Download Introduction This book will teach you all you need to know about the

Introduction
This book will teach you all you need to know about the earth and
physical science; the whole way through. This book will teach you in a
fun and easy way so that you can learn more about the planet in which
you live and everything around it. From beginning to end it will be an
enjoyable and exciting ride, so let’s get going!
Section 1: Particles of an atom, and
more.
The first thing we are going to begin with is a particle. A particle is
a tiny piece of anything.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:particle&sa=X&oi=glossary_defin
ition&ct=title 11-15-07). This means that anything and everything are made
up of particles. The next definition that is on the list is an atom. An atom
is the smallest component of an element.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=defi
ne:atom&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title 11-1507). An atom also makes up the properties
that make that element. Now that we know
what a particles is and what an atom is we
are going to now talk about what particles
make up an atom?
There are three particles that make up
an atom. The first is an electron. An electron
is a negatively charged atomic particle that
moves around the nucleus of an atom.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=defi
ne:Electron&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title 11-
The second is a neutron. A neutron is a basic particle that is in the
nucleus of an atom. A neutron has no charge. The third and final particle
that makes up an atom is a proton. A proton is a basic particle in the
nucleus of atom. It has a positive charge.
15-07).
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:proton&sa=X&oi=glossary_defini
tion&ct=title 11-16-07).
We know that things are made up of particles and atoms, but
things are also made up of different elements. We use elements everyday
because everything is made up of elements. An example of an element
that we use is Sodium Chloride. Sodium Chloride is broken down and
made into salt which we put on our food and eat. Scientists have a list of
all the elements in a table. This table is known as the periodic table of
elements. On this table each element has its own atomic number. An
elements atomic number is the number of protons found in that atom’s
nucleus of that element. Along with an element’s atomic number they
also have an atomic mass. An atomic mass is the total number of protons,
neutrons, and electrons in an atom.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_element 11-16-07)
Above it the periodic table of elements. The big number in the top
right hand corner of each elements box is the elements atom number. The
numbers on the bottom of each of the boxes is the elements atomic mass.
Each element has its own name and initials. For example the initial for
gold is Au.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:Periodic+Table+of+Elements&sa
=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title 11-16-07)
The last thing we are going to discuss in this section is an isotope.
Isotopes are atoms with the same
number of protons, but different
numbers of neutrons.
(http://education.jlab.org/glossary/isoto
pe.gif 11-19-07)
Section 2: Fission and Fusion.
Now,
(because of this
book), you are super
smart and know
what an atom is
and the elements,
which means we
can move onto
fission. Fission is the splitting of atoms, which
results in the release of large amounts of
energy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission
Fission, 11-19-07). Fission occurs when an atom's
nucleus is bothered by neutrons. Uranium and
plutonium are the most common fissionable
elements. When one fission reaction occurs it
sets off several other fission reaction, which
then those set off other fission reactions and it jus keeps going like that.
Below is an example of fission.
The next on the list is to talk about fusion. Fusion is when many or
multiple atomic particles bond together to form a heavier nucleus.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion 11-19-07). Fusion releases much more
energy that that of fission. Fusion can be broken down into three steps:
1.) Two hydrogen nuclei smash together at very high speeds. 2.) The
hydrogen nuclei fuse together to make a larger nucleus. 3.) Enormous
amounts of energy are released. Fusion only occurs in: the sun, star,
fusion bombs, and special laboratories.
Section 3: The Life of a Low and High
mass Star.
To start off this section we
will first need to briefly
understand
what gravitational force is.
Gravitational force is when all
Objects with mass attract each
other. That means all the objects
with mass (because of
gravitational
force) are attracted to each other
and want to pull near each other.
Each star starts out as a
nebula; don’t worry don’t worry
Brad Pitt or Jessica Simpson didn’t
start out as nebulas or come from
space, although some people do
speculate where she came from.
Picture:
http://net.metadynamics.com/image/nebul
a.jpg
T
The picture on the previous page is a
picture of a nebula.
The picture to the left is a protostar. You
can still see the rings of gases
surrounding it.
A nebula is the first stage in the life
cycle of a star. A nebula is a large cloud of
dust, gas hydrogen gas, and plasma. Over
long periods of time the gas and dust do to
gravitational force pull towards each other
and clump together. Eventually there will
be enough matter that is pulled together to
form a star.
To pass through that nebula would take
many light years. A light year is what scientist
use to measure distance in space. They use the
term year because of how big space is and the
distance objects are from each other in miles
would be unfathomable for the human mind to
comprehend. A light year is the distance light
travels in one year.
(http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladv
entures/universe/itsawesome/lightyears/index.h
tml a light year, 11-19-07).
After the clumps form into what could be a
star it turns into a protostar. The protostar faze is still the early stage of a
stars life. A protostar is when after all the hydrogen and helium gases
from the nebula come together and they slowly heat up and the core will
become more, and more dense. It is a protostar because it is not yet hot
enough to begin fusion.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:protostar&sa=X&oi=glossary_defi
nition&ct=title protostar 11-20-07).
The next stage of a stars life could be a main sequence star, but
there life could take a turn and they could become a brown dwarf. A
brown dwarf is a “star” that is to small an object in size and does not have
enough energy to produce fusion. Because it cannot start fusion it cannot
produce energy therefore a brown dwarf has no shine.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:Brown+Dwarf&sa=X&oi=glossar
y_definition&ct=title brown dwarf 11-20-07). The picture to the left of the page is a
picture of a brown dwarf. (http://www.space-art.co.uk/images/artwork/stars-I/BrownDwarf-II.jpg brown dwarf 11-20-07).
If the protostar does gain enough mass and heat it will begin
hydrogen fusion. All stars fuse
hydrogen. The protostar has to
get up to at least 10,000
degrees before it can begin
fusing hydrogen. Once the
star starts to fuse hydrogen it
will become a main sequence
star. A main sequence star is
where the star will spend a
immense amount of its active
life. It is also the longest stage of a
stars life. As it fuses hydrogen it
becomes a space battle between
gravity and the star. The pressure
from gravity wants to crush the star
but the star will fight back using its
energy from the hydrogen fusion.
(http://cse.ssl.berkeley.edu/bmendez/ay10/20
00/cycle/ms.html main sequence star 11-20-07). To
the right and above is a
picture of a main sequence star.
The third stage of a stars life is a red giant. A red giant is when a
when the small to medium size main sequence star runs out of hydrogen
to fuse and gravity slowly makes the star collapse. As the star is
collapsing the helium particles are getting closer to each other which heats
up the star. Once the star reaches 100 million degrees in temperature the
star begins to fuse helium. The fusing of helium makes the star grow and
push gravity back thus making the star bigger and then it cools off a bit
causing the red glow. ( Life cycle of a star notes earth science 11-20-07).
After the star has finished becoming a red giant (because by now
the star is probably tired and no one likes to be big and red) becomes a
planetary nebula. A planetary nebula is
when a red giant completely stops fusing
helium and gravity once again pushes on
the star and the star just explodes and the
outer layer of the star are thrown into
space. (Life cycle of a star notes earth science 11-2007). The picture to the left is a planetary
nebula.
(Picture: http://howardbloom.net/planetary_nebula.jpg
11-20-07).
Moving on to dwarfs. Like all the
dwarfs, in snow white, you have grumpy,
happy, and white dwarf, and more. Not really, but white dwarfs really do
exists. A white dwarf is the next stage in the life cycle of a star. A white
dwarf is the left over core after the star explodes and its outer layers are
thrust into space. A white dwarf may only be the size of the earth, but it
has a mass the is equal to half of our sun. That is really dense! Because
of the explosion and because it is so dense a white dwarf is white because
in the explosion it had produced energy which makes it shine. (Life cycle of a
star notes earth science 11-20-07).
The last and final stage of the life cycle of a star is a black dwarf.
A black dwarf is when a white dwarf cools off over millions of years and
it no longer emits light so it is simple now just a black floating object in
space.
We are now moving onto the life cycle of a high mass star. Just like the
low mass star the high mass star starts out as a nebula. The nebula comes
together to form a protostar. In the life of a high mass star there is no
brown dwarf because it is already do big that it wont have to worry about
not starting hydrogen fusion. It then becomes a massive main sequence
star where it will fuse hydrogen. It will fuse hydrogen much faster than a
low mass star because it has a bigger mass so it uses its fuel faster. Once
it stops fusing hydrogen it will fuse helium and become a super red
giant. Because it is so big it will also fuse carbon dioxide and oxygen and
other gases. It will then stop fusing those gases and just like a low mass
star it will explode, but it will turn into a supernova. A super nova is when
a star collapses and there is a huge explosion due to the pressure of
gravity. After it becomes a super nova it will become a neutron star. A
neutron star is the super dense core of the left over star. It is only 5 to 10
miles wide but has the mass up to 2 times the suns! The other option other
than the neutron star is a black hole. A black hole is when the star has the
mass up to 25 to 50 times that of the sun and is so dense that it sucks
everything in around it and it is so dense that not even light itself
cannot escape.
Section 4: Planets
We are now going to talk about the planets. We have eight planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn Neptune, and Uranus.
Each planet comes from a planetary disc. A planetary disc is a large
region of gases. The planets came from this disc. Because of gravity the
gas turned to clumps and slowly they got bigger and turned into planet.
They all aligned and they all circle around the sun.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planetary_nebula 11-20-07 ).
The next thing we will discuss is the difference between terrestrial
planets and gas giants. A terrestrial planet are planet that have a rocky
surface or are the most “ Earth” like planets are the four most inner
planets.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:terrestrial+planet&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title planets
11-20-07).
Gas giants are planets on the outer most parts of the solar system.
These planets are mostly made up of frozen gases and ice. These planets
are typically larger than the inner and terrestrial planets.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:Gas+giant&sa=X&oi=glossary_
definition&ct=title planets 11-20-07). These planets are different because some
are made up of gas while others are composed of rock. They are also
different because some are large and some are small. Those are the basic
differences between the two types of planets.
There are three characteristic that make a planet a planet. The first
characteristic is that a planet must have enough mass to make itself
round. The second is that it must orbit the sun. The third and final
characteristic is that it must clear its neighborhood of everything. That
means that when asteroids hit earth or other planets that is the planets
way of clearing it neighborhood. All of the eight planets have done those
three things, which is why they are planets, although there is still some
debate. Scientists have come up with a new category for other
astronomical object that have some of the characteristics to be a planet but
not all. They are called dwarf planets. A dwarf planet is has not fulfilled
all its duties to become a planet.
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:DWARF+PLANET&sa=X&oi=gl
ossary_definition&ct=title dwarf planets 11-20-07).
Section 5: Gravity
We are now going to sore are way through gravity. Gravity is the
force that attracts all objects with mass in the universe together. We know
that gravity is a big thing but what factors increase and decrease
gravitational force. What changes gravity is the mass of the object. The
more mass an object has the harder gravity will act on it or the more
gravity will increase. The lighter an object is the less gravity will act on it
because there is less matter for gravity to push on.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity gravity 11-20-07).
Gravity also plays a role in how satellites can orbit the earth. The
satellites orbit earth because it is launched off at such a speed that once it
goes into space it is captured by earth’s orbit. So with the speed it is going
and because of gravity in earth’s orbit it just keeps going around and
around earth. (http://science.howstuffworks.com/question378.htm 11-20-07).
Another things people often wonder is why astronauts feel so
weightless while in space. The reason why the astronauts feel weightless is
even though there is gravity in earth, while they are in space they are all
falling toward earth which makes them feel weightless.
http://education.jlab.org/qa/gravity_01.html.
Section 6: Moon
Many people wonder how the moon formed. There have been many
theories. Now there is one major one that is wildly accepted by many
astronomers and people. It is called the giant impact theory. This theory
suggest that I the early stages of earth’s life when it was still in a magma
state there was another object near the sun assumed to be a planet. It was
almost the size of mars. The moved toward the earth and soon it crashed to
the top part of the earth and that sent pieces of the earth and other object
into space another chuck of rock from the explosion wrapped around and
hit the earth once more. The rock from the explosion formed together to
create our moon. (http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0108/15mooncreate/ 11-2007).
Picture: http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/oconnell/astr121/im/moonform-impact.jpg .
Section 7: Late Heavy Bombardment
The late heavy bombardment was when Neptune got to close to
Saturn and Jupiter’s orbit and was thrust into the kiuper belt which made
asteroid and rock hit the earth and other planets. That is also why the
moon has so many craters in it.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_heavy_bombardment 11-20-07 ).
Section 8: Earth
The earth has four layers. The first layer is the crust. The crust
makes only one percent of the entire earth. The crust is filled with the
animal, planet life and the water and other things on which life need to
thrive. The crust is about 5 to 30 miles deep. There are two types of crust.
The first is continental. The continental crust is a thicker than the
oceanic crust and it is the least dense layer in the earth. The second is
oceanic crust. This crust is thinner than continental crust and it is
slightly denser. No one has ever drilled through the crust.
The second layer of the earth is the mantle. The mantle is made up
of heavier material than the crust. It is slightly liquid; you could compare
it to sill putty. It is
the largest layer in
the earth. In the
mantle is the
asthenosphere. This is
the layer of the mantle
just beneath the crust.
It is more fluid than
the rest of the mantle.
The third layer if the earth is the outer core. The outer core is located
3,200 miles beneath the surface. It is made up of liquid iron and nickel.
It also creates the earth’s magnetic field.
The fourth layer is the inner core. The inner core is located 1,800
miles beneath the surface. It is made up of solid iron and nickel. It is hot
but stays solid because the entire earth is pushing on it. Notes on layers
of the earth 11-20-07).
You can tell how old rocks are by different types of dating. The
first is radioactive dating.
Before we go into that lets talk
about stratification or
bedding. This is how the rocks
are layered. This says that
oldest rocks are on the bottom
and the youngest are on the
top. The law of horizontal says
that all of the rocks are also all
horizontal. Rocks also have
relationships. No, I don’t mean
girl rock likes boy rock. There
is a relationship called
intrusive relationship. This is
when an igneous rock enters
the sedimentary rock or
magma is forced through the
rock. The intruders are always
younger than the rocks they
intrude.
There is also a relationship called igneous contacts. This is when the
igneous rock intrudes other rocks and the extreme heat changes and the
rocks touch. There is also faults and faulting. Faults often cut across
layers of rock. Faults are younger than the rocks they cut. And last but
not least erosion. Erosion occurs when rock is carried away from its
original location. (Radioactive Dating Notes 11-20-07).
The next thing we will discuss is a radiometric half-life. A half-life
measures how fast isotopes decay. Each elements decay at a different rate.
For example aluminum-28 has a half life of 2 minutes while uranium
has a half life of 4.5 billion years. As the isotope decays it turns into
another isotope you could say. So for aluminum 28 as it decays it turns
into silicon so an easy way to remember what is turning into what is that
aluminum is the parent isotope while silicon is the daughter isotope.
Another type of dating is radiometric or carbon-14 dating. This
dating is created by cosmic rays. There is a certain percentage of carbon
in every living thing. If you measure how much carbon is in the rock you
can see how old it is. You can only use carbon-14 dating less than 60,000
years because any more than that there would not be enough carbon to
measure.
The last type of dating is uranium lead dating. This dating uses
how much lead and uranium are in a rock. The uranium is the parent
isotope the lead is the daughter.
Section 9: Hadean eon and mass
extinction
This is when the earth had just formed out of the proto-planetary
disc. The earth’s surface was covered in molten lava. The sun was only
73% warm as it is today. This eon was called the age of meteorites.
The first life said to be on the earth was the extremophiles. They were
called this because they could live under very extreme conditions such as
boiling hot or freezing cold. And they didn’t need oxygen to live. It is
believed they were the first life because while the earth was young there
was little oxygen poisonous gas in the air and not soil or plants or
animals which meant that nothing but them could have survived. (Hadean
eon Notes 11-20-07).
A mass extinction is the disappearance of almost all life on earth.
There are many things that could cause mass extinction: global
warming, pollution, poisonous gas etc. There have been several mass
extinctions, such as during the archeaon eon the extinction of all life on
earth and the extinction of all the dinosaurs. We have also had ice ages
which cut the population of the earth.
Section 10: Nuclear Radiation
Now we will briefly discuss the different types of nuclear radiation.
The first is alpha decay. It happens when the nucleus of an atom decays
and when it does so it releases alpha particle, which is made up of 2
protons and 2 neutrons. It is use in smoke detectors and can be stopped
by a sheet of paper. Another type is beta decay. This is when the neutron
breaks down in a nucleus and if breaks into an electron and a proton
which is called beta particle. It has a negative one charge and is stopped by
a 10mm of wood. The third is a gamma ray. It is released when a nucleus
decays. It is a high energy wave and has no mass. It is stopped by a 7 cm
of lead. The fourth type is a neutron emission. This occurs when a nucleus
decays. It releases a neutron and it has no charge. It is stopped by a 15 cm
of lead. The last but not least is nuclear radiation. This occurs when the
nucleus breaks down and it releases energy and a particle.
Hope you learned a lot and had fun reading this
book!