Essay Compare The First And Second Laws Of Thermodynamics

Study Guide: Chapters 3 and 4
Answer the following questions—you do not need to answer in complete questions. Differentiate between potential, kinetic and low quality energy.
Potential- Energy that is stored in an object due to its configuration
Kinetic- energy an object possess due to its motion and mass.
Low quality- Energy that is unorganized and do little work.
How does entropy relate to the continual energy needs of organisms
Entropy represents the disorder of a system which allows the organisms to gain little energy to build and complete their purpose or objective.
Distinguish between organic and inorganic compounds
Organic compounds contain carbon while inorganic compounds simply do not contain any carbon atoms.
Compare the first and second laws of thermodynamics
1st= Matter cannot be created
nor destroyed, only changed.
2nd= "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state."
Compare a food chain and a food web.
Food chain has a single, direct relation between two organisms while the web shows the
Why is an energy pyramid never inverted and how does it compare with a numbers and biomass pyramid?
Because it shows the energy flow of a system and you cannot reverse flow. A biomass pyramid shows graphical representation of the relative amount of biomass at each trophic level.An energy pyramid shows a graphical representation of the trophic levels, by which the incoming solar energy is transferred to the ecosystem.
Give an example of a numbers pyramid that would be inverted? parasitic food chain where one primary producer supports numerous parasites which support more hyperparasites
Why are the oceans important carbon sinks?
The ocean can store carbon atoms for many years and also takes in more carbon from the atmosphere than what the ocean gives to the atmosphere.
Distinguish between organism, species, population, community, ecosystem, biota, biosphere.
Organism- individual animal, plant or cellular life-form
Species- group of living organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or
interbreeding.
Population-A population is a summation of all the organisms of the same group or species, who live in the same geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding.
Community- interacting group of various species in a common location ecosystem- community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment , interacting as a system. biota-the animal and plant life of a particular region biosphere-the regions of the surface, atmosphere, and hydrosphere of the earth occupied by living organisms
Differentiate between primary productivity, gross primary productivity, net primary productivity.
Primary productivity- rate at which energy is converted by photosynthetic and chemosynthetic autotrophs to organic substances
GPP- The total amount of productivity in a region or system is gross primary productivity.
Net primary productivity- the rate at which producers use photosynthesis to store energy minus the rate at which producers use some of the stored energy through aerobic respiration.