Questions | 5 |
Topics | Acidity, Carbon Cycle, Cumulus Clouds, Prefixes, Thermosphere |
An acid is a substance that gives up positively charged hydrogen ions (H+) when dissolved in water. A base (alkaline) gives up negatively charged hydroxide ions (OH-) when dissolved in water. pH is a scale that measures of how basic or acidic a solution is. Numbered from 0 to 14, solutions with a pH of 7 are neutral, less than 7 are acidic, more than 7 are alkaline.
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.
Cumulus clouds are large, puffy, mid-altitude clouds with a flat base and a rounded top. These clouds grow upward and can develop into a cumulonimbus or thunderstorm cloud.
A prefix is added to the base units of the metric system to indicate variations in size. Each prefix specifies a value relative to the base unit in a multiple of 10. Common prefixes are:
Prefix | Symbol | Relative Value | Example |
---|---|---|---|
mega | M | 106 (1,000,000) | Mm |
kilo | k | 103 (1,000) | km |
base unit | N/A | 1 | m |
centi | c | 10-2 (1/100) | cm |
milli | m | 10-3 (1/1,000) | mm |
Temperatures again increase with altitude in the thermosphere which is the hottest (4,530 °F / 2,500 °C) atmospheric layer due to direct exposure to the Sun's radiation. However, the gas in this layer is highly diluted so even though the atoms of gas may be very high in temperature, there are too few of them to effectively transfer much heat.