Week 1 Flashcards
(26 cards)
the Big Bang theory
The singularity “exploded” about 13-15 billion years ago. The universe cooled as its expansion continued. Photons (parcels of energy) were transformed into fundamental particles among them (electrons, protons and neurons) and eventually formed atoms
Evidence for the Big Bang theory
- The red shift
- A non-static universe
- Abundance of light elements dominating (hydrogen and helium)
Extra energy .. not static universe
If the universe were static, there should be no background radiation. However extra energy exists throughout the observable universe (above which could be accounted for by a static universe).
Abundance of light elements
hydrogen and helium found in the observable universe is on par with the predictions of how matter would form from a “Big Bang” event (with light elements dominating the stage).
The red shift
As light from distant galaxies approach Earth, wavelengths of light are stretched (toward red end of light spectrum), indicating that galaxies are moving away from us…. All galaxies appear to be moving away from all others.
Nebule
“knot-like” clouds of gas the first stars were born within.
Stars as pressure cookers
Stars are “pressure cookers” that produce heavy elements from light elements
Supernovae
Exploding stars that scatter both light and heavy elements back into space
The birth of the sun
Our sun is thought to be a third-generation star. Majority of the material concentrated in the center of a spinning nebula, forming the Sun.
Birth of planetary bodies
Remaining dust and gas that surrounded the newly developing Sun combined to form larger solid bodies that became planets.
Period of Heavy Bombardment
The early Earth had frequent impacts by the solid bodies that were still accreting. Earth’s first atmosphere was Jupiter-like (dominated by hydrogen and helium).
Early atmosphere was burned off by solar wind of developing Sun.
Late heavy bombardment
Moon thought to have been flung off newly forming Earth due to impact (or glancing blow) by Mars-sized object. The tilt of Earth’s axis also probably resulted from large impact
Large bodies of debris continued to impact Earth. Earth started to cool after this violent period.
Links between creation stories
1) Chaos rules the universe –> universe originally existed without form
2) Energy dictated the appearance of matter –> energy gave rise to the physical universe
3) Components of the universe separated into distinct realms –> energy and matter became distinct after the big bang
4) Land was created to separate the waters –> once Earth formed, continents formed, separating ocean basins
Earth’s layers
crust, mantle, core
Jovian planets
Large, “Jupiter-like,” planets that have very thick atmospheres and are relatively far from the Sun. (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
Terrestrial planets
Small, “Earth-like,” rocky planets that have thin atmospheres and are relatively close to the Sun. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars)
Age of Earth
4.6 billion years
Earth’s distance from the sun
147.12 million kilometres
Geosphere
comprises the solid Earth and includes both Earth’s surface and the various layers of the Earth’s interior.
Atmosphere
gaseous envelope that surrounds the Earth and constitutes the transition between its surface and the vacuum of space.
Hydrosphere
includes all water on Earth (including surface water and groundwater).
Biosphere
the life zone of the Earth.. includes all living organisms, and all organic matter that has not yet decomposed.
Lithosphere
the upper, brittle layer of Earth. Broken into tectonic plates that “float” on the asthenosphere. When these plates spread apart, bump into one another, and slide past one another, they form surface irregularities
Earth is a closed system
energy can enter in the form of soler radiation, and leave in the form of heat
