Global Climate Change
Name two Greenhouse Gases...
Carbon Dioxide, Water Vapor, Methane, Nitrous Oxide,...
What kind of star (or what stage of life) is our Sun?
Main Sequence
What is the difference between a planet's period of rotation vs its period of revolution?
Period or rotation refers to how long a planet takes to spin one time on its axis (a day) vs a period of revolution refers to how long a planet takes to revolve or go around the Sun one time (a year).
Define what a half-life is.
A half-life is the time period it takes for 50% of a material to decay.
What are the lifespans of low-mass stars, sun-like stars, and massive stars?
Low-mass stars: 100s billions years
Sun-like stars: billions of years
Massive stars: millions of years
Carbon Dioxide has a higher atmospheric concentration during what times of the year AND why?
During colder months because plants are not actively undergoing photosynthesis and they do not take in Carbon Dioxide as much.
What is the last element a star can produce before it dies/goes supernova?
Fe (Iron)
What two elements are in the Sun and how do we know?
Hydrogen and Helium. The spectral lines on the spectroscopy reading from the Sun line up with spectral lines of hydrogen and helium.
What are two popular isotopes that can be used in radiometric dating?
Carbon-14 and Uranium-238.
What is the period of revolution of Jupiter in Earth years?
11.9 years
How can scientists understand what the atmosphere was like almost over 800,000 years ago?
Data collected from air bubbles in ice cores.
What determines whether a star becomes a black hole, a neutron star, or a white dwarf after it goes through a Supernova?
Initial mass.
What are two major difference between the inner and outer planets?
The inner planets are rock planets, whereas the outer planets are gas/ice planets.
The inner planets are smaller than the outer planets.
The inner planets have smaller periods of revolution than the outer planets.
The inner planets are more dense than the outer planets.
The inner planets do not have as many moons and do not have rings like some of the outer planets.
What isotope is used to estimate the age of fossils and why?
Carbon-14 because all living things have carbon in them.
During nucleosynthesis, carbon atoms combine with other free floating atoms to create which type of atom?
Oxygen
What are two major problems that deforestation causes?
Loss of habitat, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (because there are less plants to take in carbon dioxide)
What type of star and what color is Betelgeuse?
A Supergiant. Red.
Mercury. Its orbit has a more-oval shape.
What is the decay product of Carbon-14?
Nitrogen-14.
Provide the correct luminosity, temperature, color, and type of star of the star Vega.
Luminosity = 10^2 (100 times brighter than the Sun), 8,000 - 9,000 degrees Kelvin, white, and a Main Sequence star.
Define albedo and why is it important when talking about global climate change.
Albedo is how reflective a surface is...if ice on Earth is lost, albedo of Earth decreases. If less light is reflected back into space, more is absorbed. If more is absorbed, this will cause higher temperatures.Higher temperatures will melt sea ice. The feedback loop continues and keeps getting worse.
Why does a bigger star have a shorter lifespan?
It has more nuclear fusion fuel (hydrogen) AND it has much more gravity to allow for faster nucleosythesis.
Describe the type of orbit a planet needs to have in order to be able to support life and why?
Nearly or almost circular. This will create less variation in a planet's climate as it goes through the yearly seasons.
If a sample starts with 100 grams of Carbon-14, how many grams of Carbon-14 will it have after three half-lives?
12.5 grams of Carbon-14.
What is one solution that can be implemented to slow greenhouse gas emissions?
Use renewable energy, carpool, use electric cars, etc.