Year 9 Yearly Mistakes Flashcards
Define ecosystem
The biological community of organisms and their physical environment
Define precipitation
Any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapour that falls under gravitational pull from clouds.
Define infiltration
The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil
Define respiration process
The carbon in glucose is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide
Name of Process that allows nitrogen to be used by living organisms
Nitrogen fixation
When does nitrogen fixation occur?
Mostly in lightning strikes
How do lightning strikes do this?
The electrical energy from a storm converts atmospheric nitrogen into various useful nitrogen compounds.
Define decomposers
Organisms that use the organic matter of dead plants and animals
Define nucleic acids
The building blocks of genetic material
Define biodiversity
The variety of plants and animals and other living things in a particular area or region
Define competitors
Organisms that require the same resources from the same habitat.
Define conservation
Preservation of natural resources for future generations.
Define ecology
Study of the relations of organisms to one another and to their surroundings.
Define prey
An organism that is used as food.
Define sustainable
Not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and therefore supporting long-term ecological balance.
Why are elements containing 1 or 7 valence electrons highly reactive?
An element containing 1 or 7 valence electrons is highly reactive as the closer an element is to noble gas configuration, the more reactive it is.
How does an element containing 1 valence electron get to noble gas configuration?
By either subtracting an electron or adding 7 valence electrons.
How do the vertical (up/down) trends relate to the size of an atom?
When you travel downwards, the element has more electron shells meaning that the atom is larger than the element above it and smaller than the element below it.
Define atom
The smallest particle of an element that has all of the chemical properties of that element.
Define matter
Physical substances made of atoms. It has weight and takes up space.
Define scientific model
A scientific model is a simplified representation or approximation containing the basic and most important parts of a real system, used to show how the real system works or can be changed.
Define periodic table
A table of the chemical elements arranged in order of atomic number, usually in rows, so that elements with similar atomic structure (and hence similar chemical
properties) appear in vertical columns.
Define radioactive
A substance containing unstable atoms, which can spontaneously decay (break down) and emit nuclear radiation, either alpha or beta particles or gamma rays.
Define radioisotope
An isotope of an element that is unstable (and thus radioactive).
Why is it called Alkaline Earth Metals?
Named after their oxides, the alkaline earths. These oxides are basic (alkaline) when combined with water.
Why is it called Alkali Metals?
The alkali metals are so named because when they react with water they form alkalies.
Name 3 elements from Group 1
Lithium, sodium and potassium
Name 3 elements from Group 2
Beryllium, Magnesium and Calcium
Name 3 elements from Group 17
Fluorine, Chlorine and Bromine
Examples of carbon’s existence
Carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, fossil fuels, organic matter, dead organisms, pollution and in the ocean.
Methods of distributing carbon atoms among organisms in an ecosystem
Photosynthesis and digestion distribute carbon atoms among the organisms within an ecosystem.
Provide an example of nitrogen importance
Nitrogen plays an essential part in the formation of amino acids and nucleic acids.
How is nitrogen returned to the ecosystem?
Nitrogen is returned to the ecosystem as ammonia (chemical formula NH3), present in urine and faeces, or when dead organic matter decomposes. This ammonia is converted back into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria that are naturally present in the soil. Another type of bacteria, the denitrifying bacteria, converts these nitrates back into atmospheric nitrogen gas.
What are autotrophs?
These are the organisms that can prepare their own food from simple substances like carbon dioxide and water.
What does an energy pyramid show?
It shows the total energy in trophic levels and how that energy is lost along a food chain.
Describe the appearance of energy pyramids
The base of the pyramid represents the energy contained in producers. The next level shows the energy contained in 1st order consumers and so on.
Define human impacts
Any human activities which have a negative effect, either directly or indirectly, on either the biotic or abiotic components of an environment.
Why is it named the greenhouse effect?
The glass which the greenhouse is made of allows light to enter and prevents heat from escaping, making it very warm inside. The heat allows the plants to grow in winter. A similar effect is happening to Earth.
How is CO2 produced?
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is released in large quantities from natural processes including respiration by living organisms, volcanoes and forest fires. Man-made CO2 emissions are released into the atmosphere via power stations, motor vehicles and factory emissions.
Define predator
An organism that kills and eats other animals
Why is it called Halogens?
Because they all produce sodium salts of similar properties and Hal is salt in Greek while Gen means produce.
Provide 3 examples of how radiation is used in depth
Radioactive isotopes like technetium-99m can be attached to certain chemicals called tracers, which are injected into the bloodstream and then accumulate in particular parts of the body. The radioactive isotopes emit radiation which can be picked up by a detector. It is used to diagnose bone, heart, kidney, lung, and blood flow problems.
Iodine-123 emits gamma rays with a half-life of about 13 hours. This means it is ideal for nuclear imaging of the thyroid. Iodine-123 is ingested or injected, and one day later a scan is done to visualise the amount of remaining iodine-123.Like technetium-99m, a gamma camera is used to detect the gamma rays emitted from the isotope to test whether the patient has thyroid cancer or not.
Sodium-24 is used as a radioactive tracer to detect leaks in pipes. Leaks in underground pipes may be difficult to find. A small amount of a radioisotope is added to the pipe, and then a detector is moved along the ground above the pipe. The amount of radiation detected will increase near a leak, because the amount of liquid containing the tracer is higher where it is leaking out of the pipe into the ground. If you then move beyond the leak, the amount of radiation coming from the pipe will decrease because some of it has leaked out.
How did Dalton discover compounds?
He carefully examined the experiments of others (and repeated a few) and realised that elements seemed to join in very fixed ratios, as if 1 ‘part’ of an element always connected to 2 (or 3 or 4) parts of another element.
What was Bohr’s theory?
According to Bohr’s atomic model, electrons move in definite orbits around the nucleus, much like planets circle the sun. These orbits, or energy levels, are located at certain distances from the nucleus.
If Nitrates are NO3, then what is ammonia?
NH3
If Nitrates are NO3, then what is ammonium?
NH4
