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Evolving on Dynamic Planet > EXAM 1 > Flashcards

EXAM 1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is uniformitarianism?

A

idea that the present is the key to the past

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2
Q

What is gradualism?

A

idea that features of the earth result from the slow accumulation of events such as those we see occurring now

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3
Q

Who is the father of modern geology?

A

James Hutton (Scottish)

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4
Q

Who developed the world’s first geologic map?

A

William Smith

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5
Q

What is the technical term for the layering of rocks?

A

superposition

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6
Q

What are index fossils?

A

fossils of animals that lived a relatively short time and are located in different places; they can tell you how old certain layers of rocks are in different places

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7
Q

What is the mnemonic for the

A

Cows Often Sit Down Carefully. Perhaps Their Joints Creak? Persistent Early Oiling Might Prevent Painful Rheumatism.

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8
Q

H#HH$HWhat are the Periods of rock formation in order that we need to know? KEEEEP GOING ON THISSSSSS

A

Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian KEEEEEPP GOING ON THISSSSSS

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9
Q

What is the Ediacaran Period?

A

period at the end of the Pre-Cambrian Era where the first multicellular organism fossils are found

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10
Q

What is the Miller-Urey experiment?

A

recreated early earth Hot Vent environment and were able to produce biomolecules

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11
Q

Who developed the first estimation of the size of the earth?

A

Eratosthenes of Cyrene

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12
Q

How did Eratosthenes estimate the circumference of the earth and what is the modern estimate?

A

knew that when sun was directly above a well in Egypt, its rays made a 7 degree angle (1/50th of a circle) with a pole in Alexandria, the two places were 5000 stadia apart; 50 x 5000 = 250,000 stadia = 46,250 km; modern estimate is about 40,000 km

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13
Q

Who was the first to show that the earth is spherical based on its shadow?

A

Aristotle

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14
Q

How is the diameter of the moon calculated?

A

diameter of earth is known, so its measuring the size of the arc of its shadow on the moon gives the relative sizes of the earth and moon

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15
Q

How is the distance to the moon calculated?

A

can be calculated from its diameter (known)

and the arc (angle) it occupies in the sky as observed from the earth; d = cotan(1/2 of arc) x 1/2 of moon diameter

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16
Q

How is the distance to the sun calculated?

A

earth sun and moon make a right angle when moon is half full; cosine(angle with earth at vertex) = earth-moon dist./earth-sun dist.

17
Q

What is the distance to the moon and to the sun?

A

385,000 km to moon; 150,000,000 km to sun

18
Q

How is the distance to nearby stars calculated?

A

Using the earth as a platform, stars are observed from opposite ends of the earth’s orbit
diameter of orbit is known; the distance to nearby stars can thus be calculated from the amount of parallax

19
Q

How far across is the Milky Way?

A

about 100,000 lightyears

20
Q

What are Cepheid variable stars?

A

stars with a characteristic brightness-to-pulsation rate

21
Q

What is the inverse square law?

A

brightness is proportional to 1/d^2

22
Q

How is the distance across the milky way estimated?

A

Distances to other cepheid variables can be estimated from the inverse square law

23
Q

What are Type 1a supernova used to determine?

A

they have a characteristic brightness and are used as “standard candles”

24
Q

Who discovered Red shift and who discovered that the universe is expanding?

A

Slipher, Hubble

25
Q

What is Red Shift?

A

caused by Doppler effect - receding objects appear redder than they really are (spectral lines are shifted to the red)

26
Q

How old is the universe?

A

about 13.7-13.8 billion years old

27
Q

What is true of the movement of galaxies?

A

all galaxies are moving away from ours; the most distant ones are moving away the fastest

28
Q

How do stars form?

A

from “pillars of creation” - huge clouds of hydrogen gas and dust

29
Q

How many stars are in the milky way?

A

about 200 billion

30
Q

In what arm of the milky way does our solar system lie?

A

Orion, a minor arm

31
Q

How old is the milky way?

A

about 13.6 billion years old

32
Q

How old is our solar system?

A

about 4.568 billion years old

Evolving on Dynamic Planet (1 decks)

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