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99 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is the length of our day based on?
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The time it takes the Sun to make one full circuit of the sky
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The length of a month comes from what?
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The Moon's cycle of phases
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What is the length of our year based on?
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The cycle of the seasons
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The seven days of the week were named based on what?
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The 7 naked-eye objects that appear to move amont eh constellations:
1. Sun 2. Moon 3. Mars 4. Mercury 5. Jupiter 6. Venus 7. Saturn |
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What celestial object is the day Sunday based on?
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The Sun
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What celestial object is the day Monday based?
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The Moon
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What celestial object is the day Tuesday based on?
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Mars
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What celestial object is the day Wednesday based on?
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Mercury
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What celestial object is the day Thursday based on?
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Jupiter
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What celestial object is the day Friday based on?
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Venus
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What celestial object is the day Saturday based on?
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Saturn
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Where can we trace the origins of our modern clock to?
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Egyptians of 4,000 years ago
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What does "a.m." mean?
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ante meridiem - before the middle of the day
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What does "p.m." mean?
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post merideim - after the middle of the day
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What were the 2 purposes of Stonehenge in southern England?
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1. an astronomical device for keeping track of the seasons
2. social & religious gathering place |
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How many days are in a 12-month lunar calendar?
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354 or 355 days
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How many days are in a 12-month solar calendar?
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365 days
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Describe the Metonic Cycle:
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the lunar phases repeat on the same dates about every 19 years
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What is the term for the study ancient structures in search of astronomical connections?
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archaeoastronomy
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According to ancient Polynesian culture, who was the most esteemed person?
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The Navigator who could navigate great disances among the islands
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Where did the path to modern science originate?
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The Mediterranean and the Middle East - esp ancient Greece
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What was considered the preeminent center of research for @ 700 years that opened @ 300 BC?
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The Lbrary of Alexandria in Egypt
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What eventually happened to the Library of Alexandria?
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It burned
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Describe the 3 major innovations by Greek philosophers that helped pave the way for modern science:
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1. developed a tradition of trying to understand nature without using supernatural explanations
2. used mathematics to give precision to their ideas 3. saw the power of reasoning from observations |
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When was the Earth's circumference first measured?
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240 BC
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Who was the first to measure the Earth's circumference?
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Eratosthenes
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How did the Greeks synthesize all 3 major innovations of science?
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Created scientif models of nature
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What is the term for the conceptual representation whose purpose is to explain and predict observed phenomena?
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Scientific model
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Which Greek was one of the earliest to teach that the Earth was round?
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Pythagoras @ 500 BC
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Who developed the geocentric model?
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The Greeks
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What is the term for the model of the universe that has a spherical Earth at the center of a great celestial sphere?
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Geocentric Model
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Why did the Greeks have trouble with the geocentric model?
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It failed to explain the apparent retrograde motion of the planets
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Who proposed the first Sun-centered model for the universe?
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Aristarchus @ 260 BC
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What is the name for the model for the universe that is based on each planet moving on a small circle whose center moves around Earth on a larger circle?
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Ptomelmaic model developed by Ptolemy(100-170 AD)
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T or F
The Ptomelaic model proved remarkable successful and was in use for 1500 years. |
True
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T or F
Much of Greek knowledge was lost with the destruction of the Library of Alexandria |
True
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Who saved and translated the remaining works of the Greeks that survived the fire at Alexandria?
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Islamic sholars in Bagdad
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What was established with a mission much like that of the Library of Alexandria in Bagdad @ 800AD?
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House of Wisdom
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What is the name for the time in European civilization when it fell inot a period of intellectual decline?
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The Dark Ages
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T or F
The House of Wisdom employed Jews, Christians, and Muslims in academic pursuits. |
True
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What is the source for the names of many bright stars?
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Arabic astronomers who began the names with "al" which means "the"
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What caused many Eastern scholars to flee to Europe in 1453?
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When the Byzantine capitol Constantinople fell to the Turks
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What is the name that is given to modern-day Constantinople?
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Istanbul
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Who was the scientist who eventually overturned the Ptolemaic model?
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Copernicus
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Where was Copernicus orginally from ?
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Poland
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What is the name given to the development of virtually all modern science and technology?
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The Copernican Revolution
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What was the problem with the Copernican model?
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held fast to the belief that heavanly motion must occur in perfect circles
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Who was the Danish astronomer who observed a nova, proving that it was much farther away than the moon, the same with a comet?
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Tycho
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Who developed a model where the Sun orbits the Earth while the other planets orbit the Sun?
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Tycho
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Where was Tycho from?
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Denmark
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Whose discovery was that planetary orbits are not circles but instead are a special type of oval called an ellipse?
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Kepler
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Who was the student of Tycho?
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Kepler
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What is the term for an oval?
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ellipse
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What is the term for the long axis of an ellipse?
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major axis
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What is the term for each half of a major axis of an ellipse?
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semimajor axis
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What is the term given to the locations in the center of the arcs in an ellipse?
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Foci (focus)
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What is the term for the short axis of an ellipse?
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minor axis
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What is the term for the distance between the 2 foci of an ellipse?
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Eccentricity
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What is the quantity that describes the amount by which an ellipse is stretched out compared to a perfect circle?
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Eccentricity
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What is the eccentricity of a perfect circle?
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0 - zero
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What is Kepler's first law of planetaray motion?
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The orbit of each planet about the Sun is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus.
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Which of Kepler's laws of planetary motion tellsus that a planet's distance form the Sun varies during its orbit?
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Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion
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What is the term for the location of a planet when it is closest to the Sun?
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Perihelion (near the sun)
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What is the term for the location of a planet when it is the farthest from the Sun?
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Aphelion ( away from the sun)
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What is the term given to the average of a planets periehlion and aphelion distances?
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The length of that planet's semimajor axis
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What is the term used essentially for a planet's average distance from the Sun?
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The semimajor axis
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What is Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion?
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As a planet moves around its orbit, it sweeps out equal areas in equal times.
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Which of Kepler's Laws means that a planet moves a greater distance when it is near perihelion than it does in the same amount of time near aphelion?
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Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion
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Which of Kepler's Laws says that a planet travels faster when it is nearer to the Sun and slower when it is farther from the Sun?
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Kepler's Second Law of Planetary Motion
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Describe Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion?
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More distant planets orbit the Sun at slower average speeds,
2 3 p = a p = planet's orbital period in years a = its average distance from the Sun in stronomical units |
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Who finally solved the reason why Kepler's third law of planetary motion is true?
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Isaac Newton
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Who explained planetary motion and Kepler's laws were consequences of the force of gravity?
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Isaac Newton
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What force explains planetary motion and Kepler's Laws?
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Gravity
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What were the 3 basic objections to the Copernican view of planetary motion?
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1. Earth could not be moving because all objects would be left behind
2. Non-circular orbits contradicted that the heavens must be perfect and unchanging 3. No one had detected stellar parallax that should occur if Earth orbits the Sun |
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Who finally answered all 3 objections to the Copernican view?
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Galileo
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Who overturn the Aristotelian view of physics?
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Galileo
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Who demonstrated that a moving object remains in motion unless a force acts to stop it?
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Galileo
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Who built the first telescope?
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Hans Lippershey
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T or F
Galileo's telescope was weaker than Lippershey. |
False.
Galileo's telescope was stronger |
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When was the telescope invented?
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1608
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What did Galileo observe that helped refute the Earth-centered universe?
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He saw 4 moons orbiting Jupiter
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Who brought Galileo before them to recant his claim that Earth orbits the Sun?
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The Roman Catholic Church
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T or F
Current Roman Catholic teachings are compatible not only with Earth's planetary status but also with the theories of the Big Bang and the subsequent evolution of the cosmos and of life? |
True
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Where did the word "science" come from?
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Latin word, "scientia"
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What does the Latin word, "scientia" mean?
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Knowledge
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What is the formal term given to the idea of an "educated guess"?
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Hypothesis
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List the 3 basic characteristics, Hallmarks, of science:
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1. seeks explanations for observed pheonomena that rely soley on natural causes
2. progresses through the creation & testing of models of nature that explain the observations as simply as possible 3. scientific model must make testable predictions @ natural phenomena that would force us to revise or abandon the model if the predictions do not agree with observations. |
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List the 5 steps of the scientific method:
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1. make observations
2. ask a questio 3. suggest a hypothesis 4. make a prediction 5. perform a test; experiment or additional observations |
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What is the name for the principle that one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.
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Occam's razor
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Describe Occam's razor
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one should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything.
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What feature about observations must be true for science?
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Observations must be verifiable, that is, to be seen by another
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What is an important trait for any scientist?
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Objectivity
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What can influence a scientist's work?
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Bias
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What is the term used for the general patterns of thought?
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Paradigm
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What is the scientific term given to a simple model that makes predictions that survive repeated and varied testing?
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Theory
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Cite examples of theories that have so far survived repeated and varied testing?
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1. Newton's theory of gravity
2. Darwin's theory of evolutio 3. Einstein's theory of relativity |
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T or F
Scientific theory can be proved true beyond all doubt. |
False,
Scientific theory can never be proved true beyond all doubt |
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Why can't scientific theory be proved beyond all doubt?
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More sophisticated observations may eventually disagree with its predictions
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What is the term for the set of beliefs that human events are influenced by the apparent postitions of the Sun, Moon, and planets among the stars in our sky?
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Astrology
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