Science Final
2 advantages to wind power
-works as long as sun is around (wind is dependent on sun) -can produce more energy than needed
what are the 4 most abundant greenhouse gases
1) water vapor 2) CO2 3) methane 4) nitrous oxide
what is the most 'dangerous' greenhouse gas
methane, it can heat the earth 86 times more than greenhouse gas
what is positive feedback
original change causes a 2nd change which amplifies the original change
what is negative feedback
original change causes a 2nd change which negates the original change
How do you calculate effiency
output/input (100), expressed in a percent- lower number always on top.
what is a source
produces something, origin of something
sequestration
the storage of carbon in a material through biological or physical processes
paleoclimatology
the study of past climates using proxy data
example of radiation
the sun heating the earth
what is convection
the transfer of heat energy through a liquid or gas
what is radiation
the transfer of heat energy through electromagnetic waves. It can transfer energy through space
what is tidal/wave power
the use of the earth and moon's gravitational forces combined w oceans to generate electricity
what is wind power
the use of wind to turn a turbine that generates electricity
what is an example of conduction
touching the stove while it is hot will transfer heat energy to your finger and burn it
What is hydroelectric power
using energy from moving water to generate electricity
what are biofuels and biomass
using natural resources such as trees to create wood pellets and produce energy
What is geothermal direct heat
using the constant temp of the earth to heat water and air in buildings
2 advantages to hydroelectric power
-no greenhouse gas emissions -dams create a reservoir which can be used for recreation
2 advantages to PV cells
-no greenhouse gas emissions -will work as long as we have a sun (so basically it will be usable for the rest of human existence)
2 disadvantages to geothermal direct heat
-only partial solution to energy needs -expensive to install
2 advantages to tidal/wave power
-predictable -no greenhouse gas emissions
albedo
the reflectiveness of something
2 advantages to active solar energy
-recoup costs in 7-10 years -works as long as we have the sun
2 advantages to biofuels and biomass
-wood pellets are relatively renewable because they only cut down certain parts of the tree which end up growing back. -efficient because the wood pellets are so compact
2 disadvantages to passive solar energy
-expensive -doesn't fulfill all energy needs
2 disadvantages to geothermal electricity generation
-location based, can't be built anywhere -expensive
2 disadvantages to tidal/ wave power
-maintenance is difficult -expensive
2 advantages of passive solar energy
-no emissions of any harmful gases -reduces heating and coolin bill
2 advantages to geothermal direct heat
-no greenhouse gas emissions -constant decrease in energy bill
2 disadvantages of wind power
- kills and decapitates birds and bats -people don't want them because they aren't aesthetically pleasing
2 disadvantages to hydroelectric power
-blocks migration paths -soil where it once flowed isn't as fertile/fit for farming
what are the 2 main reasons for climate change
-burning fossil fuels -cutting down forests
example of anthropogenic
-burning fossil fuels increases CO2
2 disadvantages to biofuels and biomass
-can release toxic wastes -releases a small amount of greenhouse gases
2 disadvantages to pv cells
-dependent on sun/weather, if it is very cloudy or night time it doesn't work -expensive to intall
2 disadvantages to active solar energy
-dependent on the sun -doesn't generate electricity, only partial solution
2 advantages to geothermal electricity
-doesn't give off greenhouse gas emissions -works as long as the earth's core is being heated (so basically for the rest of human's existence on Earth)
What is the Keystone pipeline
A pipeline that goes from canada through the US that transports crude oil
What is geothermal electricity
A way to create electricity by using the earth's natural heat to create steam to turn a turbine/rotor
what is the formula for calculating heat energy
Q=m delta t cp q- heat energy m- mass deltaT- change in temp cp- specific heat capacity
What is COnduction
The transfer of energy through 2 solid things
In the bean lab, what does "No resource is ever completely exploited" mean
This means that there is always some material left because people could not possibly get every molecule.
How can farmers converse water in agriculture?
Using drip irrigation- expensive to install but uses 90% less water than traditional sprinkler systems when watering crops
When plotted on regular graph paper, the rate of production vs time graph of a nonrenewable resource would look like...
a bell shaped curve
example of convection
a heater heating a home
what is passive solar energy
a way to design a building so it can soak up and release the needed amounts of energy
describe the temp and co2 graph
as co2 went up so did the average temp for that year but co2 doesn't cause warmer temps but they are related due to an outside relationship
describe the impact of the abundance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
as the sun heats the earth some of that heat is transferred into the ground and other objects but some of it bounces/is reflected back into space. However greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere and so then the heat energy bounces off those molecules because it can't go through them and they are transferred back to the earth and warming it. Greenhouse gases trap heat.
what is an example of a feed back loop
body temp regulation body temp rises- body sweats- body temp decreases- sweat decreases
what is the main cause of acid rain
coal fired power plants
How does a coal fired power plant work
coal is burned to heat water and turn it into a vapor which spins a turbine to creat mechanical energy which gets transferred into electrical energy
What are the three main fossil fuel categories
coal, oil, and natural gas
what is a sink
consumes/stores something
What is the law of conservation of energy and matter
energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed
what did we learn in the marshmallow lab?
energy is always transferred/lost into the surroundings
what is a feedback loop
feed back occurs when one change causes a 2nd change that effects the original change
example of co2 source
forest fires
how did oil and natural gas form
from the build up of marine organism remains that were pressurized and heated in the bottom of the ocean and then migrated to porous rocks
How does coal form
from the build up of plant remains that have been covered with sediment and compressed by heat and pressure in swamps
fossilized air
gets air from pockets in old rock (the majority of the keeling curve data comes from fossilized air)
example of co2 sink
growing forests
correlation
how strongly 2 or more variables are related- correlation doesn't mean causation
What is the first law of thermodynamics
in an isolated system the total amount of energy remains constant, it is just transferred into different forms, it cannot be created or destroyed.
What is the vostok data
it is a graph that has the average temperatures and the CO2 concentration. As the CO2 goes up so does the temp.
Why is the keystone pipeline bad
it would pollute a LOT of groundwater if there was even a small leak/crack
what is acid rain?
rain that has nox and so2 components
phenology
relationship between climate and timing of biological events like breeding and migration
anthropogenic
resulting from humans
explain how climate change effects snow in antarctic krill densities chinstrap penguin pop air temp sea ice extent adelie penguin pop
sea ice extent- air temp goes up and melts the ice air temp- less sea ice = less relfecticveness = warmer temps chinstrap pop- strives bc they can't hold breath for long and less sea ice reduces that winter snow- more moisture, evaporation, and bacteria from the melted ice krill densities- decrease because their food grew/lived under sea ice adelie pop- goes down bc there's more snow and they don't reporduce in very snowy places, more chinstaps = more competition, krill lower so adelie penguins decrease
thermal expansion
sea water becomes less dense, oceans rise
when plotted on regular graph paper, the rate of total resource depletion vs time graph for a non renewable resource has the shape of a...
sigmoid 's' curve
What are pv cells
solar panels made of silicon that can generate sunlight directly into electricity because it does something to electrons where it creates an electric current
What is active solar energy
solar panels that absorb heat and run through pipes that makes the water and air heated
explain the keeling curve
the keeling curve is a graph of the co2 concentration, there is different amounts of c02 depending on the season because of the trees which causes the V. However looking at the graph in a large scale of hundreds of thousands of years the concentration has increases steeply in the past thousandish years even though there has been relatively stable up and downs.
What did you learn in the bean/drilling for oil lab
when drilling for the first time in a non renewable resource you should start off with a lot of workers when the abundance of the material is high. This allows the company to get a lot of the resource quickly to make a profit. However, they should stop the drilling operation after the first major loss because it isn't worth getting the resources that are left because it would not make a profit.