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Earth Science > Quiz 1 > Flashcards

Quiz 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Be able to apply the density formula to conceptual situations (eg. if I change mass or volume how will density change)

A

If mass increases, density will increase
If volume increases, density will decrease

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2
Q

Specific Gravity (formula, units (there are none), be able to calculate, etc)

A

Density of the object/density of water
Density of water = 1g/mL

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3
Q

Whether an object will float or sink according to its density/ specific gravity

A

Specific gravity > 1, object will SINK because it is denser
Specific gravity < 1, object will FLOAT because it is less dense
Specific gravity = 1, object will sink into the water so that no part of the object is above the surface, but will float there

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4
Q

Percent error, know and be able to calculate

A

( (Measured value - actual value) / actual value ) x 100

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5
Q

Mass vs Weight (define each, know the difference)

A

Mass: the amount of matter in an object
Weight: the amount of force acting on an object due to gravity, w = mass x gravity
Weight and mass are the same on Earth, only different when gravity is different like on other planets
Gravity acts on weight but doesn’t act on mass

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6
Q

Gravity (what is it, definition)

A

An attractive force between two objects that have mass

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7
Q

What two things contribute to gravity and what effect will each have on gravitational force

A

If mass increases, gravity will increase
If distance increases, gravity will decrease
In gravity formula, you divided stuff by distance

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8
Q

Density stratification

A

Substances separate by density
Most dense material ends up in center (toward or at core of planets) because gravity pulls on it the hardest

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9
Q

Inner vs Outer planets (which are which, and comparisons of general characteristics )

A

Terrestrial/inner:
Small
Higher density
Solid planetary surface
Composed of silicate rock or metals
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
Jovian/outer:
Large
Gaseous planets
Composed of gases and frozen compounds “gas giants”
Composed primarily of hydrogen and helium
Lower density
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune

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10
Q

Planet definition

A

must orbit a star
must be big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape
must be big enough that its gravity cleared away any other objects of a similar size near its orbit around the Sun

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11
Q

Dwarf planet definition

A

must orbit a star
must be big enough to have enough gravity to force it into a spherical shape

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12
Q

Moon definition

A

must orbit a planet or dwarf planet
also known as a natural satellite
no official lower limit on size but particularly small objects that fit this criteria are often called moonlets

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13
Q

General characteristics of the solar system (ecliptic plane, direction of rotation and revolution, exceptions to these)

A

Planets and satellites orbit in a common plane (the ecliptic plane)
Nearly all planets and satellites revolve and rotate in the same (counterclockwise)
Venus rotates backwards (clockwise)
Rotation axes of nearly all planets and satellites are roughly perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic
Axis of Uranus lies almost parallel to ecliptic plane

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14
Q

Sun info

A

Biggest, brightest, and hottest object in the solar system
99.86% of the solar system’s mass
Sun is a medium size, main sequence star
Sun is composed of about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium

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15
Q

Mercury info

A

Mercury is solid and covered with craters
Mercury has almost no atmosphere
Mercury is the smallest planet by volume
Second densest planet but is made of densest materials (silicate rock and lots of metal)

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16
Q

Venus info

A

Similar in size to Earth, sometimes called Earth twin
Surface is rock and very hot, thick CO2 atmosphere completely hides surface and traps heat (runaway greenhouse effect)
Sunlight barely reaches surface b/c of atmosphere
Surface temp. hot enough to melt lead (900 fahrenheit)
Rock surface, dense, terrestrial planet, metal core

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17
Q

Earth info

A

5th largest planet
3rd from the sun
Liquid covers 71% of Earth’s surface
Earth has one moon

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18
Q

Moon info

A

Earth’s only natural satellite
Located about 240,000 miles from Earth
One of few moons that has atmosphere, but very thin and called exosphere
Slowly drifting further from Earth, called lunar escape

19
Q

Mars info

A

4th planet from the sun
“Red planet” due to iron oxide in soil
Iron and nickel core surrounded by silicate mantle (little less dense than Earth)
Thin atmosphere which contains mostly carbon dioxide
Has two small moons

20
Q

Jupiter info

A

Largest planet by volume and mass
hydrogen rich composition is similar to that of a star, but has far too little mass to be a star
Mostly hydrogen with some helium
Rocky core with heavier elements, but no well defined surface
Great Red Spot is a huge storm, has lasted for a while, isn’t shrinking
About 80 moons

21
Q

Saturn info

A

2nd largest
6th from the sun
Made of mostly hydrogen and helium, with denser core
Rings are not solid, made of countless small particles grabbed by Saturn’s gravity
Large diameter, but very thin

22
Q

Uranus info

A

3rd largest
7th from the sun
One of the giant gas planets
Blue-green because of methane in atmosphere

23
Q

Neptune info

A

4th largest
8th from the sun
from 1979-1999 Neptune was further than Pluto
Methane gives Neptune its color

24
Q

Pluto info

A

Considered a planet from 1930-2006
New Horizons mission launched in 2006 and reached Pluto in 2015

25
Q

Gravitational Compression

A

A phenomenon where gravity compresses an object, increasing its density
More massive planets have more gravitational compression

26
Q

Asteroid belt

A

Between Mars and Jupiter
Leftover debris from the early solar system

27
Q

Kuiper belt

A

Just beyond the orbit of Neptune
30-50 AU from sun
Composed of dozens of dwarf planets
Full of icy comets

28
Q

Oort Cloud

A

surrounds the solar system, far past Neptunes orbit
Trillion tiny icy objects
About 1 light year away
Theoretical, but lots of evidence for it

29
Q

Space junk

A

Stuff humans have put up into space, like satellites and space stations (artificial objects in space)

30
Q

How we measure distances in space

A

Triangulation - using trigonometry
Parallax - an effect where the position of an object changes when viewed from different positions, greater effect if object is closer
Using parallax
Accurately take a measurement of where a star is at a given time
After 6 months (opposite side of orbit), re-measure the position of the star Alternatively (for closer objects), simply observe from two different places on Earth
By knowing diameter of Earth’s orbit and the distance of the shift, astronomers can calculate parallax
Closer the object, the larger the parallax

31
Q

Briefly define AU

A

AU - astronomical units, 1 AU = about 150 million km or the average distance from the Earth to the Sun

32
Q

Briefly define light years

A

Light year - distance the speed of light will travel in one year, 1 light year = 63,241.1 AU

33
Q

Briefly define parsec

A

The distance at which an object has a parallax of one arcsecond (1/3600 degrees), 1 parsec = 3.26 light years

34
Q

Order AU, light year, and parsec form least to greatest

A

AU, light year, parsec

35
Q

What is a model? Why do we use them

A

A conceptual representation of a system of ideas, events, or processes
They help people understand and visualize things

36
Q

What is a scale factor?

A

A relationship or ratio between the actual size of an object and the size of the object on a model

37
Q

How do we create a scale factor?

A

You take the actual size of an object and multiply it by a number in order to make it smaller or bigger, then you make a statement matching the units of the actual size to one unit of the scaled size

38
Q

Be able to briefly describe how we know planetary densities

A

Finding mass of planets
If you take two objects you can measure the gravitational attraction and use it to determine the mass of the two objects
Newton made an equation that expresses the gravitational attraction between two spherical objects
F = G(m1 x m2/r^2)
Know mass of object you are using to compare, find force between two objects, find distance between two objects, plug them into formula

Finding volume of planets
We can use formula for volume of a sphere, which uses radius to calculate, so then we need to find radius
Find radius using triangulation

Once we know mass and volume we simply divide mass by volume to get density

39
Q

why do we want to know densities of planets

A

tell us about the composition of planets

40
Q

Io

A

The third largest of Jupiter’s moons.
Io has hundreds of volcanic calderas. Some of the volcanoes are active. Volcanic activity outside of earth is rare, making this moon particularly interesting to scientists.

41
Q

Europa

A

The fourth largest of Jupiter’s moons
It is slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon.
The surface strongly resembles images of sea ice on Earth. There may be a liquid water sea under the crust.
Has an exosphere
People suspect life may exist under the ice

42
Q

Ganymede

A

Largest of Jupiter’s known satellites.
Extensive cratering
Icy crust

43
Q

Callisto

A

Second largest of Jupiter’s moons
Callisto has the oldest, most cratered surface of any planet or moon or asteroid or comet yet observed in the solar system

Earth Science (12 decks)

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