DOC-20240901-WA0010.
DOC-20240901-WA0010.
Physics Notes
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Contents
Unit 3: Force and Energy
3.1 Density 5
3.2 Heat and temperature 14
3.3 Conservation of energy 18
3.4 Moving from hot to cold 28
3.5 Ways of transferring thermal energy 31
3.6 Cooling by evaporation 41
Unit 6: Sound
Unit 9: Electricity
9.1 Parallel circuits 67
9.2 Current and voltage in parallel circuits 72
9.3 Resistance 86
9.4 Practical circuits 92
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Activity 97
Enquiry 105
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Unit 3
Force and Energy
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3.1 Density
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6
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2nd: Measuring Mass
*If it is a liquid:
1- You measuring the mass of an empty cylinder (or container).
2- You pour the liquid in the cylinder (or container).
3- Record the new mass then subtract both masses.
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Worked Example
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Prior Knowledge
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Applications on Density:
Floating and Sinking
Fun experiment
*Example:
Submarines:
1- Submarines contain tanks called ballast and trim tanks. These ballast and trim tanks are
filled with water and air accordingly for the submarine to sink or float in water.
2- When the submarine is floating on the surface, the tanks are filled with air so that the
density of the submarine is reduced compared to that of the surrounding water.
3- When the submarine sinks, the tanks are flooded with water causing the density of the
submarine to be greater than the surrounding water which makes the submarine sink easily.
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Sea water and fresh water:
Saltwater is more dense than freshwater
Boats:
Prior Knowledge
The size of the upthrust depends on the density of the fluid as well as the volume of fluid that
is displaced (which is equal to the volume of the object)
**The denser the liquid, the greater the upthrust it will exert on an object
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Key words
Density Mass per Unit volume
Hollow An object that has a space filled with air on the inside
Irregular Of a three-dimensional shape, having a volume that
cannot be calculated using a simple equation.
Regular Of a three-dimensional shape, such as a cube or cuboid,
having a volume that can be calculated using a simple
equation
Solid An object that has no space filled with air on the inside
Practice
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3.2 Heat and temperature
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How much energy does it take to raise the temperature of an object?
Prior knowledge
♦ The process of heating changes the motion of particles. If you heat a solid the
particles in the solid vibrate more.
♦ In liquids and gases the particles move faster means the temperature has increased.
♦ You cannot say that the individual particles in a solid, liquid or gas get hotter. each
particle can only move or vibrate faster.
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Examples that explain heat and temperature:
♦ Sparkler:
1- A white-hot spark is at a very high temperature
although it doesn’t contain much heat energy because
it doesn’t contain many particles.
2- The reason is the mass of the spark is very small and
the temperature difference between the air and the
spark is very large.
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♦ As the temperature of an object decreases, the particles move
more slowly.
♦ A scientist called Kelvin in the 1800s predicted that particles
would eventually stop moving at the lowest possible
temperature. (which was proven later on that it isn’t possible)
Key words
Expand Becomes larger
Hotter Used to describe an object at a higher temperature
Heat The total thermal energy of the vibrating particles in
an object.
Temperature - The average energy of the particles
- The degree of hotness or coldness
Thermometer Measuring tool that is used to measure temperature
Joulemeter Measuring tool that is used to measure the Heat
energy.
Degree The temperature’s measuring unit
Celsius
Joules The heat (thermal) energy measuring unit
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3.3 Conservation of energy
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Sankey diagrams
♦ A Sankey diagram shows the energy transfers taking place in a process. The
thickness of the arrow shows the amount of energy transferred. The useful
energy is shown by the arrow that points to the right. The wasted energy is
shown by arrows that point up or down.
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Test yourself
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Test yourself
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Key words
Conserved Means the total quantity of something is kept the
same.
Created To be made from nothing or from something
different.
Destroyed Cease to exist
System A system is a place where an energy change or
transfer occurs.
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3.4 Moving from hot to cold
Feeling Hot
♦ Thermal energy always moves from a hot object to a cold object.
♦ If you put a cold object in contact with a hot object the temperature of the
cold object will increase, and the temperature of the hot object will decrease.
♦ Thermal energy has been transferred.
♦ When thermal energy is removed from a hot object, we say that the thermal
energy has dissipated
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Feeling Cold
♦ Imagine you are holding ice. The ice feels cold. It is easy to think that the cold
from the ice moves into your hand, but that does not happen.
♦ Cold is not an energy store and cold cannot move. Cold means there is less
thermal energy.
♦ When you hold the ice, you feel cold because thermal energy has been
transferred away from your hands.
♦ You can damage your skin by holding ice for too long, as your skin needs the
correct quantity of thermal energy to function.
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Dissipation
♦ You met the word dissipation in Stage 7. Dissipation is used to describe the
movement of heat away from its source into the surrounding environment.
♦ When thermal energy moves from a hotter place to a colder place, we say
that thermal energy has dissipated from the hotter place.
♦ The rate, or speed, of thermal energy transfer increases when the
temperature difference between the hot place and the cold place increases.
Remember that energy is always conserved, so the thermal energy has not
disappeared or been destroyed, it has just spread out and moved to a colder
place.
Key words
Hotter Means the total quantity of something is kept the
same.
Colder To be made from nothing or from something
different.
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3.5 Ways of transferring thermal energy
♦ When any substance is heated, the particles in that substance start to move
faster.
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♦ Convection can happen in liquids and gases because the particles are free to
move.
♦ Convection cannot happen in a solid because the particles are not free to
move. The particles in a solid can only vibrate about fixed positions.
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Radiation
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Heat transfer
examples
♦ The room heater in the picture has hot water flowing through the inside.
1- Thermal energy from the hot water is transferred to the metal of the
heater by conduction.
2- Thermal energy from the metal is transferred to the air, also by
conduction. When the warm air expands, this warm air rises, which
heats the air above by convection.
3- The metal surface of the heater also emits thermal energy by
radiation.
♦ Some objects are designed to reduce the effects of conduction,
convection or radiation.
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♦ Vacuum flasks are containers used to store hot liquids such as tea, coffee
or soup. The flask is designed to slow the transfer of thermal energy by
reducing conduction and radiation.
Test yourself
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Key words
Conduction Method of thermal energy transfer where more
vigorously vibrating particles causes neighbouring
particles to vibrate by colliding; conduction works best
where particles are close together in solids and liquids
Convection Method of thermal energy transfer where more
vigorously vibrating particles cause expansion and
decrease in density in a liquid or gas; the less dense
material then rises because it floats, setting up a
convection current.
Convection current Flow of particles through a liquid or gas due to difference
in density
Emit Give out radiation or energy
Expand Become larger
Radiation Method of thermal energy transfer that uses waves and
does not depend on particles; occurs through a vacuum,
though gases and through transparent solids.
Vigorously With a lot of movement and a lot of energy.
Summary
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3.6 Cooling by evaporation
♦ The particles in the water that are moving faster have more energy. Some
of these particles have enough energy to escape from the surface of the
liquid and become particles of a gas.
♦ Some of these are pulled back into the liquid, but others have sufficient
energy to leave and not get pulled back.
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♦ Different liquids have different forces holding the particles together.
- Perfumes are designed to evaporate quickly and easily so you can
smell them. Perfume evaporates faster than water.
- Liquid soap evaporates much more slowly than water. Water
evaporates faster than liquid soap.
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Evaporation examples
1) Cooling Skin:
- Droplets of sweat, which is mainly water, form on the surface of your
skin.
- The water evaporates as thermal energy is transferred from your skin
to the sweat.
- The thermal energy makes the water molecules move more quickly, so
they can escape from the liquid water.
2) Cooling animals
- A dog will pant to help it cool down.
- Water evaporates from its tongue.
- Elephants will use water on their skin to
cool down.
3) Evaporative refrigerators
- In a refrigerator a special liquid called a
refrigerant is pumped around tubes at the back.
- Thermal energy from inside the refrigerator
evaporates the refrigerant.
- This cools down the inside of the refrigerator.
- Air conditioning woks in the same way.
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4) Evaporative coolers
**Water cooler:
- Made from porous clay.
- When it is filled with water, some water soaks through the clay to the
outside.
- This water evaporates into surrounding air, cooling the water inside the
water cooler.
**Air Cooler:
- Contains a sponge that is soaked in water.
- A fan blows warm air from the room through the sponge.
- The warm air provides the thermal energy of the air decreases, cooling
the air.
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5) Drying Clothes
- Some of the water molecules on the surface of
the wet cloth have enough energy to escape
into the air (to evaporate).
- Some of them may gain enough energy to
escape by first absorbing heat from sunlight, or
by being hit by a fast-moving air molecule.
- This is why clothes will dry faster in the sun
and/or in the breeze.
Key words
Porous A solid that has tiny holes allowing water to soak
through.
Random Not predictable or not following any patter.
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Unit 6
Sound Waves
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6.1 Loundness and pitch of sound
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Waveform
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Test yourself
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♦ If you want to see what sound waves are like we can use a
microphone attached to an oscilloscope.
♦ The sound wave reaches the microphone which produces an
electrical signal.
♦ This is displayed on the screen of the oscilloscope.
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Very important prior
Test yourself
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Changing sound
♦ When you pluck a guitar string, it vibrates
very rapidly. It may vibrate hundreds or
thousands of times each second.
♦ If the strings is tightened or became
shorter, the pitch will increase, because the
speed of vibrations increases.
♦ If the strings plucked harder, the loundness
will increase.
Test yourself
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Vibrations in a ruler
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Key words
Amplitude
Frequency
Loudness
Oscilloscope
Peak
Pitch
Trough
Waveform
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6.2 Interference of sound
♦ When two or more sound waves from different sources are present at the
same time, they interact with each other to produce a new wave
(superposition). The new wave is the sum of all the different waves. Wave
interaction is called Superposition
Sound interference
Conditions
1- The waves must be same type (which means sound waves cannot
interfere with water waves).
2- Interference occur when waves have same frequency and same
amplitude to facilitate the detection of it.
3- Interferenc can produce two effects: either reinforce or cancel each
other.
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Reinforcement
(Constructive interference)
♦ Waves will reinforce when they meet with the peaks together and
with the troughs together and they reinforce each other. This is
shown in the diagram.
♦ When two waves travel in the same direction and are in phase with
each other, their amplitude gets added, and the resultant wave is
obtained. Here, the waves are said to have undergone constructive
interference
♦ We can also observe that the amplitude of the resultant wave is
higher than the waves which undergo interference.
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♦ The produced wave will be:
1) The amplitudes of the two waves that interfere are added together.
(So, Louder sound is produced)
2) The frequency of the two waves that interfere does not change.
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Cancellation
(Destructive interference)
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Test yourself
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Noise-Cancelling headphones
The headphones pick up the sound from the surroundings, then analyse
the sound wave and create another sound wave with the same
amplitude and frequency, but out of phase with the original wave.
This new sound wave is used to cancel the sound wave from the
surroundings.
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Key words
Interference The effect produced when two or more waves meet.
Reinforce Where interference results in an increase in
amplitude.
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Unit 9
Electricity
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9.1 Parallel Circuits
Prior Knowledge
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Comparison Series Circuit Parallel Circuit
Diagram
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the circuit you can increase the
output voltage.
4- All components carry the same
current – because the current has
to flow through every component
in the circuit the current stays
consistent and at the same level
throughout the circuit
Disadvantages 1- If one component fails or any 1- Lots of wires are required –
point breaks the circuit fails – lots of wires are required in
when using a series circuit if any the construction of a
point of the circuit fails the whole parallel circuit, this can
circuit fails too. make parallel circuits look
2- As the number of components in messy if they are not wired
the circuit increases, so does the neatly
resistance – when more 2- Fault finding is more
components are added to a series complex than series circuits
circuit the level of resistance in the – in series circuits you can
circuit increases pinpoint where a fault has
occurred easier than in a
parallel circuit.
Voltage Divided across each component The same across all of the
according to the amount of components.
electrical energy it needs to
operate.
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Summary
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Key words
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9.2 Current and voltage in parallel and series circuits
Voltage
♦ A force is needed to make the charges in a circuit move. This force is provided by
the battery. The size of that push is voltage.
♦ The voltage also tells us about the energy that is transferred to the components
by the current.
♦ The more voltage, the more current (Because the bigger push will make the flow
of charges faster)
♦ Voltage rating tells us maximum voltage that can be used (Ex: Lamps of the
school are often rated at 3 or 6 V)
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♦ The chemical energy stored in the battery is transferred to the components by the
current.
♦ You can connect a voltmeter across the terminals of a battery or cell to find out how
much energy it can give to the charges flowing round a circuit.
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Series circuits
1) Voltage
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Series circuits
2) Current
♦ The current in a series circuit is the same at all places in the circuit.
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Parallel Circuits
1)Voltage
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2) Current
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Test yourself
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Exam Tip
Don’t say Remove one of the lamps or add another cell because
that means you didn’t change the components, you added or
removed which changed the order of the components which was
two lamps and one cell.
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Key words
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Modelling electrical circuits
Components:
1- Pump represents the cell or
battery Components:
2- Tap represents the switch 1- Water turbine represents the
3- Narrow pipe represents the lamp or resistor (electrical
resistor component)
4- Meter represents ammeter 2- Pump represents the cell or
5- Water represents the electrons battery
or electric current 3- Water represents the electrons
6- (Narrow pipe can be replaced or electric current
by radiator) The radiator will be
representing the Lamp.
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Series Circuit Parallel Circuit
Strengths of the model: Strengths of the model:
1- The flow of water is the same 1- The water would divide at the
throughout the pipe which is junction in the pipes and merge
like the current in series circuit. back together when the pipes re-
2- There is only one path for the join.
current to take. 2- Each branch will have different
3- The pump transfers energy to value of current if the turbines
the water particles which then are different.
flows throughout the model 3- Water and current are not used
(same idea with the electrons) up.
4- Water and current are not used
up.
Limitations of the model:
Limitations of the model: 1- The water can leak from the
1- The water can leak from the pipes if the pipe were damaged.
pipes if the pipes were 2- Radiator takes time to heat up
damaged, but the charges will the water.
never leak from the wire. 3- We can’t see what is happening
2- (If the narrow pipe is replaced to the water inside the pipes.
by a radiator) Radiator takes
time to heat up the water.
3- We cannot see what is
happening to the water inside
the pipes.
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The factory Model
Components:
1- The factory represents the battery.
2- The trucks represents the charges (electrons that flow)
3- The shop represents the lamp.
There are many mode models that can represent the electrical circuit.
Instead of memorising each model, you must think about their
strengths and limitations by thinking about the idea of how electrical
circuits works in the first place.
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Test yourself
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9.3 Resistance
poor
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In Series Circuit
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In Parallel Circuit
♦ The value of the combined Resistance will always be less than the
smallest resistance connected in parallel
Function of resistors:
♦ The filament of a lamp is a resistor that has high resistance. So, when the
current passes through it, the filament glows up and light up the lamp.
♦ The variable resistor is placed in ovens to change the temperatures of the
oven by changing the current.
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Key words
Filament
Ohms
Ohm’s law
Resistor
Resistance
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9.4 Practical circuits
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Simple Circuit
♦ Any electric circuit would require three important components, Power source
which is the battery, a switch and an indicator which is the light bulb.
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Test yourself
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Key words
Dimmer
Fixed
Resistor
Variable
resistor
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Experimental Skills
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In physics, preliminary work refers to the initial steps taken before
conducting an experiment.
Example
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Earth and Space
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1. Tectonics
Prior Knowledge
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Prior Knowledge
Tectonic plates is part of the Earth crust that moves on the mantle
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When you look at a world map, it looks like the continents could
fit together like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Scientists have done this with the continents on Earth. The
continental coasts can fit together as shown in the diagram.
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Movement of tectonic plates
Prior Knowledge
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What causes the tectonic plates to move?
The mantle is heated from the innermost part of the Earth (the inner
core)
The inner core is estimated to be at a temperature of over 5000 oC
(the high temperature is due to the thermal energy left from the
formation of the Earth)
Thermal energy is transferred through fluids by convection and that
convection currents occur in fluids.
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Limitations: The rising cooking oil (liquid) doesn’t form a new biscuit
at the surface
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Very Important Note
Types of movement
Divergent plate boundary:
1- referred to as a constructive boundary, a divergent boundary indicates
places where two tectonic plates move away from each other.
2- Most active divergent boundaries are found between oceanic plates,
where they exist as mid-oceanic ridges.
3- The divergent boundaries within the continents produce rifts.
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Convergent Plate Boundary:
1- referred to as a 'destructive boundary', a convergent boundary is an area
where two plates move towards one another.
2- In this area, one of the plates slides beneath the other plate in a process
known as Subduction.
3- Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and mountain-building activities are
common along convergent boundaries.
4- When the crust is pushed under the continents it becomes part of the
mantle.
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Evidence on tectonic
plates movement
Fossil Record
The fossil record provides more evidence for tectonic plates and their
movement.
What is a fossil record?
The fossil record is the name given to the collection of thousands of
fossils that provide us with information about the time before humans
were on Earth
Fossils are the remains of dead animals and plants that have turned
to stone over millions of years
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Mesosaurus Glossopteris
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Alignment of magentic rocks
Magnetic crystals in molten rocks line up to point north in the same way as a
compass needle.
When the rock solidifies, scientists can use these crystals to tell the direction
of the Earth’s magnetic field at the time when the rock became solid.
The direction that the crystals are pointing is called alignment.
(alignment means to live up in a particular way)
When the Magnetic field of the Earth reverses, the magnetic rocks re-align
again.
This realignment tends to push the old rocks away from each other, creating
a gap that is filled later with magma from the mantle.
This proves that the tectonic plates are moving.
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Events occur because of the movement of tectonic plates
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Key words
jigsaw
Continental
Coast
Fossil
records
Alignment
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2. Climate Change
About 2 billion years ago, the Earth experienced the first ice age that we
know about.
Since then, the Earth has cycled between relatively warm periods and
relatively cold ones
In the warm periods, there was no ice at all, even at the poles. In the colder
periods, called ice ages, there was ice at the poles.
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2nd : Snowball Earth
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4th : Asteroids colliding with Earth
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Key words
Slush
Mass
extinction
Meteorites
Meteoroids
Meteors
Craters Investigation
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3. Formation of the moon
In 1974, it was suggested that the Moon formation can be explained by the
collision theory
The collision theory (more commonly called the giant impact hypothesis) is
another theory of how the Moon was formed. There is more evidence that
supports the collision theory than any other current theory.
The collision theory refers to a collision that happened relatively soon after
the formation of the Solar System.
A newly formed planet, about the same size as Mars, collided with the
newly formed Earth
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Evidence that supports the theory
4- There is evidence outside the Solar System of similar collisions causing rings
of rock and dust.
5- The collision theory fits with the theory of how the Solar System was formed.
6- The composition of rocks on the Earth and the Moon are the same.
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Evidence that contradicts the theory
1- The surface of the Earth does not appear to ever have been molten. A
collision that formed the Moon would have caused the surface of the Earth
to melt. The surface would have later solidified.
2- Venus has no moon. Collisions in the early years of the Solar System would
have been common and scientists would have expected Venus to have a
moon formed in the same way.
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Fission Theory for the formation of the Moon
The fission theory states that the Moon broke away from the Earth at
the beginning of the Solar System. At that time, the Earth hadn’t fully
solidified and spun very fast, describing a full rotation in three or four
hours
Contradiction
1- But the math didn’t add up. In the 20th century, scientists
discarded this theory because they calculated that the Earth’s spin
couldn’t have been fast enough to expel a portion of the planet
into space.
2- Plus, if that was the case, the debris would have fallen back on the
Earth’s surface or gone into orbit around the Sun, but it is unlikely
that it would have stayed in Earth’s orbit, as proposed in the
theory
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Key words
Collision
Theory
Collision
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4. Nebulae
What is Nebulae?
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How is it formed?
Some nebulae form when giant stars reach the end of their life. These giant
stars then explode, sending dust and gas over a wide area of space.
There are many nebulae visible from Earth (even without using the
telescope).
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What is Stellar nurseries?
A stellar nursery is an area in space where stars are formed. The word stellar
can used to describe anything about stars
A nursery is a place to care for young people, animals or plants. In this case,
the word nursery applies to young stars
Some types (not all) of nebulae act as stellar nurseries.
In a stellar nursery, the dust and gas can start to collapse together under the
force of gravity
When the mass of dust and gas collects together and becomes larger, the
force of gravity pulling inward increases.
When this force gets very large, the pressure inside the new star also gets
very large
The high pressure causes heat.
The heat can cause atoms to react with each other, causing the new star to
give out heat and light.
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Key words
Nebulae
(singular
nebula)
Northern
Hemisphere
Southern
Hemisphere
Stellar
nurseries
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