Ess All Topics

Environmental Value System - Answer-Worldview that shapes the way an individual or group of people perceive and evaluate environmental issues. System - Answer-A set of inter-related parts working together to make a complex whole Open System - Answer-Exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings Closed System - Answer-Exchanges energy but not matter with its surroundings Isolated System - Answer-Exchanges neither matter nor energy Transfer - Answer-Occurs when energy or matter flows and changes location Transformation - Answer-Occurs when energy of matter flows and changes its state Model - Answer-A simplified version of the real thing Strengths of Models - Answer-Easier to work with than complex reality / helps us see patterns / used to visualize really small or big things Weaknesses of Models - Answer-Accuracy is lost as it is simplified / predictions may be inaccurate / assumptions are wrong means model is wrong First Law of Thermodynamics - Answer-States that energy in an isolated system can be transformed but cannot be created or destroyed Second Law of Thermodynamics - Answer-The fact that energy is transformed through energy transfers Entropy - Answer-The measure of the amount of disorder in a system Efficiency - Answer-energy produced / energy consumed Steady-State Equilibrium - Answer-Where there are continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter but the system as a whole remains in a constant state Static Equilibrium - Answer-Where there is no change over time Stable Equilibrium - Answer-Returns to the same equilibrium after a disturbance Unstable Equilibrium - Answer-System returns to a new equilibrium after a disturbance Negative Feedback - Answer-Stabilizing and it counteracts deviation