General Science Flash Card Set 843755

Cards 10
Topics Carbohydrates, DNA, Domain, Infiltration, Light Waves, Outer Planets, Primary Consumers, Refraction, Speed, Vectors

Study Guide

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are major sources of energy for the body and are found in sugars (fruit, cane sugar, beets) and starches (bread, rice, potatoes, pasta).

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the molecule that contains genetic information. DNA is encoded through a combination of nucleotides that bind together in a specific double helix pattern.

Domain

The broadest classification of life splits all organisms into three groups called domains. The three domains of life are bacteria, archaea and eukaryota.

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.

Light Waves

Unlike mechanical sound waves that require a physical medium for propagation, light waves are electromagnetic and can travel through empty space. Light waves are also much faster, travelling at 186,000 m/s vs. 343 m/s for sound waves.

Outer Planets

In contrast to the solid terrestrial planets, the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) consist of hydrogen and helium gas and water.

Primary Consumers

Primary consumers (herbivores) subsist on producers like plants and fungus. Examples are grasshoppers, cows, and plankton.

Refraction

Because different materials have different refractive indices, light changes speed when passing from one material to another. This causes the light to bend (refraction) at an angle that depends on the change in refractive index between the materials. The greater the difference, the higher the angle of refraction.

Speed

The speed of a sound wave will vary with the medium. Sound travels fastest through media that has particles that are very close together, like metal. Thus, it travels faster through water than through air and doesn't travel at all through a vacuum (there are no particles in empty space to vibrate).

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: \(\vec{v}\)