Physical Science Module 5 - Kims Class

Front 1

hydrosphere

Back 1

The sum of all water on a planet

Front 2

Name several factors that combine to make earth just right for life.

Back 2

1. Earth is just the right distance away from the sun to keep water liquid. 2. Earth has just the right atmospheric gas mix to keep earth's temperature fairly constant. 3. Water hydrogen bonds, which keeps it a liquid at earth's normal temperature.

Front 3

What is the percent split of saltwater vs. freshwater in the world?

Back 3

97.25% saltwater, 2.75% freshwater

Front 4

Where is the majority of freshwater located?

Back 4

75% of the world's freshwater is in icebergs and glaciers.

Front 5

What is the largest source of liquid freshwater?

Back 5

groundwater, that is, water that is underground.

Front 6

What percent of freshwater is surface freshwater, located in lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams?

Back 6

Less than 0.01%

Front 7

hydrologic cycle

Back 7

The process by which water is continuously exchanged between earth's various water sources

Front 8

What are the 2 ways water enters the atmosphere?

Back 8

evaporation and transpiration

Front 9

transpiration

Back 9

Evaporation of water from plants

Front 10

evaporation

Back 10

The process by which a liquid turns into a gas.

Front 11

Name two ways water is depleted from the soil.

Back 11

Transpiration (because plants take water from the ground) and groundwater flow (when water soaks down through the soil into groundwater sources which then feed lakes and streams.)

Front 12

condensation

Back 12

The process by which a gas turns into a liquid

Front 13

precipitation

Back 13

Water falling from the atmosphere as rain, snow, sleet, or hail

Front 14

surface runoff

Back 14

water that runs along the surface of land directly into an ocean, lake, or river without soaking into the land.

Front 15

river flow

Back 15

water dumping from a river into an ocean

Front 16

Name 2 ways water transfers from freshwater to saltwater

Back 16

1. A river flows into an ocean. 2. Water evaporates from a lake and precipitates back down into an ocean.

Front 17

Name a way saltwater transfers into freshwater

Back 17

Water evaporates from an ocean and precipitates down onto soil and runs off into a river.

Front 18

distillation

Back 18

evaporation and condensation of a mixture to separate out the mixture's individual components. Used to remove salt from saltwater.

Front 19

Explain the concept of residence time

Back 19

The average time a given particle will stay in a given system. For the hydrologic system, how long a particular water molecule will stay in the ocean before evaporating into the atmosphere, for example.

Front 20

Why is the residence time of water in a river typically less than that in the ocean?

Back 20

Rivers flow and distribute their water to various sources rather quickly. The only way a water molecule can leave the ocean is to evaporate, and there is a huge amount of water in the ocean, so the chances of a particular water molecule evaporating is quite small.

Front 21

What water source has the shortest residence time, and why?

Back 21

The atmosphere has the shortest residence time because clouds form constantly and then eventually precipitate.

Front 22

What percent of ocean water is salt?

Back 22

3.5% (2.7% is actually NaCl.)

Front 23

salinity

Back 23

A measure of the mass of dissolved salt in a given mass of water.

Front 24

What is the average salinity of ocean water?

Back 24

35 grams per kilogram. This means that for every 1000 grams of ocean water, 35 grams of salt are dissolved in it.

Front 25

Does freshwater contain salt?

Back 25

Yes, freshwater contains salt, but its concentration is much lower than that of ocean water, so we call it "fresh" water.

Front 26

How does salt get in the ocean?

Back 26

Water from rivers rush over rocks containing salt, and dissolve some of that salt into the river water. This is carried to the ocean.

Front 27

Why does salt concentrate in ocean water?

Back 27

Water evaporates from the ocean, leaving salt behind. Over time, the salinity in the ocean rises because there is no significant way for salt to leave the ocean. It keeps getting added, but doesn't get removed or used.

Front 28

Why doesn't calcium build up in ocean water?

Back 28

Creatures in the ocean use calcium to build their shells. Therefore, while calcium is constantly added through river water, it is also removed by marine creatures.

Front 29

Since rivers pick up salt from rocks, why aren't rivers, lakes, and streams very salty?

Back 29

Because the major way that water leaves these systems is by direct exchange with another body of water. When water leaves this way, it takes salt with it, unlike evaporation, which leaves salt behind.

Front 30

How does the salinity of our oceans argue against an earth age of billions of years?

Back 30

Scientists know approximately how much salt is added to the oceans every year, so, assuming that the oceans started with no salt, they can calculate the maximum age of the earth based on present day salinity levels. This gives an absolute maximum of 62 million years, which is much less than the billions of years where many scientists put the earth's age.

Front 31

How does a creationist view of the earth's age fit with salinity data?

Back 31

Creationists believe that God created the oceans with salt in them already, so that the marine animals he created would have appropriate environments. If the oceans started with a significant level of salinity, then the calculated age of the earth would be much younger. Also, the flood is assumed to have contributed a major amount of salt to the ocean system.

Front 32

brine

Back 32

highly concentrated pockets of salt water

Front 33

When saltwater freezes, is the water purified?

Back 33

Not really. When saltwater freezes, it forms solid pure ice surrounding small pockets of brine. Since the brine is spread throughout the ice, we can't really say that water is purified.

Front 34

sea ice

Back 34

frozen ocean water, consisting of solid water and brine. Some of the brine is forced back into the sea, which lowers the salinity of sea ice from 35 g/kg to 1-10 g/kg.

Front 35

Where do icebergs form?

Back 35

They form when the edge of a glacier hits the ocean and "calves" to form an iceberg.

Front 36

firn

Back 36

a dense, icy pack of old snow

Front 37

glacier

Back 37

a moving mass of firn. They move quite slowly, usually less than 1 meter/day.

Front 38

How are glaciers responsible for the shaping of certain parts of the earth's surface?

Back 38

As they move, they carve out valleys in the earth.

Front 39

ice shelf

Back 39

A huge sheet of ice that originally came from a glacier and is now floating in the sea.

Front 40

Are icebergs fresh or salt water?

Back 40

Fresh, since they form from glaciers, which are the result of snowfall (precipitation.)

Front 41

Groundwater

Back 41

Water in the part of the ground deeper under the surface where the soil is fully saturated with water, that is, no more water can be put in the soil. This groundwater feeds streams, lakes, and oceans

Front 42

soil moisture

Back 42

Water in the upper part of the ground, where the soil is not fully saturated, and therefore can fit more water. Some soil moisture will go into plants, and some will seep down into the ground water.

Front 43

water table

Back 43

The line between the water-saturated soil and the soil that is not saturated with water.

Front 44

percolation -

Back 44

The process by which water moves downward in the soil, toward the water table.

Front 45

What happens to the water table depth in a drought?

Back 45

It increases, that is, you have to dig down further in the ground until you reach the water table.

Front 46

Why are the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea (really a lake) so salty?

Back 46

While they have water sources feeding them, they don't have rivers leaving from them. Thus, the only way water can leave them is to evaporate, just like an ocean.

Front 47

Why does gas expand when it is heated?

Back 47

The energy added to the gas molecules by heating them makes them move faster and harder, thus spreading them out without slowing them down.

Front 48

How can a gas cool when it expands?

Back 48

If there is no extra energy available to the gas molecules, they will spread out more without moving faster, which decreases the chance of them hitting a thermometer and decreasing the speed with which they hit the thermometer. This will amount to a net cooling of the gas if no extra energy from outside the system is added.

Front 49

adiabatic cooling

Back 49

The cooling of a gas that happens when the gas expands with no way of getting more energy

Front 50

cloud condensation nuclei

Back 50

Small airborne particles upon which water vapor condenses to form clouds

Front 51

Where do most cloud condensation nuclei come from in our atmosphere?

Back 51

volcanoes, fires, dust, and human industrial activity

Front 52

fog

Back 52

a cloud that has formed on the ground due to high humidity and rapid cooling of the ground, causing condensation near the ground

Front 53

How can gas expand without cooling?

Back 53

If heat is added to the gas, it will expand without cooling.

Front 54

Why is groundwater pollution important?

Back 54

We obtain most of our drinking water from groundwater.

Front 55

Why is groundwater pollution difficult to control?

Back 55

Pollutants can come from industrial sources far away, or from local sources that are not industrial in nature, such as fertilizers, pesticides, and pollutants from dumps.

Front 56

thermal pollution

Back 56

heating of lake or river water due to its use in cooling industrial machinery. This can severely affect a lake's ecosystem.