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Define Science:
The logical, organized search for an explanation about natural phenomena.
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What is the Scientific Method, list its steps in correct order, and who is given credit for the idea?
- A method for solving problems made by Galileo Galilei.
- State Problem
- Research Problem
- State a Working Hypothesis
- Test Hypothesis
- Conclusion
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Define Theory
Best explanation for our present level of understanding supported by a large body of reproducible data
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___________ is the alternative to scientific thought.
Superstitious Beliefs
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List the members of the human line (genus, species)
- Homo habilis
- Homo erectus
- Homo sapiens
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Define Astronomy
Scientific study of position, motion, composition, physical properties of celestrial objects, and origin and structure of the Universe.
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___________ particles vibrate at 90o to the direction that the wave travels and ___________ particles vibrate parallel to the direction that the wave travels.
- Transverse Waves
- Compressional Waves
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Name 3 ways in which the direction of a wave can be changed:
- Reflection
- Refraction
- Diffraction
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___________ is a massless, chargeless, indivisible sub-atomic particle of electromagnetic radiation.
Photons
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What is meant by the dual nature of light?
When light is behaving like a wave, it has no particle-like properties, when light is behaving like a particle, it has no wave-like properties.
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What does E=mc2 mean?
Matter and light are interchangeable
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Name the components of the electromagnetic spectrum in correct order:
Gamma, X-Ray, Ultraviolet, Visible light, Infared, Radio Waves
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Name the spectral colors in correct order:
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet
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What does a telescope do?
A device that makes objects appear closer, larger, more detailed, brighter.
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Give a statement of Kepler's 1st Law of Planetary Motion:
Planets travel about the Sun in elliptic orbits.
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Give a statement of Kepler's 2nd Law of Planetary Motion:
In a single planet's orbit the closer a planet is to the Sun, the faster it travels; and the farther away it is from the Sun, the slower it travels.
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Give a statement of Kepler's 3rd Law of Planetary Motion:
For a system of planets the closer a planet is to the Sun the faster its average speed is.
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Define a Day:
The lenght of time it takes for a planet to spin one time on its axis.
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Define a Year:
The lenght of time it takes for a planet to travel one time about the Sun.
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Define a Month:
Moon circles the Earth about once a month.
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Define a Week:
One of four lunar phases.
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What is the difference between Prograde and Retrograde Rotation?
Prograde Rotation: Spin counter-clockwise when viewed from north pole so Sun rises in East and sets in West, most planets including Earth, while Retrograde Rotation: Spin clockwise so Sun rises in West and sets in East when viewed from norht pole.
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The Earth is wobbling on its rotation axis making one complete wobble every ____________ years and positions the Earth's rotational axis such that _____________, the last star in the handle of the Little Dipper, is presently the "North Star".
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Why are there Seasons on Earth?
Due to the 23.5o tilt of Earth's rotation axis to the Earth's ecliptic.
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What is the side of the Moon we see called and why do we see only one side?
- The Near Side
- Due to the Moon's synchronous rotation about the Earth.
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What is the difference between a waxing and waning Moon?
- Waxing: lunar disk visible and growing larger.
- Waning: lunar disk visible and growing smaller.
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Give a statement that explains relative motion:
All motion is relative to the observer's frame of reference.
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__________ is the Earth's orbital plane.
Ecliptic
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What is the Solar System comprised of?
The Sun, the 9 planets and their moons, asteroids, and comets.
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_________ an orbiting celestial body's closest approach to the Sun and __________ an orbiting celestial body's farthest approach to the Sun.
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All of the planets orbit the Sun in a ____________ direction when viewed from the "north side" of the Solar System.
Counter-clockwise
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Name the Terrestrial Planets and list 4 general features they share in common:
- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
- Closest to the Sun
- Small, relatively dense
- No or few moons
- No rings
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Name the Jovian Planets and list 4 general features they share in common:
- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- Large, low density
- Many moons
- All have rings
- Very fast rotation
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How far is the Earth from the Sun?
93,000,000 miles which is 1AU
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_________ is the closest star to the Earth outside of the Solar System and it is a distance of __________ away.
- Alpha-centuri
- 4.25 light years
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The accepted age of the Earth (and the Solar System) is _______________________.
4.6 b.y.
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How did the Moon form?
Moon formed in another region of the Solar System as a Mars-sized planetesimal which had a grazing collision with the Earth.
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The Earth's crust is in motion due to ____________ in the mantle.
Convection
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How is the Earth's magnetic field formed?
Independent movement of Inner Core generates an electric current in the core and, all electrical currents generate magnetic fields about their conductors (core).
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The ____________ and the _____________ form when charged particles released from the Sun ionize gases in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
- Aurora Australis (Southern Lights)
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What is a Solar Eclipse?
Moon passes between Earth and Sun casting a shadow on Earth's surface; therefore, the Moon eclipses the Sun.
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What is a Lunar Eclipse?
Moon moves into Earth's shadow and becomes dark because cannot reflect sunlight; therefore, the Earth eclipses the Moon.
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What are asteroids?
Small planetairy bodies that orbit the Sun in a belt between Mars and Juiter.
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When and what caused the extinction of the dinosaur and 3/4 of all species on Earth?
65,000,000 years ago when a 10-km size asteroid hit the Earth created an explosion equal to several billion nuclear explosions a global fire and a winter that lasted several years.
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____________ and _______________ are ocean planets of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium.
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__________ and ___________ are icy slush planets.
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______________, one of Jupiter's moons, is the only other place in the Solar System besides the Earth where active volcanoes occur; furthermore, they erupt molten sulfur lava.
Io
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Pluto is no longer considered to be a planet; Pluto and its moon Charon are now classified as a(n) ________________.
Astroidal double
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________________ icy planetesimals beyond Pluto and are concentrated in a loosely defined group called the ____________.
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Comets orbiting the Sun form a _____________ and are not confined to the ecliptic.
Spherical shell
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Give 3 unique features of Mars:
- Atmosphere contains oxygen
- 1 Martian day about 24 hours
- Polar Ice Caps
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Give 3 unique features of Jupiter:
- Largest of all planets, 72 times the mass of all other planets combined.
- Lightning observed in the atmosphere.
- Great Red Spot (and other spots) -giant eddies; first observed by Galileo.
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Give 3 unique features of Saturn:
- Pronounced polar flattening and equatorial bulge- due to rapid rotation and fluid planet.
- Density- planet with the lowest density of all planets; density less than that of water.
- Best developed system of rings of all planets.
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The Sun contains _______________ of the mass of the entire Solar System.
99%
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Why is the size, shape, and luminosity of the Sun constant?
The Sun remains stable because a balance exists between the outward push caused by thermal pressure and the inward pull due to gravity.
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The temperature of the Sun's surface is ____________ oC and the core's temperature is ____________ oC.
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What is thermo nuclear fusion?
The joining of light nuclei in to heavy nucleus.
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What are the requisites of thermonuclear fusion?
- Matter int he plasma state
- High temperatures
- High Pressure
- Adequete confinement time
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All Main-Sequence Stars are ______________- fusing stars where 4 ___________ nuclei are fused into 1 ___________ nucleus.
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The Sun is _______________ years old and has enough fuel to continue for another _____________ years.
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The _____________ is the site of thermonuclear fusion in a star like our Sun.
Core
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________________ a unit of length roughly equal to 6 trillion miles.
Light Year
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90% of the observable stars are ______________.
Main- Sequence Stars
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All of a star's intrinsic properties can be related to its _______________.
Mass
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What is the chemical composition of the Sun (with relative abundance)?
- 92% hydrogen
- 7.8% helium
- 0.2% all other naturally ocurring elements
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Define Brown Dwarfs
< 0.07 Solar Masses, failed stars
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Define Red Dwarfs
0.07 - 0.4 Mo, Spectral class M, P+ - P+ chain reaction
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Define Sun like stars
0.4 - 3 Mo, Spectral classes K-F, P+- P+ chain reaction
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Define Upper Main Sequence Stars
3 - >9 Mo, Spectral classes F-O, CNO-cycle reaction
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The life expectancy of a ________________ is from 60-100 billion years and the Universe is only _____________ billion years old so all of them that have ever formed are still in existence.
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What is a Red Giant?
Large, Cool star which has an inert core supported by degenerate electron-gas pressure surrounded by fusing shells.
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What is a Horizontal Branch Star?
Large relatively hot stars which have fusion in their cores; they fuse the heavy elements from carbon to iron.
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For a White Dwarf to form, the stellar remnant must be ____________ solar masses.
<1.4
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For a Neutron Star to form, the stellar remnant must be between ___________ solar masses.
1.4 - 3.0
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The Neutron Star is supported by _______________
_________________________.
The outward push of degenerate neutron gas pressure.
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If the stellar remnant is _____________ solar masses, nothing can support the core forming a Black Hole.
>3.0
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What is a Black Hole?
A stellar remnant with "zero radius" and "infinite density."
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The "surface" of the Sun is the ______________.
Photosphere
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Define Galaxy:
A great concentration of billions of stars that orbit a common center and move through space as a single unit; the largest "single objects" in the Universe.
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The Solar System is a member of the ______________ Galaxy which is a(n) _______________ galaxy approximately ______________ years old.
- Milky Way
- Spiral
- 14 billion
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What is the structure of a galaxy?
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What is the difference between a Population I Star and a Population II Star?
- Population I stars are young main-sequence stars in the galactic disk, contain short-lived OB types, chemically enriched in heavy elements.
- Population II stars are very old stars that are in the Halo and are not chemically enriched in heavy elements.
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The Solar System moves in a ____________ direction about the galactic nucleus when viewed from the north side of the Sun where 1 revolution takes _____________.
- Clockwise
- 225 million years
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Name the types of galaxies:
- Elliptical
- Spiral
- Barred Spiral
- Irregular
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What happens when galaxies collide?
As galaxies collide, there is little chance that stars will collide because the distance between stars within a galaxy is too great; however, this will change their courses.
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______________ - most galaxies are found in small groups that are gravitationally bound to each other so orbit a common center and move through Outer Space as a single unit.
Galactic Clusters
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_____________ - the most distant observable objects that are proto-galaxies 12 billion light-years away from the Earth; 1000 time brighter than a normal galaxy.
Quasars
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Define Cosmology:
The scientific study of the origin, evolution, and structure of the Universe.
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The age of the Universe is estimated to be _____________ years old.
15 billion
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What are the 2 fundamental properties of the Universe?
- The curvature of the space-time continuum
- The expansion of the Universe
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What is the difference between an Open and Closed Universe?
- Universe is Open means expansion of the Universe continues to infinite time. Inflationary Universe Theory (Big Bang Theory)
- Universe is Closed means expansion ceases and gravity causes the Universe to contract reforming the singularity. Oscillating Universe Theory (Bang, Bang, Bang Theory)
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What is the Big Bang?
Creation marking the beginning of energy, matter, time, and universal expansion.
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What are UFO's?
Unidentified Flying Objects, most are reflections off airplanes and weather balloons, or due to atmospheric phenomena like mirages and ball lightning.
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What are ET's?
Extra-Terrestrials, aliens from other celestrial objects, they almost certainly exist as carbon-based intelligent life that conforms to the cell theory.
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Why is intersetellar travel unlikely?
Space is too vast and expensive to cross.
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Name the possible ways life may have originated on the Earth and identify which one is (ones are) scientifically testable:
- Extraterrestrial origin
- Special creation by a divine force
- Life originated on an abiotic Earth from inanimate matter; the only idea permitting testable hypothesis
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List the characteristics that all life shares in common:
- All life is carbon based
- All life conforms to the Cell Theory
- All life experiences growth, metabolism
- All life reproduces itself and passes on traits through heredity
- All life responds to stimuli
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Define fossil:
Any evidence of past life preserved in the rock record.
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Define the Theory of Biological Evolution:
Extinction with replacement with respect to species.
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List the body of evidence that supports the Theory of Biological Evolution:
- Law of Superposition
- Law of Faunal Succession
- Uniformitarianism
- Genetics
- Radiometric age dates that verify the depth of geologic time
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List Darwin's contributions to the Theory of Biological Evolution:
- Migration
- Isolation
- Adaptation
- Genetic Mutation
- Natural Selection
- Diversification
- May lead to new species
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___________ makes possible what seems impossible.
Time
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Define Natural Selection:
Struggle to survive and only the fit survive to reproduce and pass on genetic traits.
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What does SETI stand for and explain what it is?
The search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence trying to intercept stray radio transmissions from alien civilizations.
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