Help
Options
Didn't know it?
click below
click below
Knew it?
click below
click below
Don't Know
Remaining cards (0)
Know
retry
shuffle
restart
0:00
Embed Code - If you would like this activity on your web page, copy the script below and paste it into your web page.
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Units 3-4
*7.8ABC, 7.10AB Thermal Energy & Plate Tectonics
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| theory | an explanation for why a phenomenon |
| hypothesis | an idea that can be tested by experimentation or investigation |
| law | description of a repeated pattern observed in nature, without an explanation for the pattern |
| continental drift | the idea that the continents were once fused together but slowly drifted apart over time |
| tectonic plates | more than a dozen distinct plates that make up Earth’s surface and slowly move in different directions |
| supercontinent | one giant continent into which most or all of the continents were assembled long ago |
| superposition | the condition of undisturbed sedimentary rock in which the oldest layer is at the bottom and the youngest layer is at the top |
| convection current | a type of thermal energy transfer in which differences in temperature and density of fluids make them rise and fall |
| convergent boundary | boundary where two tectonic plates move together, or converge |
| divergent boundary | boundary where two tectonic plates move away, or diverge, from one another |
| transform boundary | boundary where tectonic plates slide past each other in opposite directions |
| ocean basin | the area under ocean water |
| subduction | process in which a dense plate sinks under a less dense plate and melts in Earth’s mantle |
| fault | a break in the rock of Earth’s crust or mantle |
| earthquake | shaking and trembling that result from tectonic plate movement |
| seismic waves | vibrations that travel through Earth carrying energy |
| Richter scale | a rating of an earthquake’s magnitude, on a scale from 0-9, based on the size if its seismic waves |
| volcano | a structure that forms in Earth’s crust when molten material reaches Earth’s surface |
| magma | molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from Earth’s mantle |
| lava | magma that has reached Earth’s surface |
| hot spot | area of the mantle where hot rock rises upward |
| supervolcano | structure that forms when magma rises into Earth’s crust but is trapped and can’t break through to the surface, causing pressure to build over time and finally erupt |
| temperature | a measure of the average kinetic energy of an object's particles |
| thermal energy | sum of the kinetic energies of all the particles that make up an object |
| thermal expansion | tendency of particles to spread out when the kinetic energy increases |
| conduction | transfer of thermal energy by direct contact of two objects or portions of matter |
| thermal conductor | substances that thermal energy can easily move through |
| thermal insulator | substances that thermal energy cannot move through |
| convection | a type of thermal energy transfer in which currents carry thermal energy from one part of the fluid to another |
| radiation | the process of thermal energy transfer by electromagnetic waves |
| hypothermia | condition caused by the loss of too much body heat |
| thermal equilibrium | state in which all parts of a system are at the same temperature |
| law of conservation of energy | energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy just changes form |
Created by:
trauberk
Popular Physical Science sets