Science Vocab Flashcards
Axis
An imaginary line that passes through a planet’s center and its north and south poles, about which the planet rotates
Rotation
The spinning motion of a planet on its axis
Revolution
The movement of an object around another object
Orbit
The path of an object as it revolves around another object in space
Solstice
Either of the two days of the year on which the sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator
Equinox
Either of the two days of the year on which neither hemisphere is tilted toward or away from the sun
Gravity
The attractive force between objects; the force that moves objects downhill
Law of universal gravitation
The scientific law that states that every object in the universe attracts every object
Inertia
The tendency of an object to resist a change in motion
Phase
The different shapes of the moon you see
Eclipse
The partial or total blocking of one object in space by another
Umbra
The darkest part of a shadow
Penumbra
The darkest part of a shadow surrounding the darkest part
Tides
The rise and fall of ocean water that occur approximately every 12.5 hours
Spring tide
The gravitational pulls from both the sun and moon combine produce a tide with the most significant difference between consecutive low and high tides
