Summary of Prelim Topic in NatSci(Earth Science)

2006-07-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Branches of Earth Science
1. Geology- the systematic description of the crust of the earth and the study of its nature and development.
2. Meteorology- the scientific study of atmosphere. meteorology is concerned with the observation and measurement of the physical processes with occur the rein. two areas of study are recognized- physical geology and historical geology.
3. Oceanography- involves the study of physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the ocean as well as the oceans relationship with the earth and the atmosphere.
* Hydrosphere- water layer of the earth.
- the atmosphere are intimately linked water is in constant motion from the liquid state in the hydrosphere.
*Biosphere- which includes all areas on earth occupied by organisms. The biosphere extends from the deepest oceans to about 10 (6 mi) above sea level.
*Atmosphere- which consist of about 70% nitrogen, 20% oxygen and 10% argon and the trace amouts of other gases such as carbon dioxide.
*Solid Earth- can also be considered a system we can characterize earth as a rocky planet, composed of naturally fomed solids consisting of physical, chemical and biological.
4. Astronomy- study of different objects in space

Some Tools in Studying Earht Science
1. Wind Vane- use to measure detect wind
2. Seismometer (seismograph)- use to measure the earthquake and use to measure"seismic wave"
3. Thermometer- operates on the principle of thermal expansion of the material used; e.g, liquid such as mercury and alcohol, metallic materials.
4. Thermograph- records air temperature on graph paper.
5. Barometer- used to measure atmospheric pressure.
*mercurial barometer
*aneroid barometer- measure air pressure
6. Anemometer- measure the speed of the wind.
7. Aerovane- wind direction and wind speed or simply the wind velocity in a remote wind indicator panel.

SUN

Our Sun is a normal main- sequence star, once of more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy.

Diameter: 1 390 000 km Mass: 1 989 e 30 kg

Temperature: 5800 K (surface)

15 600 000 K (core)

Layers of the Sun

Core- the innermost layer of the sun.

Solar Envelope- outside of the core is the radiative envelope, which is surrounded by the

convective envelope. The solar envelope puts pressure on the core and

maintains the core's temperature.

Photosphere- is the zone from which the sunkight we see is emitted.

Chromosphere- a red circle around the outside of the sun can sometimes can be seen.

Sunspots- the dark spot on the photosphere.

Corona- the outermost layer of the sun.

Solar Flares- in the corona, above sunspots and areas of comnplex magnetic feild patterns.

Prominences- the cool sheets of gas that condense out of the corona above the active region.

Solar Wind- affects the magnetic feilds of all the planets in the solar system.

MOON

The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth. Its diameter is 3476 km and its mass is 7.35e22 kg. It is 384 400 km from the earth.

Phases of the Moon

Blue Moon- when two full moons occur in a single month, the second full moon is called a "blue moon"

Crescent Moon- is part way between a half moon and a new moon, or between a new moon and half moon.

Full Moon- appears as an entire circle in the sky.

Gibbous Moon- between a full moon and a half moon, or between a half moon and a full moon

Half Moon- looks like a half circle. It is sometimes called a Quarter moon.

New Moon- is the phase of the moon when the moon is not visible from earth, because the side of the moon that is facing us is not being lit by the sun.

AN ECLIPSE

(Greek verb: ekleipo, "to Vanish") is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another.

Types of Eclipse

Solar Eclipse- occurs when the moon moves directly between the Sun and Earth and casts a

shadow on part of Earth. This can only happen at New Moon.

Lunar Eclipse- when Earth's shadow falls on the moon. This can onmly happen at Full Moon.

Eclipse Can Be Divided into Different Types:

*Total Eclipse- in which the light source is totally blocked off by the eclipsing body. For Total Solar Eclipse, the veiwer is in the UMBRA part of the moon's shadow.

*Partial Eclipse- in which only part of the luminary is covered (solar eclipse), or when only part of a body is eclipsed by the shadow (lunar eclipse). For solar eclipse, the viewer is in the PENUMBRA part of the moon's shadow.

*Annular Eclipse- which are a total eclipse of lumonary where a thin ring of light is visible around the intervening object

*Hybrid Solar Eclipse- which consists of three phases: the eclipse starts as an annular one, then turns into a total and by the end it returns to the annular phase. The total phse of the hybrid eclipse is typically very short.

THE PLANETS

The nine planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun) MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE and PLUTO. A belt of Asteroid (minor planets) made up of rock and metal lies between the mars and jupiter. This object all orbit the sun in roughly circular orbits that lie in the same plane, the ecliptic (pluto is exception: it has an eliptical orbit tilted over 17 degree from the eliptic)

The Inner Planets Vs. the Outer Planets

The inner planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. They are relatively small composed mostly of rock and have few or no moons.

The outer planets include: JUPITER,SATURN,URANUS,NEPTUNE, and PLUTO.

THE NINE PLANETS

1. Mercury- has crust and mantle made up of large rock but the core is solid iron.

- Its surface is wrinkled by long, low ridges which probably formed as the core

cooled and shrunk.

- Has largest crater called CALORIS BASIN.

- Twice during its orbit, mercury gets very close to the sun and speeds up so much

that the sun seems to go backwards in the sky.

2. Venus- Shines like a star in the night sky because its thick atmosphere reflects sunlight

amazingly well.

- the third brightest thing in the sky.

- called evening star.

- its atmosphere is: a thick mixture of carbon dioxide gas and sulfuric acid.

- hottest planet

- its day is longer than its year.

- pressure on the surface of venus is 90 times greater than that on earth.

3. Mars- The only planet to have either an atmosphere or a daytime temperature close to

earth.

- Red planet: because of its rusty red colour oxidized (rusted) iron in its soil.

- has the biggest volcano in the solar system: OLYMPUS MONS

- has two moons: PHOBOS and DEIMOS

4. Jupiter- Has no surface to land on because it is made mostly from helium gas and hydrogen.

The massive pull of its gravity squeezes the hydrogen so hard that it is liquid.

towards its core, immense pressure turns the hydrogen to solid metal.

- Jupiter's speedy spin makes its middle bulge out.

- has a great red spot.

- has four biggest moon: IO, EUROPA, CALLISTO, GANYMEDE.

5. Saturn- Made up of gas.

- mostly liquid hydrogen and helium.

- its rings are made up of many millions of tiny, ice-coated rock fragments.

6. Uranus- The angle of its tilt is 98 Degrees.

- during summer in uranus, the sun does not set for 20 years. In winter: over 20

years. In autumn, the sun rises and sets every hours.

- Five large moons: ARIEL, UMBRIEL, TITANIA, OBERON, MIRANDA- the

weirdest moon ( had been blasted apart, then put itself back together again)

- its atmosphere: hydrogen and helium.

- its surface: ice-cold ocean of methane.

7. Neptune- Its surface icy cold liquid methane.

- eight moons: NAIAD, THALASSA, DESPOINA, GALATEA, LARISSA, PROTEUS,

TRITON- is the coldest space in the solar system (-236 degrees celsius) and the

only moon to orbit backwards, NERCID.

8. Pluto- Has strange eliptical ( oval ) orbit.

- has large moon: ( CHARON )

Charon- half size of pluto and always stays the same place in pluto's sky.

- made up of rock ( covered with ice, frozen methane)

fhatskudanding

Summary of Prelim Topic in NatSci(Earth Science)