Download AGE080 Week 6 Study Sheet-KEY The study of the matter (stars, for

AGE080
Week 6 Study Sheet-KEY
1. The study of the matter (stars, for instance) in outer space is known as
astronomy.
2. Visible light is only a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum; astronomers
study all parts of the spectrum, not just visible light.
3. The star closest to the Earth, the Sun, is 8 light-minutes away, a distance of
approximately 150 million km or 1 AU (astronomical unit/ units) from the Earth.
4. The next closest star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.22 light years from the Sun.
5. Galaxies are huge collections of stars that may each contain hundreds of billions
of stars.
6. In English, our galaxy is known as the Milky Way.
7. Stars are born in clouds of dust and gas. The scientific term for this kind of
cloud is a nebula .
8. A dust cloud begins to contract because of the force of gravity.
9. When the temperature gets hot enough, the hydrogen atoms in the cloud begin
to combine to form helium in a process known as (nuclear) fusion .
10. What happens when the star begins to run out of fuel depends on the (initial)
mass of the star.
11. When a medium-sized star has converted all of its hydrogen fuel to helium, the
helium shrinks and heats up, which makes the outside of the star expand (and
cool).
12. At this point, a star the size of the sun becomes a red giant , and the helium in
the core of the star combines to form the element carbon . When this process
is complete, the star becomes a white dwarf.
13. Massive stars can create elements as heavy as iron.
14. The life of a massive star ends in an explosion known as a supernova. After
the explosion, the star ends up either as a neutron star or a black hole.
15. When an object (like a motorcycle) that is producing sound waves passes us very
quickly, the pitch of the sound decreases as the object gets farther away because
of the Doppler Effect.
16. We know that galaxies are moving away from us if there is a red shift in their
spectral lines.
Week 7 Worksheet - KEY
Powerpoint: “Intro to Planet Earth”
1.
2.
There are eight planets in the Solar System.
Pluto, once considered the outermost planet of the Solar System, is now
regarded as a dwarf planet.
3. Of the planets in the Solar System, four are rocky planets and four are gas giants.
4. The Earth seems very insignificant in size when it is compared to the Sun, but it
has many special characteristics, one of which is the presence of liquid water on
the surface.
5. The range of distances from a star in which a planet can maintain liquid water on
its surface is called the habitable zone.
6. The thin layer of gases that surrounds the Earth is called the atmosphere.
7. The most plentiful gas in the Earth’s atmosphere is nitrogen.
8. The second most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere, oxygen, is produced
by plants during the process of photosynthesis.
9. The atmosphere protects the Earth from harmful radiation.
10. The Earth is sometimes called the Blue Planet because 75% of its surface is
covered by water.
11. The three compositional layers of the Earth are: the crust, the mantle, and the
core.
12. The core of the Earth consists mainly of the elements iron and nickel .
13. The Earth’s magnetic field is mostly caused by electric currents in the Earth’s
outer core, which is liquid.
14. Without the protection of a magnetic field, the Earth would lose its atmosphere
because of the effects of the solar wind.
15. The lithosphere is the outer rocky layer of the Earth that moves as rigid plates; it
includes the crust and the rigid part of the upper mantle.
16. Plate motion is probably caused by convection currents in the asthenosphere, a
part of the mantle that behaves plastically.
17. The three main types of plate boundaries are divergent plate boundaries,
convergent plate boundaries, and transform plate boundaries.
18. Of these three types, the island of Taiwan is located on a convergent plate
boundary.
Week 8 Worksheet - KEY
Powerpoint: “Geologic Processes”
1. Many geologic processes, including earthquakes and volcanic activity, are related
to the movements of the rigid plates that make up the Earth’s lithosphere; the
theory that describes these movements is called plate tectonics.
2. The island of Taiwan is located on a zone of convergence between the Eurasian
plate and the Philippine plate.
3. Earthquakes occur when seismic waves are created by a sudden release of
energy in the Earth’s crust. Most often, they are associated with the rupture
and displacement of rocks along a plane known as a fault.
4. The three main kinds of seismic waves are primary waves, secondary waves , and
surface waves.
5. The magnitude of earthquakes on the Richter Scale is determined by measuring
the amplitude of the largest seismic waves as shown on a seismogram, but the
scale is logarithmic. In other words, each number on the scale represents an
amplitude that is 10 times greater than the previous number. However, the
energy release associated with that number is about 32 times as great as the
previous number.
6. Earthquake damage depends more on ground acceleration than on earthquake
magnitude.
7. Volcanoes occur where melted (molten) rock reaches the earth’s surface. They
can occur in a number of plate tectonic settings but are often located above
subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is moving under another tectonic
plate.
8. Weathering is the process by which rocks and minerals are broken down through
contact with the Earth’s atmosphere, living organisms, and water.
9. The process in which weathered soil and rock are removed and transported to
other locations is called erosion.
10. The formation of Karst topography by the dissolution of CaCO₃ is an example of
chemical (physical/ chemical) weathering.
11. Desertification, a process in which land becomes increasingly dry, is a serious
global environmental problem related to deforestation and over-cultivation.
12. Mass movement (mass wasting) is a form of erosion in which soil and rock move
downhill under the force of gravity.
13. According to an important geologic principle, layers of sediment start out
horizontal because they are deposited under the action of gravity.
Week 8 Worksheet - KEY
Powerpoint: “Rock-Forming Minerals”
1. Atoms are made up of three kinds of particles: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
2. When atoms lose or gain electrons, they become charged particles known as
ions .
3. The most common element in the Earth’s crust is oxygen, and the second most
common element in the Earth’s crust is silicon. Therefore it is not surprising
that over 90% of the minerals in the Earth’s crust belong to the category of
silicate minerals.
4. The building block of most rock-forming minerals is the silicon tetrahedron . It
consists of four (how many?) O2- ions around one Si4+ ion.
5. Clay minerals contain water in their structure.
6. The most common sulfide mineral, pyrite (FeS₂), is sometimes referred to as
“fool’s gold.”
Powerpoint: “Rocks”
7. A rock is a naturally occurring solid made up of minerals.
8. The three kinds of rocks are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
9. Granite is an example of a/ an igneous rock.
10. Sandstone is an example of a/ an sedimentary rock.
11. Marble is a metamorphic rock that is formed by recrystallization of the chemical
sedimentary rock limestone.
Powerpoint: Climate
12. The solar radiation that arrives at the Earth’s surface is mostly in the frequency
range of visible light, but the energy that is emitted from the earth back into the
atmosphere is in the lower frequency range of infrared radiation.
Much of this outgoing radiation does not escape the earth’s atmosphere but is
trapped by greenhouse gases.
13. The natural greenhouse effect is beneficial; if it did not exist, the average surface
temperature of the Earth would be 33 °C lower than it is.
14. The average temperature of the Earth has risen 0.8 °C since 1900, and the
majority of scientists believe that the rise has been produced by increased
concentrations of greenhouse gases resulting from human activities, such as the
burning of fossil fuel.
15. Water vapor is responsible for more of the greenhouse effect than CO₂, but
unlike CO₂, it does not accumulate in the atmosphere.
16. The Earth’s climate is extremely difficult to model because there are both
positive and negative feedbacks in the system.