Geog 3 activity_1_scales_in_nature

Geography 3 - Ocean and Atmosphere - Fall 2023 - Prof. Tim DeVries Activity: Scales in Nature Introduction In order to understand the ocean and atmosphere, we need to study a wide range of processes that occur on a wide range of time- and space- scales. On the smallest scales, we can study the chemical properties of tiny water molecules, or the condensation of water vapor onto tiny dust particles in the atmosphere. On the largest scales, we can study the global wind patterns, or the ocean’s tides that are driven by the pull of the moon and the Sun. Often, we need to talk about processes occurring on these very small and very large scales simultaneously. It helps to have a convenient way to think about these vastly different scales. To do so, we use powers of 10, also called orders of magnitude . If you want to think about environmental issues, it helps to train your brain to think in terms of orders of magnitude. For example, the amount of freshwater on the Earth’s surface is 120,000 cubic kilometers, which seems like a lot. But in the ocean there is 1.3 billion cubic kilometers of water! So the ocean holds about 10,000 times as much water as the land surface -- thus we say it is 4 orders of magnitude bigger (that’s 1 followed by 4 zeros). It’s easiest to see this in scientific notation : Water on land surface: 120,000 cubic kilometers = 1.2x10 5 cubic kilometers Water in ocean: 1.3 billion cubic kilometers = 1.3x10 9 cubic kilometers (1 billion = 10 9 ) Make sure they’re measured in the same units! They are (km). The order of magnitude for land surface water is 10 5 . The order of magnitude for ocean water is 10 9 , 4 orders of magnitude greater than the land surface water. In other words 10 9 /10 5 = 10 4 . Objectives Through this activity, you will • begin to think about and better understand size- and time- scales in nature • become familiar with the scales of various processes occurring in the natural world • learn how scientists study processes on wide ranging time and space scales • learn how to represent powers of 10 with scientific notation , for example, 0.001 cm = 1 × 10 -3 cm, or 1,500,000 km = 1.5 × 10 6 km. Part 1. Practice What are the diameters of the Earth, Moon, and Sun in kilometers and miles in normal notation ? For example, a research ship is 0.3 km in length and the distance from Santa Barbara to LA is about 150 km. [Note: 1 km is 1000 m or 0.62 mi.] The diameters of the Earth, Moon and Sun can be found on the web. Earth 12,756 km and 7,917.5 mi Moon 3,474.8 km and 2,159.1mi

Sun 1.3927 million km and 865,000 mi Geography 3 - Ocean and Atmosphere - Fall 2023 - Prof. Tim DeVries What are the diameters of the Earth, Moon, and Sun in kilometers and miles in scientific notation (powers of 10)? For example, the research ship is 3 × 10 -1 km in length and the distance from Santa Barbara to LA is about 1.5 × 10 2 km. Earth km and mi 1. 28 × 10 4 7. 92 × 10 3 Moon km and mi 3. 47 × 10 3 2. 16 × 10 3 Sun km and mi 1. 39 × 10 6 8. 65 × 10 5 Part 2. Scales of the Universe Access the online app called “The Scale of the Universe 2” at http://htwins.net/scale2/ . This app allows you to scroll between objects of vastly different sizes, ranging from tiny sub-atomic particles to galaxies (this app seems to not work that well on Firefox). Note that the rough sizes of the objects are shown in the lower right corner in scientific notation in meters, e.g., 10 4.1 m for Mount Everest. Click directly on the object for the more exact dimension and information about the object. For example, Mount Everest is actually 8.8 ×10 3 m high, the highest mountain on Earth, and is still growing. Answer the following questions: 1. What is the length of a blue whale in scientific notation in meters? m 3 × 10 1 2. What is the depth of the Mariana Trench in scientific notation in meters? m 1. 09 × 10 4 3. What is the scale of the Great Barrier Reef in scientific notation in meters? m 2. 6 × 10 6 4. What is the scale of a mist droplet in scientific notation in meters? m 2 × 10 −5

km 1. 5 × 10 8 2. What is the distance from the Earth to the moon? Express your answer in scientific notation. km 3. 8 × 10 5 3. How much farther is it from the Earth to the Sun, than from the Earth to the moon? km times further 10 3 4. Why are most maps of the solar system not drawn to scale? (Hint: Look between Jupiter and Saturn). Some planets might be too small to see and the distance between planets is too large. Drawing them to scale would be too challenging.