Fragile Systems I Flashcards by Vani Gupta

What is a disaster?

An event causing either physical damage, injury/loss of life, and/or a drastic change to the environment.

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Would an event that only caused infrastructure damage count as a disaster?

Yes - it caused physical damage.

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Where is iron most abundant in the Earth?

Core.

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Which elements are the second and third most common elements in the earth core: Nickel, Magnesium, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, Copper, and Aluminium?

Nickel (2nd most) and Oxygen (3rd most)

Iron is the most abundant element

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Which elements are not the 3 most abundant in the Earth’s crust: Oxygen, Nickel, Aluminium, Silicon, Titanium and Lead?

Lead, Titanium and Nickel are not the most abundant elements in the earth’s crust.

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Order these elements from most to least abundant in the earth’s crust: Oxygen, Aluminium, Silicon.

Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminium

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The ocean has low amounts of chlorine. True or False?

False.

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What are the 3 most abundant elements in the ocean in order (most to least)?

Oxygen, Hydrogen, Chlorine

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What are the 3 most abundant elements in the atmosphere in order (most to least)?

Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon

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Which element is not present in the atmosphere in high amounts and which are: Xenon, Helium, Neon.

None of them are present in high amounts in the atmosphere.

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What is pico?

trillionth (10^-12)

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Is micro larger or nano?

Micro. Micro is 10^-6 and nano is 10^-9.

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How much bigger is giga than mega?

Giga is 10^9. Mega is 10^6. Giga is 10^3 times bigger.

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Is tera larger than giga?

Yes. Tera is 10^12 and giga is 10^9.

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How much is centi?

10^-2

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How many meters is 3 x 10^-2 Mm?

30 000m

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What is density and its formula and units?

How much matter is in a space. Mass/volume, kg/m^3.

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How is the earth stratified and how is this related to density?

atmosphere, ocean, crust, mantle, outer core, inner core. The densest (inner core) is at the center and the least dense (the atmosphere) rests at the top.

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Would the earth be layered if everything was the same density?

No.

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Disasters have nothing to do with stratification of the earth. True or False. If false, explain.

False. Each disaster occurs within one or more layer, and so has to do with the stratification of the earth.

What is compressibility?

able to be squeezed or expanded so that the mass fills less or more space.

Density and compressibility are two separate physical concepts. True or False and explain.

False. Compression –> change in volume –> in a change in density.

Is gas a fluid?

Yes.

Solids are not fluid and compressible. True or False.

False. Solids are not fluid and are not compressible.

Liquids are compressible and fluids. True or False.

False. Liquids are fluids, but they are not very compressible.

Are gases fluid and compressible?

Yes.

What kind of molecule is the crystal Pyrite made of?

FeS2

Diamonds are due to the octahedral alignment of carbon.

Yes.

Crystals can be formed regardless of structure of molecules. True or False.

False. Crystals form whenm molecules align in a lattice.

If you add flour to milk, would the batter be more or less viscous than before?

More viscous - thicker, slower flow.

What element ranks within the top 2 within the Earth's surface, ocean and atmosphere?

Oxygen.

Although log scales are more commonly used, would linear scales also be suitable for some natural disasters?

No. Usually, there is a wide range of magnitudes for natural disasters. So, cannot use a linear scale (it won't incorporate the whole range of disasteers).

Does energy remain in one form throughout the disaster?

No. Usually during a disaster, energy transfers from on etype to another. E.g. kinetic energy of an asteeroid is converted to heat when it strikes the earth.

Are tsunamis an example of concentration of energy?

No. They're an example of dilution of energy, where it takese longer to release the energy than it doese to build.

If an object is rolled up a hill, will it have more potential energy when it reaches the top compared to the object being lifted straight up onto that same hill?

No. height (distance) is the same, so potential energy is the same.

When you leave the shower, why do you feel cold?

When you live, water from your skin uses heat from the skin to evaporate into vapour.

During melting, is sensible heat stored or is sensible heat released?

Melting = breaking bonds --> requires energy = sensible heat is stored as latent heat.

On an atomic level, Kinetic energy and sensible heat are different concepts. True or False.

False. Sensible heat is due to particle motion, where cold is slow motion and hot is high motion.

If you push a fridge with 50 N of force, but it doesn't move, what is the work done?

0 J. W = F x d. d = 0, so W = 0.

is the work done to move a 10kg ball 2 m the same on the Earth and Moon? Why or why not?

``` Different. Less work done on the moon: W = F x d. F = m x g. W = m x g x d m and d are the same, but gravitational acceleration is lower on the moon, so less work is done. ```

There were 20 events in 100 years. Would the RP be diffeerent for the following 2 situations: (a) The 20 events occurred evenly spaced over the 100 years. (b) There were 11 clustered events, a long gap, and then 9 clustered events.

Same RP = 100/20 = 5.

If there are 8 earthquakes, 4 M3.0 earthquakes and 2 M3.4 earthquakes, in 8 years, what is the RP?

Trick: 2 different RPs. RP for M3.0 = 8 / 4 = 2 RP for M3.4 = 8 / 2 = 4 RP only for same magnitude events.

The risk of you getting attacked by a shark is the same if you were swimming or standing on the beach.

False. Risk is higher in the water, because you are more vulnerable (i.e. more likely to be badly harmed)

Why is the risk of natural disasters increasing: (a) increasing hazard (b) increasing vulnerability

because of population growth = more people and more infrastructure = greater vulnerability. Not because of increase in hazard.

Due to technology, we are likely to be less vulnerable to natural disasters in the future.

No, because more people = more infrastructure --> greater vulnerability.

Humans are good at judging risk.

No.

larger magnitude disasters usually occur at a ______ frequency than weaker magnitude disasters.

lower.

Is the associated hazard of a natural disaster dependent on the number of people who live there? Why or why not?

No. Hazard is something that has the potential to cause human or economic harm, regardless of whether or not it will harm people/economy when it occurs. Vulnerability to a disaster is linked with number of people and infrastructure (economic harm).

If a natural disaster will only destroy infrastructure, is it still hazardous?

Yes. Hazard = anything with the potential to cause human or economic harm.