CHE-1404 Exam 1 Study Guide Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Chapters 1 through 3 for CHE-1404 Exam 1 review.

System

Interacting components producing patterns of behavior over time, such as a household.

Environment

A collection of systems encompassing all living and nonliving things on Earth that sustain life.

Ecosystem

A natural system within the environment consisting of a community of organisms interacting with their abiotic (nonliving) environment.

Ecology

The study of how living things interact with each other and with the nonliving parts of their environment.

Sustainability

Managing natural resources so they can be used without being destroyed, meeting present needs without compromising future generations.

Environmental Science

An interdisciplinary, dynamic study of interactions between living and nonliving components of the environment, focused specifically on human impacts.

Controlled Experiment

An experiment that tests one independent variable while keeping all other conditions constant, comparing an experimental group to a control group.

Basic Science

Pure science aimed at expanding knowledge for its own sake, without immediate practical application.

Applied Science

Science that uses existing knowledge to solve defined, real-world problems.

Falsifiable

The characteristic of a hypothesis that allows it to be disproven through experimentation or observation.

Inductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking that uses specific observations to construct general conclusions.

Deductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking that uses a general principle or law to predict specific outcomes.

Ecological Footprint

A measure developed by William Rees that uses land area to express per capita consumption, production, and discharge.

Global Hectares (gha)

The standardized unit used for measuring and comparing ecological footprints across different nations.

Carbon Footprint

A metric that measures greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global climate change.

Ecosystem Services

Natural resources and processes provided by the environment that benefit humans, such as water purification and nutrient cycling.

Anthropocene

The current geologic epoch defined by significant human dominance and environmental impact on Earth.

Sustainable Development

Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own, as defined in the 1987 UN report Our Common Future.

3 Es of Sustainability

The three core pillars of sustainability: Environment, Economy, and Equity.

Precautionary Principle

An ethic established in 1998 stating that protective measures should be taken when an activity threatens harm, even without full scientific certainty.

Peer Review

A process in which independent experts evaluate research design, methodology, and conclusions before publication.

Frontier Ethic

An anthropocentric worldview assuming Earth has an unlimited supply of resources available entirely for human growth.

Sustainable Ethic

A worldview asserting that Earth's resources are limited and that humans must conserve them as part of the natural community.

Land Ethic

A biocentric philosophy advocated by Aldo Leopold in 1949 that expands the concept of community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals.

Anthropocentrism

A human-centered ethical viewpoint in which value is determined by usefulness to human beings.

Biocentrism

An ethical perspective assigning intrinsic value to all living organisms, regardless of human utility.

Ecocentrism

An ethical perspective placing ultimate value on entire ecosystems and natural processes rather than individual organisms.

Tragedy of the Commons

A concept described by Garrett Hardin in 1968 where individual self-interest leads to the depletion of a shared resource.

Environmental Justice

The fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people in environmental laws, policy enforcement, and decision-making.

Environmental Racism

A term coined by Benjamin Chavis in 1987 referring to the disproportionate placement of environmental hazards in minority communities.

Matter

Anything that occupies space and has mass, existing as solids, liquids, or gases.

Element

A fundamental substance that cannot be broken down into simpler chemical substances.

Atom

The smallest unit of an element that retains all chemical characteristics of that element.

Molecule

A particle formed when two or more atoms bond together chemically.

Compound

A substance formed when atoms of two or more different elements combine chemically.

Carbon-14 Dating

A radiometric dating method utilizing the decay half-life of $\text{Carbon-14}$ ($5,730\,\text{years}$) to date organic material up to $50,000\,\text{years}$ old.

Isotope

Atoms of the same element containing equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Radioisotope

An unstable isotope that decays over time, emitting energy or subatomic particles to achieve stability.

Law of Conservation of Mass

The physical principle stating that matter cannot be created or destroyed in chemical reactions.

Ionic Bond

A chemical bond formed when one atom transfers electrons to another, generating oppositely charged ions.

Covalent Bond

A strong chemical bond formed when two atoms share pairs of electrons.

Hydrogen Bond

A weak electrostatic interaction resulting from slight charge imbalances in polar molecules.

Acid

A substance that releases hydrogen ions ($H^+$) in water, resulting in a pH below $7$.

Base

A substance that yields hydroxide ions ($OH^-$) in water, resulting in a pH above $7$.

pH Scale

A logarithmic measurement scale ranging from $0$ to $14$ that measures acidity or basicity.

Photosynthesis

The metabolic process by which light energy converts carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen gas.

Kinetic Energy

The form of energy associated with objects in motion.

Potential Energy

Stored energy possessed by an object due to its position or molecular structure.

Entropy

A measure of randomness or molecular disorder within a closed physical system.

Buffer

A chemical solution that absorbs or releases ions to resist drastic changes in pH.

Bioenergetics

The study of energy pathways and transformations through living biological systems.

Metabolism

The sum total of all cellular chemical reactions that consume or generate energy.

First Law of Thermodynamics

The physical law stating energy can change forms but cannot be created or destroyed.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The physical law stating that energy transfers increase overall system entropy, as usable energy dissipates as heat.

Cell Theory

The biological foundation formulated by Schleiden and Schwann stating all living things consist of cells, cells are the basic unit of life, and new cells derive from pre-existing cells.

Prokaryotic Cell

A simple single-celled organism that lacks a membrane-bound nucleus or internal organelles.

Eukaryotic Cell

A complex cell containing membrane-bound organelles and a true structural nucleus.

Autotroph

An organism capable of synthesizing its own food from simple inorganic substances.

Photoautotroph

An organism that utilizes solar radiant energy and carbon dioxide to synthesize organic compounds.

Heterotroph

An organism that cannot synthesize organic compounds and must consume other living or dead matter.

Biome

A large ecological area characterized by specific biological communities shaped by regional temperature and precipitation patterns.

Gross Primary Productivity

The total rate at which photosynthetic primary producers capture solar energy over time.

Net Primary Productivity

The energy remaining in primary producers after accounting for cellular respiration, available to higher trophic levels.

Biomagnification

The progressive bioaccumulation of lipid-soluble toxins at successive higher trophic levels.

Biogeochemical Cycle

The movement and recycling of chemical elements between biological organisms and nonliving environments.

Eutrophication

Ecological nutrient enrichment in water bodies causing algal overgrowth, severe oxygen depletion, and hypoxia.