Physics 1009 Exam 1 Questions And Answers Approved

environmental science - correct answers systematic study of the environment and our place in it anthropocentrism - correct answers human flourishing should be valued; other species and ecological processes are secondary ecocentrism - correct answers the ecosystem as a whole should be valued conservation - correct answers expending resources for human use benefit the greatest number for the longest time preservation - correct answers maintaining nature for its own right inputs and outputs - correct answers energy and materials exchanged within the environment open system - correct answers a system that can receive inputs and outputs closed system - correct answers a system that has no exchange of inputs or outputs with the environment throughput - correct answers the net flow of inputs through a system equilibrium - correct answers a state in which opposing forces are balanced stable equilibrium - correct answers a system that tends to return to equilibrium after a disturbance metastable equilibrium - correct answers small disturbances can be tolerated but large disturbances destroy equilibrium feedback loops - correct answers outputs of a system are routed back as inputs positive feedback loop - correct answers discrepancy is amplified over time negative feedback loop - correct answers discrepancy is reduced over time 1st law of thermodynamics - correct answers energy must be conserved; it is not created or destroyed, but transformed chemosynthesis - correct answers process in which chemical compounds are used for the organisms to live off of, in the absence of light; similar to photosynthesis trophic level - correct answers the feeding status of an organism producers - correct answers organisms that make their own food; plants primary consumers - correct answers animals that feed on producers; ex. herbivores 2nd law of thermodynamics - correct answers energy is continually degraded from high quality to low energy ecological period - correct answers depicts energy (biomass) in each trophic level nitrogen-fixing bacteria - correct answers bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into weak ammonia; appears as bumps on the roots of plants decomposers - correct answers organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and return raw materials to the environment by releasing weak ammonia nitrifying bacteria - correct answers combines nitrogen with oxygen to change ammonia to nitrites to nitrates denitrifying bacteria - correct answers Convert nitrates (NO3) into free atmospheric nitrogen eutrophication - correct answers excess nutrients in water causing algae growth; depletes oxygen levels protons - correct answers positively charged; number determines element identity neutrons - correct answers neutral charge isotopes - correct answers atoms with oddball amounts of neutrons; only some are stable and others are radioactive atomic mass - correct answers number of protons + number of neutrons atomic number - correct answers number of protons protium - correct answers hydrogen 1; typical; most water deuterium - correct answers hydrogen 2; oddball; "heavy" water tritium - correct answers hydrogen 3; oddball; very rare 16 O - correct answers typical; lighter and stays in ice sheets during glacial periods 18 O - correct answers oddball; heavier and enriches seawater in glacial period radio carbon dating - correct answers using carbon isotopes to help us determine the age of an organism specimen 14 C - correct answers radioactive oddball used to determine how long ago an organism was alive; decays over time after death baseline nitrogen - correct answers atmospheric N2 gas in the air found in plants and animals; stable baseline carbon - correct answers pee dee river squid fossil ecology - correct answers the study of interactions between organisms and their environment population - correct answers organisms of the same species cohabiting and interbreeding community - correct answers populations that live together in a defined area simplistic model - correct answers infinite resources, no predation, no competition biotic potential - correct answers the max reproductive capacity of an organism; revealed by the simplistic model r-selected species - correct answers species adapted to employ a high reproductive rate to overcome the high mortality of ignored offspring k-selected species - correct answers species adapted for slower growth conditions; typically live long and mature slowly state variables - correct answers measurable quantities of interest carbon-14 dating time limit - correct answers 50,000 years flow of nutrients in water - correct answers downstream -- oceans enriched in heavy isotopes exponential growth - correct answers growth whose rate becomes ever more rapid in proportion to the growing total number or size; J-curve quality vs quantity in population trends - correct answers organisms either produce a few very expensive offspring or many cheap offspring carrying capacity - correct answers the mean number or biomass of animals that can be supported in a certain area of a habitat logistic growth - correct answers growth rates regulated by internal and external factors that establish an equilibrium with environmental resources; S-curve top-down methods of population decrease - correct answers limiting births bottom-up methods of population decrease - correct answers providing educational and economic opportunities to women leading to birth rates decreasing triggers of carrying capacity increase - correct answers technology, agriculture, medicine, engineering, economic growth