Ucsf 137 Midterm

Front 1

Tragedy of the commons

Back 1

The tragedy of the commons is an economic theory of a situation within a shared-resource system where individual users acting independently according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the common good of all users by depleting or spoiling that resource through their collective action.

Front 2

Define ecology

Back 2

The branch of environmental science that focuses on the abundance and distribution of organisms in relation to their environment

Front 3

Define ecosystem services

Back 3

the multitude of resources and processes that ecosystems supply to humans

Front 4

Define sustainability

Back 4

meeting the needs of the present in an equitable and fair fashion without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs

Front 5

ecosystem stability: positive feedback

Back 5

occurs when the directional change in a process alters the ecosystem so as to reinforce that change

Front 6

ecosystem stability: negative feedback

Back 6

occurs when a directional change in a process alters the system in a manner that reverses the direction of that change

Front 7

scientific method

Back 7

1. Questions

2. Hypothesis

3. Predictions

4. Conduct experiment

Front 8

element

Back 8

a chemical that cannot be broken down or separated into other chemicals

Front 9

subatomic particles: protons

Back 9

positively charged particles

Front 10

subatomic particles: neutrons

Back 10

electrically neutral particles

Front 11

subatomic particles: electrons

Back 11

negatively charged particles

Front 12

Define isotopes

Back 12

atoms of an element having different numbers of neutrons

Front 13

Define covalent bond

Back 13

a strong bond formed when atoms share electrons

Front 14

Define ionic bond

Back 14

chemical bonds that form between positively charged ions and negatively charged ions

Front 15

Define hydrogen bond

Back 15

the bond formed by the attraction between the oxygen atom in one water molecule and a hydrogen atom in another water molecule

Front 16

dipole bonds

Back 16

weaker bonds between atoms and molecules, result of shifts of charge

Front 17

polar molecule

Back 17

forms dipole bonds with other molecules

Front 18

Nonpolar covalent bonds

Back 18

a type of bond that occurs when two atoms share a pair of electrons with each other. These shared electrons glue two or more atoms together to form a molecule

Front 19

Polar covalent bond

Back 19

a type of chemical bond where a pair of electrons is unequally shared between two atoms

Front 20

Hydrogen bonds between water molecules

Back 20

The hydrogen bond in water is a dynamic attraction between neighboring water molecules involving one hydrogen atom located between the two oxygen atoms.

Front 21

dipole/dipole interactions

Back 21

Dipole-Dipole interactions result when two dipolar molecules interact with each other through space. When this occurs, the partially negative portion of one of the polar molecules is attracted to the partially positive portion of the second polar molecule.

Front 22

pH scale

Back 22

a quantitative representation of the relative amounts of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in a substance

Front 23

organic compounds

Back 23

molecules made of carbon covalently bonded to hydrogen, oxygen, and other atoms

Front 24

inorganic compounds

Back 24

compounds that are no made up of carbon and hydrogen

Front 25

Lipids

Back 25

organic molecules made of long chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms and a shorter region with one to several oxygen molecules; usually fats and oils

Front 26

Carbohydrates

Back 26

organic molecules made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen

Front 27

proteins

Back 27

polymers made of nitrogen containing organic molecules called amino acides

Front 28

nucleic acids

Back 28

polymers of chemical subunits called nucleotides

Front 29

1st law of thermodynamics

Back 29

the total amount of energy in the universe is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but it can be neither created nor destroyed

Front 30

2nd law of thermodynamics

Back 30

every energy transformation increases disorder; energy in a system that was once organized in such a way as to do work has a tendency to transform into a less usable form as the work is done

Front 31

gamma rays, x-rays, and UV light

Back 31

have wavelengths that are shorter than those of visible light and carry more energy than visible light

Front 32

infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves

Back 32

have wavelengths that are longer than those of visible light and carry less energy than visible light

Front 33

potential energy is

Back 33

stored energy

Front 34

kinetic energy is

Back 34

energy in motion

Front 35

chemical energy is

Back 35

potential energy for breaking and forming chemical bonds

Front 36

heat is

Back 36

kinetic energy of molecules

Front 37

Earth's structure

Back 37

1. Core

2. Mantle

3. Crust

4. Lithosphere

Front 38

biogeochemical cycle

Back 38

flow of matter through the ecosystem

Front 39

levels of the atmosphere

Back 39

1. Troposphere (lowest layer)

2. Mesosphere

3. Stratosphere (contains ozone layer, protects life from ultraviolet radiation)

4. Thermosphere (extends to space)

Front 40

Where does Earth's energy come from?

Back 40

the sun

Front 41

What causes the seasons?

Back 41

Earth is tilted on a 23.5* axis, which causes differential heating throughout the year and causes wind cells to shift north or south

Front 42

primary energy

Back 42

contained in natural resources such as coal, oil, sunlight, wind, and uranium

Front 43

secondary energy

Back 43

forms of energy such as electricity or the kinetic energy of an automobile that are derived from energy contained in natural resources such as flowing water or oil

Front 44

renewable energy

Back 44

energy derived from sources that are not depleted when they are used, such as sunlight and wind, or that can be replenished in a short period of time, such as fuelwood

Front 45

nonrenewable energy

Back 45

the use of an energy source at rates faster than the rate of replenishment

Front 46

EROI

Back 46

economic return on investment

Front 47

end use energy

Back 47

the energy directly consumed by the user

Front 48

primary energy

Back 48

the energy that is harvested directly from natural resources

Front 49

energy conversion efficiency

Back 49

percentage of primary source energy that is captured in secondary form

Front 50

volts

Back 50

electric potential measured in

Front 51

amperes

Back 51

the unit used to measure electric current