Integrated Science II
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29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Albedo | The fraction of solar energy (shortwave radiation) reflected from the Earth back into space. It is a measure of the reflectivity of the earth's surface. Ice, especially with snow on top of it, has a high albedo: most sunlight hitting the surface bounces back towards space. |
| Biogeochemical cycle | Is a pathway by which a chemical element or molecule moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic (lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere) compartments of Earth |
| Biosphere | The global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed (apart from solar and cosmic radiation) and self-regulating system. |
| Carbon cycle | The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth. It is one of the most important cycles of the Earth and allows for carbon to be recycled and reused throughout the biosphere and all of its organisms. |
| Evaporation | A type of vaporization of a liquid that occurs only on the surface of a liquid. The other type of vaporization is boiling, which, instead, occurs on the entire mass of the liquid. |
| Gaia Theory | Proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely integrated to form a single and self-regulating complex system, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. |
| Geosphere | Refers to the densest parts of Earth, which consist mostly of rock and regolith. The geosphere consists of the inside of the Earth or other planets or bodies. |
| Hydrosphere | Describes the combined mass of water found on, under, and over the surface of a planet. |
| Combustion | The sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat and conversion of chemical species. The release of heat can result in the production of light in the form of either glowing or a flame. Fuels of interest often include organic compounds (especially hydrocarbons) in the gas, liquid or solid phase. |
| Laws of thermodynamics | Defines fundamental physical quantities (temperature, energy, and entropy) that characterize thermodynamic systems. The laws describe how these quantities behave under various circumstances, and forbid certain phenomena (such as perpetual motion). |
| Lithosphere | The rigid outermost shell of a rocky planet. On Earth, it comprises the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of thousands of years or greater. |
| Open system | A system which continuously interacts with its environment. The interaction can take the form of information, energy, or material transfers into or out of the system boundary, depending on the discipline which defines the concept. An open system should be contrasted with the concept of an isolated system which exchanges neither energy, matter,nor information with its environment. |
| Photosynthesis | A process used by plants and other organisms to capture the sun's energy to split off water's hydrogen from oxygen. Hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide (absorbed from air or water) to form glucose and release oxygen. All living cells in turn use fuels derived from glucose and oxidize the hydrogen and carbon to release the sun's energy and reform water and carbon dioxide in the process (cellular respiration). |
| Carbon respiration | A phrase used in combination with carbon storage to calculate the amount of carbon (as CO2) flux occurring in the atmosphere through the various processes that add and subtract atmospheric carbon. The result of this calculation is known as the carbon flux ratio. |
| Rock cycle | A fundamental concept in geology that describes the dynamic transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. |
| Transpiration | A process similar to evaporation. It is a part of the water cycle, and it is the loss of water vapor from parts of plants (similar to sweating), especially in leaves but also in stems, flowers and roots. |
| Water cycle | Describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth. Water can change states among liquid, vapor, and ice at various places in the water cycle. |
| Aerogenerators | Generator that extracts usable energy from winds |
| Alloy | A mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. |
| Anthracite | A hard, compact variety of mineral coal that has a high luster |
| Fossil Fuels | Fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. |
| Greenhouse effect | A process by which thermal radiation from a planetary surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions. Since part of this re-radiation is back towards the surface and the lower atmosphere, it results in an elevation of the average surface temperature above what it would be in the absence of the gases. |
| Lignite | A soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. |
| Natural gas | A naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, with up to 20 %[1] of other hydrocarbons as well as impurities in varying amounts such as carbon dioxide. |
| Non-renewable resource | A natural resource which cannot be reproduced, grown, generated, or used on a scale which can sustain its consumption rate, once depleted there is no more available for future needs. |
| Peat | An accumulation of partially decayed vegetation. |
| Renewable resource | A natural resource with the ability to reproduce through biological or natural processes and replenished with the passage of time. |
| Reserve | The known deposits of a mineral in ores that are worth mining. |
| Solar energy | Radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. |
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