Chapter 1: Systems and Models Flashcards
Isolated System
System in which no matter or energy enters or exits
Closed System
System in which energy may enter or exit but matter can’t
Open System
System in which matter and energy enters and exits
Ecosystem
A community of organisms interacting with one another in their environment to form a balanced, self-sufficient unit with its own energy flow and nutrient cycling
Ecology
The study of relationships among/between organisms and their environment.
Environmental Science
The science of understanding how the world works on the level of the natural environment; how resources regenerate and how its generative capacity is being affected by humans
Transfers
Involves a change in location (ex. movement of matter from producer to consumer)
Transformations
Involves a change of state resulting from an interaction within the system (ex. solar radiation to chemical energy)
Flows
The inputs and outputs of systems
Storages
The stock/amounts stored in locations within a system
First law of thermodynamics
Energy is neither created nor destroyed but can change in form or state.
Second law of thermodynamics
In any isolated system, entropy tends to increase spontaneously; no energy transformation is completely efficient.
Negative feedback
Process in which a change in system results in the cause of the change to be counteracted; maintains pre-state condition so it is stabilizing
Positive feedback
Process in which a change in system reacts by increasing the change. Accelerates/accumulates the change so it is destabilizing.
