Scientific Laws & Theories
True or false, can scientific theories can be tested?
Scientific theories can be tested and then refined by additional research.
Earth's magnetic field is (constant/changing)?
Changing. Earth's magnetic field fluctuates in intensity and frequently reverses itself. Today our compass needles point to the north. But at various times in the past, the polarity was reversed and compass needles would have instead pointed south.
In the normal or "ground" state, all of the electrons in an atom are...
An electron's energy can be imagined as concentric circles around the nucleus. Normally, electrons exist in the ground state. In this state, they occupy the lowest energy level possible. This means they are in the electron shell closest to the nucleus.
The shortest wavelength portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is known as...
Gamma rays have the shortest wavelength on the electromagnetic spectrum. At less than 10 picometers, their wavelength is 1 trillion times shorter than radio waves.
50% of Earth's oxygen is created from this source.
The ocean (half of the world’s oxygen is actually produced by plankton, seaweed and other ocean-based photosynthesis)
Scientific laws describe natural phenomena, often mathematically, while theories...
explain phenomena
Why was the mapping of the ocean floor such an important step in the development of plate tectonic theory?
Most plate boundaries are under the ocean. Prior to the mapping of the ocean floor, it was thought to be flat and featureless. Since most plate boundaries do not occur on the continents, it was not until the patterns of mid-ocean ridges and trenches were revealed that scientists could begin to explain why these features were there.
The elements in the present periodic table are arranged according to their...
The modern periodic table of elements is arranged by atomic number.
The region of the electromagnetic spectrum where the sun radiates the majority of its energy is...
The majority of the energy that radiates from the Sun and hits Earth falls in the 400 to 700 nanometer range. Electromagnetic radiation in this range is what we perceive as visible light, but it is no different in form from microwaves, ultraviolet waves, infrared waves, or any other type of electromagnetic wave
Some animals use this physical field to navigate, including sea turtles, lobsters, and salmon.
According to the U.S Geological Survey, “evidence suggests that some animals (including sea turtles) have the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field and to use this sense for navigation.”
What scientific theory was modified with the discovery of isotopes?
Dalton's Atomic Theory
What does the S-wave shadow zone indicate about Earth's interior?
The S-wave shadow zone is a region where no S waves reach Earth’s surface from distant earthquakes. Since S-waves are unable to travel through liquid, the shadow zone indicates that there is a liquid layer at the core-mantle boundary that stops all of these waves
Prior to experiments with cathode tubes, the smallest particles that made up matter were believed to be...
Corpuscles, or particles.
The ancient Greeks believed matter was composed of these four (4) elements.
Ancient Greek philosophers thought that all matter could be described in terms of combinations of four elements earth, air, water and fire. They associated earth, air, and water with the physical conditions of objects and fire with heat, motion, and life force.
It takes light (electromagnetic radiation) this long to travel from our Sun to planet Earth.
Light travels 300,000km per second. There is around 150 million kilometres between us and the Sun, so this equals around 8 minutes, 19 seconds.
This scientific theory was updated after the discovery of sea-floor topography and magma.
Plate Tectonic Theory
Although we don't have any samples of the core, most scientists agree that Earth's core main constituent is made of this chemical element.
Iron
The more modern nuclear model of the atom differed from previous models in that it...
the atom had a dense, positively charged nucleus.This view of the atom, known as the nuclear model, replaced the Plum Pudding model proposed several years earlier when a clever experiment revealed that the atom had to have a dense, positively charged area at the center, which we call the nucleus.
According to the Law of Universal Gravitation, the force of gravity between two objects is directly proportional to...
The greater the masses of two objects, the greater the product of their masses will be and the greater the force of gravity between the two objects. Likewise, the smaller the product of the two objects’ masses, the smaller the force of gravity between them. This is a direct proportion.
This letter does not appear anywhere in the Period Table of Elements
It contains a large number of letters (or multiple letters) associated with elements, but one letter in the alphabet doesn’t feature: the letter ‘J’
The "leaping" of electrons to higher energetic states can be described by this scientific law.
The Law of Conservation of Energy
The Mohorovičić discontinuity, usually referred to as the Moho discontinuity or the Moho, is the boundary between these two layers of Earth's structure.
The Earth's crust and mantle.
Isotopes are atoms of the same element with....
Two atoms of the same element that contain different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes
What is the First Law of Thermodynamics?
AKA, the law of conservation of energy, the First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed - only converted from one form of energy to another.
This biological fluid can dissolve razor blades if given enough time.
Acids are ranked on a scale 0-14 (the lower the PH level, the stronger the acid). The human stomach is typically rated 1.0-2.0 meaning it is impeccably strong.