A Quick Review of Basic Concepts in Science, Systems, Matter, and Energy

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A Quick Review of Basic Concepts in Science,
Systems, Matter, and Energy
G. Tyler Millers Living in the Environment 14th
Edition Chapter 3
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Key Concepts

• Science as a process for understanding

• Components and regulation of systems

• Matter forms, quality, and how it changes
  laws of matter

• Energy forms, quality, and how it changes
  laws of energy

• Nuclear changes and radioactivity

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The Nature of Science

• Science is an attempt to discover order in the
  natural world and use the knowledge to describe
  what is likely to happen in nature
• GOAL to increase our understanding of our world
• Based upon the scientific process

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The Nature of Science

• Can you give a real world example in which
  science has increased our understanding of the
  natural world?

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The Nature of Science

• Three critical components to any good science
• Skepticism Do not believe what you see until
  verified
• Reproducible data and results should be able to
  be done over and over
• Peer Review other scientists must review work

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Science, and Critical Thinking

• Scientific data

• Scientific hypotheses
• IFTHENBECAUSE

• Scientific (natural) laws

• Scientific theories

• Consensus science

• Frontier science
• Junk Science

Fig. 3-2 p. 33
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The Nature of Science

• Scientists can do 2 major things
• Disprove things
• Can establish that a particular model, theory, or
  law has a high degree of certainty of being true.
  NOT ABSOLUTELY TRUE
• Scientists should not say Cigarettes Cause
  Cancer but can say There is overwhelming
  evidence from thousands of studies that indicate
  a relationship between cigarette usage and lung
  cancer

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Key Environmental Science Concept

• Any action in a complex system has multiple,
  unintended, and often unpredictable effects.
• Most environmental impacts we face today are a
  result of trying to increase the quality of human
  life.
• Examples????

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Matter Forms, Structure, and Quality
What do these terms mean?

• Elements

• Compounds

• Atoms

• Ions

• Molecules

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Atoms
Subatomic Particles

• Protons

• Neutrons

• Electrons

Atomic Characteristics

• Isotopes
• Hydrogen 1, 2 and 3

• Atomic number
• Carbon 6, Uranium 92

• Ion
• Lost or gained e-

• Atomic mass
• Uranium 235

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Examples of Isotopes
Fig. 3-5 p. 40
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pH

• Measures acidity or alkalinity of water samples
• Scale 0 14
• Acids 0 6.9
• Neutral 7.0
• Alkaline (Basic) 7.1 14

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Chemical Bonds

• Chemical formulas

• Ionic bonds

• Covalent bonds

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Organic Compounds CARBON

• Organic vs. inorganic compounds

• Hydrocarbons

• Chlorinated hydrocarbons

• Simple carbohydrates

• Complex carbohydrates

• Proteins

• Nucleic acids

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The Four States of Matter

• Solid

• Liquid

• Gas

• Plasma

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Matter Quality and Material Efficiency

• High-quality matter

• Low-quality matter

• Material efficiency(resource productivity)

Fig. 3-8 p. 43
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Energy

• Definition Capacity to do work and transfer
  heat
• Types
• Kinetic
• Potential
• Radiation Energy Wavelength

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Electromagnetic SpectrumSome energy travels in
waves at the speed of light
Fig. 3-9 p. 44
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Transfer of Heat Energy
Heat total kinetic energy of all moving atoms in
a substance.
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Energy Quality (ability to do work)

• High-quality energy

• Low-quality energy

Fig. 3-12 p.46
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Changes in Matter

• Physical composition
• unchanged (water and steam)
• Chemical change in the composition of elements
  or compounds.

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Chemical Changes or Reactions
Fig. In text p. 47
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The Law of Conservation of Matter

• Matter is not destroyed

• Matter only changes form

• There is no throw away

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Matter and Pollution

• Chemical nature of pollutants

• Concentration

• Persistence

• Degradable (nonpersistent) pollutants

• Biodegradable pollutants

• Slowly degradable (persistent) pollutants

• Nondegradable pollutants

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Half-life
Fig. 3-13, p. 49
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Nuclear Reactions
Fission
Fusion
Fig. 3-15 p. 50
Fig. 3-16 p. 50
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Laws Governing Energy Changes
First Law of Thermodynamics (Energy)

• Energy is neither created nor destroyed

• Energy only changes form

• You cant get something for nothing

ENERGY IN ENERGY OUT
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Laws Governing Energy Changes
Second Law of Thermodynamics

• In every transformation, some energy is converted
  to heat (lost)

• You cannot break even in terms of energy quality

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As we study environmental science always remember
these few basic scientific concepts.