General Science Flash Card Set 82791

Cards 10
Topics Atom, Classification of Life, Ecosystem, Fronts, Infiltration, Law of Universal Gravitation, Molecule, Pancreas, Periods, Vectors

Study Guide

Atom

An atom is the smallest component of an element that still retains the properties of the element.

Classification of Life

Classifications of life are too numerous to enumerate, here's an overview of the classifications from broadest to narrowist:

Classification Contains Related
Kingdom phyla
Phylum classes
Class orders
Order families
Family genera
Genus species
Species organisms

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment. This includes both the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living).

Fronts

An air mass is a large body of air that has similar moisture (density) and temperature characteristics. A front is a transition zone between two air masses.

Infiltration

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.

Law of Universal Gravitation

Newton's law of universal gravitation defines gravity: All objects in the universe attract each other with an equal force that varies directly as a product of their masses, and inversely as a square of their distance from each other. Expressed as a formula: \(\vec{F_{g}} = { Gm_{1}m_{2} \over r^2}\) where r is the distance between the two objects and G is the gravitational constant with a value of 6.67 x 10-11.

Molecule

A molecule is the smallest multi-atom particle of an element or compound that can exist and still retain the characteristics of the element or compound. The molecules of elements consist of two or more similar atoms, the molecules of compounds consist of two or more different atoms.

Pancreas

The acids produced by the pancreas contain several enzymes that aid in digestion. Lipase converts fat to glycerol and fatty acids. Pancreatic amylase breaks down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. Trypsin converts polypeptides (the building blocks of protein) into amino acids.

Periods

The rows of the Periodic Table are called periods and contain elements that have the same number of electron shells ordered from lower to higher atomic number.

Vectors

Velocity and displacement are vector quantities which means each is fully described by both a magnitude and a direction. In contrast, scalar quantities are quantities that are fully described by a magnitude only. A variable indicating a vector quantity will often be shown with an arrow symbol: \(\vec{v}\)