Chapter Preview Questions

Chapter Preview Questions • What is the source of most of Earth’s heat and natural light? • a. the moon • b. Earth itself • c. the sun • d. stars other than the sun

Chapter Preview Questions • 2. What force keeps Earth in motion around the sun? • a. friction between Earth and the planets • b. gravity between Earth and the moon • c. friction between Earth and the sun • d. gravity between Earth and the sun

Chapter Preview Questions • 3. How many natural satellites does Earth have? • a. one • b. two • c. six • d. dozens

Chapter Preview Questions • 4. What causes day and night? • a. the tilt of Earth’s axis • b. the sun moving behind the moon • c. Earth’s movement around the sun • d. Earth’s rotation on its axis

Imagine that you are looking up at a full moon in the sky. Why is the moon so bright? Does the moon produce its own light, like a flashlight, or does its light come from somewhere else? Explain your reasoning. What events are caused by the motion of Earth and the moon?

Section 1: Earth in Space • Standard 8.4.e: Students know the appearance, general composition, relative position and size, and motion of objects in the solar system, including planets, planetary satellites, comets, and asteroids.

How Earth Moves • How doe Earth move in space? • Rotation • Revolution • Earth moves through space in two major ways: rotation and revolution. • Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours, causing day and night. • Earth revolves around the Sun in a cycle of about 365.25 days. The modern calendar compensates for the one-fourth day by adding a day every four years. We call this a “leap year.”

Sunlight Striking Earth’s Surface • Near the equator, sunlight strikes Earth’s surface more directly and is less spread out than near the poles.

Earth’s Tilted Axis • What causes the cycle of seasons on Earth? • Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted as it revolves around the sun. • Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees relative to the Sun. The globe has imaginary lines delineated 23.5 degrees from the Equator to identify the areas of most direct sunlight in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Earth’s Tilted Axis • Tropic of Cancer • Tropic of Capricorn • Located at 23.5 degrees north latitude. • Summer occurs in the Northern Hemisphere when this imaginary line is in direct alignment to the Sun in late June. • Located 23.5 degrees south latitude. • Summer occurs in the Southern Hemisphere when this imaginary line is in direct alignment to the Sun in late December.

Seasons on Earth • Earth has seasons because its axis is tilted as it revolvesaround the sun.

Seasons on Earth • The height of the sun above the horizon varies with the season.

Section 2: Gravity and Motion • Standard 8.2.f: Students know the role of gravity in forming and maintaining the shapes of planets, stars, and the solar system.

Gravity, Mass, and Distance • The strength of the force of gravity between two objects depends on two factors: the masses of the objects and the distance between them.

Gravity Versus Distance • As a rocket leaves a planet’s surface, the force of gravity between the rocket and the planet changes. Use the graph to answer the following questions.

Four million newtons Reading Graphs: What is the force of gravity on the rocket at the planet’s surface? Gravity Versus Distance

One million newtons Reading Graphs: What is the force of gravity on the rocket at a distance of two units (twice the planet’s radius from its center)? Gravity Versus Distance

Nonlinear. The graph is a curve. Making Generalizations: According to the graph, is the relationship between gravity and distance linear or nonlinear? Explain. Gravity Versus Distance

It decreases. Drawing Conclusions: In general, how does the force of gravity pulling on the rocket change as the distance between it and the planet increases? Gravity Versus Distance

0.16 million newtons, or 160,000 newtons Predicting: What would the force of gravity on the rocket be at a distance of five units? Gravity Versus Distance

Gravity and Inertia • Newton concluded that two factors–inertia and gravity–combine to keep Earth in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit around Earth.

Section 3: Phases, Eclipses, and Tides • Standard 8.2.g Students know the role of gravity in forming and maintaining the shapes of planets, stars, and the solar system. • Standard 8.4.d Students know that stars are the source of light for all bright objects in outer space and that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight, not by their own light.

Motions of the Moon • The changing relative positions of the moon, Earth, and sun cause the phases of the moon, eclipses, and tides.

Phases of the Moon • The phase of the moon you see depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.

The Moon’s Orbit • The moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit around the sun.

Solar Eclipse • A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun, blocking sunlight from Earth.

Lunar Eclipse • During a lunar eclipse, Earth blocks sunlight fromreaching the moon’s surface.

Tides • Tides occur mainly because of differences in the force of gravity between the moon and different parts of Earth.

Spring and Neap Tides • When Earth, the sun, and the moon are in a straight line, a spring tide occurs. When the moon is at a right angle to the sun, a neap tide occurs.

Section 4: Earth’s Moon • Standard 8.4.e Students know the appearance, general composition, relative position and size, and motion of objects in the solar system, including planets, planetary satellites, comets, and asteroids.

The Moon’s Surface • What features are found on the moon’s surface? • The moon’s surface has dark, flat areas, which Galileo called maria. • These “seas” are actually hardened rock from huge lava flows that occurred between 3 and 4 billion years ago. • The moon’s surface contains large round pits called craters. • Craters can be hundreds of kilometers across. • They were caused by impacts of meteoroids early in its history. • A third major feature of the moon surface is the presence of highlands, or mountains.

The Moon’s Surface • Features on the moon’s surface include maria, craters, and highlands.

Characteristics of the Moon • The moon is 3,476 km in diameter, a little less than the distance across the contiguous United States. • It is about one-fourth the diameter of Earth. • The moon has only one-eightieth the mass of Earth. • Temperatures range from 130°C in direct sunlight to -180°C at night. • Temperatures vary so much because it has no atmosphere. • The moon has no liquid water.

The Origin of the Moon • Scientists theorize that a planet-sized object collided with earth to form the moon.

Chapter Preview Questions