Monday, January 20, 2014
final blog
Oceanography is the branch of science that deals with the physical and biological properties and phenomena of the sea. During this course we learned a numerous amount about the ocean and did a lot of labs. The labs taught us about the tides, the temperatures,
the salinity, the density, the minerals found on the ocean floor as well as
washed up on the shoreline. There is so much living matter within the waters,
and we hardly even know the half of it all. We learned that most hurricanes happen in the Summer,
take a couple hours to take form, and strike the east coast days later. The moon has effects upon the ocean,
and the tides are often high or low depending on time of day and the position of
the moon. And, lastly, there was the study of heat in water. There is no cold,
only less warm. If the water has a lower temperature, it has higher density.
Deeper down in the ocean it is more dense and cold than it is up at the surface. I learned a lot of new interesting things during this class and got to experiment with differnt substances as well.
Friday, January 10, 2014
moons and tides
The moon, in additional to being a beautiful addition to the night sky, is also responsible for the changing ocean tides that we experience daily here on Earth. Basically, the moon has gravitational power, just like Earth does, and the moon's gravitational force exerts a powerful pull on the oceans on both sides of our planet. This causes the oceans to bulge away from the Earth. The ocean facing the moon bulges toward the moon, while the ocean on the other side of the Earth bulges in the opposite direction -- this is caused by the Earth actually pulling away from the ocean and toward the moon. The rotation of the Earth, along with the moon's gravitational pull, causes ocean tides to change.
High tide occurs when a body of water is facing the moon and the moon is pulling the water toward it with its gravity. High tide also occurs when an ocean is facing directly away from the moon, or when the moon is pulling the mass of the Earth away from the water. When the moon is neither overhead nor on the opposite side of the Earth, a body of water settles back into low tide. This sequence of high tide and low tide generally happens twice a day everywhere on the planet, approximately every 12 hours and 25 minutes, as the Earth rotates and the moon orbits. Each tide lasts about six hours.
So why aren't there tides in smaller bodies of water, like ponds or small lakes? It's because the entire body of water is the same distance from the moon throughout, so all the water experiences an equal gravitational pull
High tide occurs when a body of water is facing the moon and the moon is pulling the water toward it with its gravity. High tide also occurs when an ocean is facing directly away from the moon, or when the moon is pulling the mass of the Earth away from the water. When the moon is neither overhead nor on the opposite side of the Earth, a body of water settles back into low tide. This sequence of high tide and low tide generally happens twice a day everywhere on the planet, approximately every 12 hours and 25 minutes, as the Earth rotates and the moon orbits. Each tide lasts about six hours.
So why aren't there tides in smaller bodies of water, like ponds or small lakes? It's because the entire body of water is the same distance from the moon throughout, so all the water experiences an equal gravitational pull
Tears of an ocean
Water dissolves more substances than any other known natural solvent. This property has both advantages and disadvantages from a biological point of view. On the positive side, water dissolves and carries the majority of substances needed for life processes to occur. There are literally thousands of biological compounds needed for an organism to live, and most need to be in solution to react. Remove water and life as we know it ceases. You can see this in beef jerky. By dehydrating beef, the biological processes of decomposition cease. This preserves the beef, keeping it edible for extended periods.
On the negative side, water also dissolves compounds that are harmful to life. Most poisons and toxins are water-soluble. This is why you have to be very careful to avoid exposure to pesticides and other toxic compounds - they have the potential to be easily dissolved into the water in your body.
The ability of water to dissolve so many substances is due to water's dipolar nature. During this activity session, you will explore the unique chemistry of salt water, how it is measured, its consistency and its physical characteristics.
On the negative side, water also dissolves compounds that are harmful to life. Most poisons and toxins are water-soluble. This is why you have to be very careful to avoid exposure to pesticides and other toxic compounds - they have the potential to be easily dissolved into the water in your body.
The ability of water to dissolve so many substances is due to water's dipolar nature. During this activity session, you will explore the unique chemistry of salt water, how it is measured, its consistency and its physical characteristics.
hydrometer
A hydrometer measures the specific gravity of fluids (such as seawater) compared to the density of pure water. In this activity, we constructed our own hydrometer and then used it to measure the densities of fresh and salt water samples.
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content (such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates) of a body of water or in soil. Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and of biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic state variable that, along with temperature and pressure, governs physical characteristics like the density and heat capacity of the water. If you add salt to the water solution the hydrometer will float high due to the salt in their.By adding salt to water it does two things. The freezing point of the water goes down and the boiling point of the water actually goes up. It is easier to float in the ocean then a pool because the salt makes it more denser. The degree of compactness in a substance. Temperatures causes differences in the salinity of water because it messes with density.
Salinity is the saltiness or dissolved salt content (such as sodium chloride, magnesium and calcium sulfates, and bicarbonates) of a body of water or in soil. Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and of biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic state variable that, along with temperature and pressure, governs physical characteristics like the density and heat capacity of the water. If you add salt to the water solution the hydrometer will float high due to the salt in their.By adding salt to water it does two things. The freezing point of the water goes down and the boiling point of the water actually goes up. It is easier to float in the ocean then a pool because the salt makes it more denser. The degree of compactness in a substance. Temperatures causes differences in the salinity of water because it messes with density.
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