| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Carbon Cycle, Fahrenheit Scale, Geologic Time Scale, Infiltration, Stratosphere |
The carbon cycle represents the ciruit of carbon through Earth's ecosystem. Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis. Plants then die and release carbon back into the atmosphere during decomposition or are eaten by animals who breathe (respiration) the carbon into the atmosphere they exhale and produce waste which also releases carbon as it decays.
More familiar in the United States is the Fahrenheit scale in which the freezing point of water is 32°F (0°C) and the boiling point is 212°F (100°C). To convert from C° to F° use the formula:
\(F° = {9 \over 5}C° + 32\)
and to convert from F° to C° use:
\(C° = {5 \over 9} (F° - 32)\)
The Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and its history is divided into time periods based on the events that took place and the forms of life that were dominant during those periods. The largest graduation of time is the eon and each eon is subdivided into eras, eras into periods, periods into epochs, and epochs into ages.
The water then accumulates as runoff and eventually returns to bodies of water or is absorbed into the Earth (infiltration) and becomes part of the water table, an underground resevoir of fresh water.
The stratosphere is just above the troposphere and is stratified in temperature with warmer layers higher and cooler layers closer to Earth. This increase in temperature is a result of absorption of the Sun's radiation by the ozone layer.