bottom is approximately 11,000 meters below sea level.
True
143
The international date line is in the middle of a time zone.
True
144
Russia occupies 3 time zones.
False
145
In the northern hemisphere, days become continually shorter after March 22.
False
146
The adoption of daylight savings time would be of little value for most nations in the tropics.
True
147
All planets in our solar system rotate from east to west.
False
148
The sun makes up more than 99% of the mass of our solar system.
True
149
When one crosses the prime meridian the time zone does not change.
True
150
Our solar system is known as the MilkyWay.
False
151
The vertical rays of the sun are present at the arctic circle during the June solstice.
False
152
The vertical rays of the sun migrate between 23.5 degrees N and 23.5 degrees S.
True
153
The coriolis effect deflects wind and water currents.
True
