Unit 2 Study Guide

Front 1

What are the terrestrial planets? What are their characteristics?

Back 1

Mercury, Venus, Earth, MarsEach of these is rocky (i.e. made of rocks), has a metallic core, has an atmosphere (except for Mercury), and has few or no moons.

Front 2

What are the Jovian planets? What are their characteristics?

Back 2

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and NeptuneCharacterized by being huge (all but about 1% of the mass of the solar system’s orbiting bodies) and made of gas and/or ice. Thus, they don’t have a real surface.

Front 3

What is the current theory to explain the formation of the solar system?

Back 3

The nebular hypothesis

Front 4

The solar system is a complex system of moving masses held together by what forces?

Back 4

Gravity

Front 5

What is the mass distribution in the solar system?

Back 5

Sun 99.87%

Jupiter is 50% of the rest of the Solar System mass

Front 6

Where is the Asteroid Belt and what is it made of?

Back 6

Just beyond the Terrestrial planetsAn area of millions of objects - Some microscopic and up to many kilometers in diameter

Front 7

Where is the Kuiper Belt and what is it made of?

Back 7

Beyond the Jovian planetsMuch larger and composed of objects mostly made of ice (in comparison to the Asteroid Belt), dwarf planet, Pluto

Front 8

What is Kepler's 1st law?

Back 8

Elliptical Paths= All objects orbit in elliptical paths, with the sun at one of the foci. This applies to planets or comets, for example.

Front 9

What is Kepler's 2nd law?

Back 9

Equal AreasAs objects traverse their orbit in an elliptical path, they travel at varying speed so that the area is equal time frames. What this means is that the velocity of the orbiting body increases as it gets closer to the sun.

Front 10

What is Kepler's 3rd law?

Back 10

Harmonic LawRelates the orbital period with the average distance from the sun which is stated mathematically is (see book for equation)T is the period in years, R is the radius in Astronomical units.

Front 11

What is an Earth-centered model of the solar system called?

Back 11

Geocentric Model

Front 12

Which planet moves the fastest?

Back 12

Mercury

Front 13

The point of a planet's orbit farthest from the Sun is called what?

Back 13

Aphelion

Front 14

The point of a planet's orbit Closest to the Sun is called what?

Back 14

Perihelion

Front 15

What is the Moon's orbital tilt in degrees from the Earth's ecliptic plane?

Back 15

5 Degrees

Front 16

How does a Foucault pendulum prove that the Earth rotates?

Back 16

a large pendulum that knocks down little tiles arranged in a circleAs the Earth rotates, the apparent direction will change - knock down the tiles throughout the day.

Front 17

What is parallax and what does it prove?

Back 17

is the apparent motion of distant stars against a background of even farther away stars, due to our movement as we orbit.To prove the Earth orbits around the Sun.

Front 18

How long does it take the Moon to complete one orbit around the Earth?

Back 18

29.5 Days

Front 19

What is a solar eclipse and what is the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment?

Back 19

When the moon blocks sunlight from hitting a part of the Earth’s surfaceThe moon orbits the Earth in a slightly different plane than the Earth - Sun orbit, which results in a non-regular alignment of the Sun, Earth and Moon. When the three bodies do align, eclipses occur.

Front 20

A lunar eclipse can occur only when the Moon is in or near what phase?

Back 20

New Moon phase

Front 21

What causes tides? What are Spring and Neap tides?

Back 21

As the Earth rotates and the moon orbits the Earth, these ocean levels variations occur on a regular basis.Spring: when the Earth-Moon-Sun lines up, the tides are particularly highNeap: When the Moon is at right angles of the Sun

Front 22

What do we call the various portions of a shadow?

Back 22

Umbra is the completely blocked portion

Penumbra is the partially blocked portion

Front 23

What is displacement? Distance?

Back 23

Displacement: from A to B is a vector quantity between the two points. It is the straight-line length as the magnitude, plus the direction.

Distance: is the magnitude of the actual path traveled.

Front 24

What is velocity? Speed?

Back 24

Velocity: is a vector which represents the displacement/time

Speed: is a scalar that represents an instantaneous value of distance/time

Front 25

The rate at which an object's velocity changes with time is called what?

Back 25

Acceleration

Front 26

An automobile's acceleration may be changed by using what?

Back 26

Velocity Magnitude

Front 27

What are the units of acceleration?

Back 27

Length per time squared : commonly meters per seconds squared

Front 28

What are vectors? Scalar?

Back 28

Vectors: measurements that have not only a value but a direction

Scalar: quantities are numbers only, an object mass is a scalar

Front 29

What type of acceleration does an object in uniform circular motion have?

Back 29

Centripetal Acceleration

Front 30

According to Newton's second law, the force required to accelerate an object is equal to its what?

Back 30

Mass

Front 31

How is linear momentum of an object determined?

Back 31

P = M x V (mass times velocity)

Front 32

Newton's third law of motion states that whenever one object exerts a force upon a second object, the second object exerts what?

Back 32

A force back upon the first object

Front 33

What is Newton's law of gravitation?

Back 33

Force equals (Gravitational attraction) Mass 1 times Mass 2

divided by R squared (the distance between the centers of the objects)

Front 34

What are the main stable constituents of Earth's atmosphere?

Back 34

Nitrogen, Oxygen

Front 35

What are the main variable constituents of Earth's atmosphere?

Back 35

Water Vapor, Dust Particles, Ozone

Front 36

What do we call the fraction of insolation that is reflected by a celestial body?

Back 36

Albedo

Front 37

Air circulation around a cyclone in the Northern Hemisphere as viewed from above is in what direction?

Back 37

Clockwise Rotation

Front 38

A sea breeze on a coast is the result of what?

Back 38

During the day, the land warms up faster than the water, and so gives off heat to warm the lower atmosphere. That warmer air rises and is replaced by the cooler air over the ocean (on shore wind)

Front 39

The lower 48 states of the United States lies predominantly in which wind zone?

Back 39

Trade Winds Cycle

Front 40

What are the types of clouds that occur in the various atmospheric levels?

Back 40

Contrails, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus, Cirrus, Cumulonimbus, Altostratus, Altocumulus, Cumulus, Nimbostratus, Stratocumbulus, Stratus

Front 41

How is the atmosphere divided based on temperature?

Back 41

Arctic (A)Polar (P)Tropical (T)

Front 42

What types of air masses might affect the lower 48 states of the United States?

Back 42

Marine (M) or Continental (C) Temperature being either Tropical (T) or Polar (P)

Front 43

What is the minimum wind speed for a hurricane? Under what conditions is a "watch" issued? A warning?

Back 43

74 miles per hour

Watch: is issued for a severe thunderstorm when the atmospheric conditions are right for storm formation.

Warning: is issued when a tornado has been spotted.

Front 44

The boundary between two air masses is called what? What types of boundaries occur?

Back 44

A frontCold Front, Warm Front, Stationary Front, Occluded Front

Front 45

What are the two processes that cause precipitation?

Back 45

Coalescence is the process where smaller droplets collide and coalesce into larger drops which fall.

Bergeron Process involves the natural attraction of water molecules to ice crystals, so as small ice crystals form, they grow by attracting water molecules in the vapor.

Front 46

What are the major types of precipitation?

Back 46

Rain, Drizzle, Snow, Sleet, Glaze (freezing Rain), Hail, Rime (ice crystals formed by the freezing of fog or cloud droplets).

Front 47

The physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rock at or near the Earth's surface is called what? What are the common types?

Back 47

Weathering.

Common Types: Air and Water attack rock crystals & Frost wedging

Front 48

What are the components of a stream's load?

Back 48

Dissolved load( made up of the material that has been dissolved into the water), and the suspended load (the small particles that are suspended in the typically turbulent water flow.)

Front 49

A loop-like bend in a river channel is called what? What is occurring at the bend? What may result?

Back 49

Meanders, at the inside of each curve, the flow is slower and decomposition create point bars, the outside curves erosion takes pace cutting into the banks creating a “cut bank”.

Front 50

What do we call the sediment deposits at the end of a glacier?

Back 50

Moraines

Front 51

What are some of the surface features we relate to glacier erosion or deposition?

Back 51

As Glaciers move they scrape the underlying surface removing material and leaving scratch marks and other features.

Front 52

What are the components of the water cycle?

Back 52

Evaporation, Condensation, and Precipitation

Front 53

About what percent of the Earth's water is freshwater? Where is most of it located?

Back 53

Only 3% is Fresh, and 2/3rds of it is frozen in glaciers and icecaps.

Front 54

The shallow submerged areas that border the continental landmasses are called what?

Back 54

The Coast

Front 55

The true edges of the continental landmasses are called what?

Back 55

Continental Slope

Front 56

What is the geologic evidence that supports the theory of continental drift?

Back 56

Continents have similar forms as if they were puzzle pieces, and also fossils of similar types we found at the coast of very separated continents

Front 57

Alfred Wegener speculated that the present continents were once part of a single supercontinent he named what?

Back 57

Pangea

Front 58

Why was the idea of continental drift not generally accepted when it was proposed?

Back 58

There was no evidence for a system to cause this sort of drifting making the idea impossible.

Front 59

What is the theory of seafloor spreading? About when was it proposed?

Back 59

The seafloor is expanding and moving away from the ridges & 1962.

Front 60

A modern geological theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to be made up of moving plates is known as what?

Back 60

The Theory of Plate Tectonics

Front 61

What is the classification for the Earth's interior?

Back 61

Inner Core, Outer Core, Lower and Upper Mantle

Front 62

What are the three types of plate boundaries?

Back 62

Divergent, Convergent, and Transform

Front 63

What do we call the movement (deflection) of one lithospheric plate under another?

Back 63

Subduction

Front 64

What is the lithosphere?

Back 64

is the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

Front 65

What is the asthenosphere?

Back 65

is the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere.

Front 66

The location on the Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's focus is called what?

Back 66

The Epicenter

Front 67

What is the basic mechanism(s) for plate movement thought to be?

Back 67

Earth’s internal heat, and gravity.

Front 68

Most earthquakes are caused by what?

Back 68

When movement pressure causes cracks in the crust, this leads to faults that when they finally slip

Front 69

What types of scales are used to measure an earthquake? What are their differences?

Back 69

Richter Scale & Modified Mercalli Scale the difference being that the The Richter accounts for energy released by quake. The Mercalli Scale also accounts for the environmental destruction and loss of human life in the severity of the quake.

Front 70

What is the term for folded rock layers that resemble an arch? A trough?

Back 70

Arch= Anticlinal & Trough= Synclinal

Front 71

What are the general types of faulting?

Back 71

Normal Fault- relative downward movement of the hanging wall. Reverse Fault- has relative upward movement of the hanging wall. Thrust Fault- is a low-angle reverse fault ( the hanging wall is being thrust over the foot wall). Transform Fault- Is also called a Strike-Slip fault and the footwall is thrust under the hanging wall.

Front 72

What are the main processes for building mountains?

Back 72

Volcanic, Folding, or Faulting.

Front 73

Solve the following types of problems: An object with a mass of 2.0 kg is dropped and takes 3.0 s to hit the ground. Then another object with a mass of 4.0 kg is dropped from the same point. How long does this second object take to hit the ground?

Back 73

As long as air resistance is not a factor these 2 objects will reach the ground at the exact same time if they are dropped from the same distance because gravity’s acceleration does not change.

Front 74

A car is moving down a freeway in a straight line at a constant rate of 25 m/s. Its acceleration is what?

Back 74

If the car has absolutely no change in speed its acceleration(or change in velocity) is 0.

Front 75

To increase the force of gravity between two masses by a factor of 9, how would the objects have to be moved?

Back 75

3x closer.

Front 76

A comet is traveling at a speed of 50,000 mi/h when it is 100 million miles from the Sun. Compute its speed when it is 25 million miles from the Sun.

Back 76

because it is a ¼ of the distance to the sun’s gravitational pull the speed at which it is moving will quadrupled to 200,000 mi/h