Chapter 2

Science, Systems,
Matter, and Energy
 Chapter Overview Questions
 What is science, and what do scientists do?
 What are major components and behaviors
of complex systems?
 What are the basic forms of matter, and what
makes matter useful as a resource?
 What types of changes can matter undergo
and what scientific law governs matter?
Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d)
 What are the major forms of energy, and
what makes energy useful as a resource?
 What are two scientific laws governing
changes of energy from one form to another?
 How are the scientific laws governing
changes of matter and energy from one form
to another related to resource use,
environmental degradation and
sustainability?
 Updates Online
The latest references for topics covered in this section can be found at
the book companion website. Log in to the book’s e-resources page at
www.thomsonedu.com to access InfoTrac articles.

 InfoTrac: Underwater Microscope Finds Biological Treasures in

Subtropical Ocean. Ascribe Higher Education News Service, June 26,
2006.
 InfoTrac: In Bacterial Diversity, Amazon Is a 'Desert'; Desert Is an
'Amazon'. Ascribe Higher Education News Service, Jan 9, 2006.
 InfoTrac: Making MGP wastes beneficial. Bob Paulson. Pollution
Engineering, June 2006 v38 i6 p20(5).
 NASA: Nitrogen Cycle
 Environmental Literacy Council: Phosphorous Cycle
 National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service: Nutrient Cycles
 Video: The Throw Away Society
 This video clip is available in CNN Today
Videos for Environmental Science, 2004,
Volume VII. Instructors, contact your local
sales representative to order this volume,
while supplies last.
 Core Case Study:
Environmental Lesson from Easter
Island
 Thriving society

15,000 people by 1400.
 Used resources faster
than could be renewed

By 1600 only a few
trees remained.
 Civilization collapsed
 By 1722 only several
hundred people left.
Figure 2-1
 THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

 What do scientists do?


Collect data.
 Form hypotheses.
 Develop theories,
models and laws about
how nature works.

Figure 2-2
 Ask a question

Do experiments Interpret data

and collect data

Formulate hypothesis Well-tested and

to explain data accepted patterns
in data become
scientific laws

Do more experiments
to test hypothesis

Revise hypothesis
if necessary

Well-tested and
accepted
hypotheses
become
scientific theories
Fig. 2-2, p. 29
 Ask a question

Do experiments Interpret data

and collect data

Well-tested and
Formulate hypothesis accepted patterns
to explain data In data become
scientific laws

Do more experiments
to test hypothesis

Revise hypothesis
if necessary

Well-tested and
accepted
hypotheses Stepped Art
become
scientific theories Fig. 2-3, p. 30
Scientific Theories and Laws: The
Most Important Results of Science
 Scientific Theory

Widely tested and
accepted
hypothesis.
 Scientific Law
 What we find
happening over and
over again in
nature.

Figure 2-3
 Research results

Scientific paper

Peer review by Paper

experts in field rejected

Paper accepted

Paper published in
scientific journal

Research evaluated
by scientific
community Fig. 2-3, p. 30
 Testing Hypotheses
 Scientists test hypotheses using controlled
experiments and constructing mathematical
models.
 Variables or factors influence natural processes
 Single-variable experiments involve a control and
an experimental group.
 Most environmental phenomena are
multivariable and are hard to control in an
experiment.
• Models are used to analyze interactions of variables.
 Scientific Reasoning and Creativity
 Inductive reasoning

Involves using specific observations and
measurements to arrive at a general conclusion
or hypothesis.
 Bottom-up reasoning going from specific to
general.
 Deductive reasoning
 Uses logic to arrive at a specific conclusion.
 Top-down approach that goes from general to
specific.
Frontier Science, Sound Science, and
Junk Science
 Frontier science has not been widely tested
(starting point of peer-review).
 Sound science consists of data, theories and
laws that are widely accepted by experts.
 Junk science is presented as sound science
without going through the rigors of peer-
review.
Limitations of Environmental Science
 Inadequate data and scientific understanding
can limit and make some results
controversial.
 Scientific testing is based on disproving rather
than proving a hypothesis.
• Based on statistical probabilities.
 MODELS AND BEHAVIOR OF
SYSTEMS
 Usefulness of models

Complex systems are predicted by developing a
model of its inputs, throughputs (flows), and
outputs of matter, energy and information.
 Models are simplifications of “real-life”.

Models can be used to predict if-then scenarios.
 Feedback Loops:
How Systems Respond to Change
 Outputs of matter, energy, or information fed
back into a system can cause the system to
do more or less of what it was doing.
 Positive feedback loop causes a system to
change further in the same direction (e.g.
erosion)

Negative (corrective) feedback loop causes a
system to change in the opposite direction (e.g.
seeking shade from sun to reduce stress).
 Feedback Loops:
 Negative feedback can take so long that a
system reaches a threshold and changes.
 Prolonged delays may prevent a negative
feedback loop from occurring.
 Processes and feedbacks in a system can
(synergistically) interact to amplify the
results.
 E.g. smoking exacerbates the effect of asbestos
exposure on lung cancer.
 TYPES AND STRUCTURE OF
MATTER

 Elements and Compounds


Matter exists in chemical forms as elements and
compounds.
• Elements (represented on the periodic table) are the
distinctive building blocks of matter.
• Compounds: two or more different elements held
together in fixed proportions by chemical bonds.
Atoms

Figure 2-4
 Ions
 An ion is an atom or group of atoms with one
or more net positive or negative electrical
charges.
 The number of positive or negative charges
on an ion is shown as a superscript after the
symbol for an atom or group of atoms

Hydrogen ions (H+), Hydroxide ions (OH-)
 Sodium ions (Na+), Chloride ions (Cl-)
 The pH (potential of Hydrogen) is the
concentration of hydrogen ions in one liter of
solution.

Figure 2-5
Compounds and Chemical Formulas
 Chemical formulas are shorthand ways to
show the atoms and ions in a chemical
compound.
 Combining Hydrogen ions (H+) and Hydroxide
ions (OH-) makes the compound H2O
(dihydrogen oxide, a.k.a. water).
 Combining Sodium ions (Na+) and Chloride ions
(Cl-) makes the compound NaCl (sodium chloride
a.k.a. salt).
 Organic Compounds: Carbon Rules
 Organic compounds contain carbon atoms
combined with one another and with various
other atoms such as H+, N+, or Cl-.
 Contain at least two carbon atoms combined
with each other and with atoms.
 Methane (CH4) is the only exception.
 All other compounds are inorganic.
 Organic Compounds: Carbon Rules
 Hydrocarbons: compounds of carbon and
hydrogen atoms (e.g. methane (CH4)).
 Chlorinated hydrocarbons: compounds of
carbon, hydrogen, and chlorine atoms (e.g.
DDT (C14H9Cl5)).
 Simple carbohydrates: certain types of
compounds of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen
(e.g. glucose (C6H12O6)).
 Cells: The Fundamental Units of Life
 Cells are the basic
structural and
functional units of all
forms of life.
 Prokaryotic cells
(bacteria) lack a distinct
nucleus.
 Eukaryotic cells (plants
and animals) have a
distinct nucleus.

Figure 2-6
 (a) Prokaryotic Cell

DNA
(information storage, no nucleus)

Protein construction Cell membrane

and energy conversion (transport of
occur without specialized raw materials and
internal structures finished products)
Fig. 2-6a, p. 37
 (b) Eukaryotic Cell

Nucleus Energy
(information conversion
storage)

Protein
construction Cell membrane
(transport of raw
materials and
Packaging finished products)
Fig. 2-6b, p. 37
Macromolecules, DNA, Genes and
Chromosomes
 Large, complex organic
molecules (macromolecules)
make up the basic molecular
units found in living
organisms.
 Complex carbohydrates
 Proteins
 Nucleic acids
 Lipids

Figure 2-7
A human body contains trillions of cells,
each with an identical set of genes.

There is a nucleus inside each human

cell (except red blood cells).

Each cell nucleus has an identical set of

chromosomes, which are found in pairs.

A specific pair of chromosomes contains

one chromosome from each parent.
Each chromosome contains a long DNA
molecule in the form of a coiled double
helix.
Genes are segments of DNA on
chromosomes that contain instructions
to make proteins—the building blocks
of life.
The genes in each cell are coded by
sequences of nucleotides in their DNA
molecules.
Fig. 2-7, p. 38
A human body contains trillions
of cells, each with an identical
set of genes.

There is a nucleus inside each

human cell (except red blood cells).

Each cell nucleus has an identical

set of chromosomes, which are
found in pairs.

A specific pair of chromosomes

contains one chromosome from
each parent.

Each chromosome contains a long

DNA molecule in the form of a coiled
double helix.

Genes are segments of DNA on

chromosomes that contain instructions
to make proteins—the building blocks
of life.

The genes in each cell are coded

by sequences of nucleotides in Stepped Art
their DNA molecules.
Fig. 2-7, p. 38
 States of Matter
 The atoms, ions, and molecules that make
up matter are found in three physical states:
 solid, liquid, gaseous.
 A fourth state, plasma, is a high energy
mixture of positively charged ions and
negatively charged electrons.
 The sun and stars consist mostly of plasma.
 Scientists have made artificial plasma (used in
TV screens, gas discharge lasers, florescent
light).
 Matter Quality
 Matter can be classified
as having high or low
quality depending on
how useful it is to us as
a resource.
 High quality matter is
concentrated and easily
extracted.

low quality matter is more
widely dispersed and
more difficult to extract.

Figure 2-8
 High Quality Low Quality

Solid Gas

Salt Solution of salt in water

Coal Coal-fired power plant emissions

Gasoline
Automobile emissions

Aluminum can Aluminum ore Fig. 2-8, p. 39

 CHANGES IN MATTER
 Matter can change from one physical form to
another or change its chemical composition.

When a physical or chemical change occurs, no
atoms are created or destroyed.
• Law of conservation of matter.

Physical change maintains original chemical
composition.

Chemical change involves a chemical reaction
which changes the arrangement of the elements
or compounds involved.
• Chemical equations are used to represent the
reaction.
 Chemical Change

 Energy is given off during the reaction as a product.

 Reactant(s) Product(s)

carbon + oxygen carbon dioxide + energy

C + O2 CO2 + energy

+ + energy

black solid colorless gas colorless gas

p. 39
 Types of Pollutants
 Factors that determine the severity of a
pollutant’s effects: chemical nature,
concentration, and persistence.
 Pollutants are classified based on their
persistence:
 Degradable pollutants
 Biodegradable pollutants
 Slowly degradable pollutants
 Nondegradable pollutants
Nuclear Changes: Radioactive Decay
 Natural radioactive decay: unstable isotopes
spontaneously emit fast moving chunks of
matter (alpha or beta particles), high-energy
radiation (gamma rays), or both at a fixed
rate.

Radiation is commonly used in energy production
and medical applications.
 The rate of decay is expressed as a half-life (the
time needed for one-half of the nuclei to decay to
form a different isotope).
Nuclear Changes: Fission

 Nuclear fission:
nuclei of certain
isotopes with large
mass numbers are
split apart into
lighter nuclei when
struck by neutrons.

Figure 2-9
 Uranium-235

Uranium-235

Uranium-235

Fission Energy
Fragment Uranium-235
n n

Neutron n n Uranium-235
Energy Energy

n n
Uranium-235
Fission Uranium-235
Fragment Energy

Uranium-235

Uranium-235

Uranium-235 Fig. 2-9, p. 41

 Uranium-235

Uranium-235

Uranium-235

Energy
Fission
fragment Uranium-235
n
n

Neutron n n
Energy Energy Uranium-235

Uranium-235 n n

Fission Uranium-235
fragment
Energy

Uranium-235

Stepped Art
Uranium-235

Uranium-235 Fig. 2-6, p. 28

 Nuclear Changes: Fusion

 Nuclear fusion: two isotopes of light elements

are forced together at extremely high
temperatures until they fuse to form a heavier
nucleus.
Figure 2-10
 Reaction
Fuel Conditions Products

Proton Neutron

Energy

Hydrogen-2
(deuterium nucleus)
+
100
+
million °C

Helium-4 nucleus
+
+

Hydrogen-3
(tritium nucleus) Neutron

Fig. 2-10, p. 42
 ENERGY

 Energy is the ability to do work and transfer

heat.
 Kinetic energy – energy in motion
• heat, electromagnetic radiation
 Potential energy – stored for possible use
• batteries, glucose molecules
 Electromagnetic Spectrum

 Many different forms of electromagnetic

radiation exist, each having a different
wavelength and energy content.
Figure 2-11
 Sun

Ionizing radiation Nonionizing radiation

Far Near Near Far
Cosmic Gamma X rays ultra- ultra- Visible infrared Micro- TV Radio
violet violet Waves infrared waves Waves
rays Rays waves waves waves
waves waves

High energy, short Wavelength in meters Low energy, long

Wavelength (not to scale) Wavelength

Fig. 2-11, p. 43
Electromagnetic Spectrum

 Organisms vary
in their ability to
sense different
parts of the
spectrum.

Figure 2-12
Energy emitted from sun (kcal/cm2/min)

Visible
Ultraviolet

Infrared

Wavelength (micrometers) Fig. 2-12, p. 43

Source of Energy Relative Energy Tasks
Energy Quality
Electricity (usefulness)
Very high temperature heat Very high-temperature heat
(greater than 2,500°C) (greater than 2,500°C) for
Nuclear fission (uranium) industrial processes and
Nuclear fusion (deuterium) producing electricity to run
Concentrated sunlight electrical devices (lights,
High-velocity wind motors)

High-temperature heat Mechanical motion to move

(1,000–2,500°C) vehicles and other things)
Hydrogen gas High-temperature heat
Natural gas (1,000–2,500°C) for
Gasoline industrial processes and
Coal producing electricity
Food
Normal sunlight
Moderate-velocity wind Moderate-temperature heat
High-velocity water flow (100–1,000°C) for
industrial processes, cooking,
Concentrated geothermal energy producing
Moderate-temperature heat steam, electricity, and
(100–1,000°C) hot water
Wood and crop wastes

Dispersed geothermal Low-temperature heat

energy (100°C or less) for
Low-temperature heat
(100°C or lower) space heating

Fig. 2-13, p. 44
 ENERGY LAWS: TWO RULES WE
CANNOT BREAK
 The first law of thermodynamics: we cannot
create or destroy energy.
 We can change energy from one form to another.
 The second law of thermodynamics: energy
quality always decreases.

When energy changes from one form to another,
it is always degraded to a more dispersed form.
 Energy efficiency is a measure of how much
useful work is accomplished before it changes to
its next form.
 Chemical Mechanical
Chemical
Solar energy energy
energy
(moving,
energy (photosynthesis) (food)
thinking,
living)
Waste Waste Waste Waste
Heat Heat Heat Heat

Fig. 2-14, p. 45
 SUSTAINABILITY AND MATTER
AND ENERGY LAWS
 Unsustainable High-Throughput Economies:
Working in Straight Lines
 Converts resources to goods in a manner that
promotes waste and pollution.

Figure 2-15
 System
Throughputs

Inputs Outputs
(from environment) (into environment)
High-quality energy Unsustainable Low-quality energy (heat)
high-waste
Matter Waste and pollution
economy

Fig. 2-15, p. 46
 Sustainable Low-Throughput
Economies: Learning from Nature
 Matter-Recycling-and-Reuse Economies:
Working in Circles
 Mimics nature by recycling and reusing, thus
reducing pollutants and waste.
 It is not sustainable for growing populations.
 Inputs System Outputs
(from environment) Throughputs (into environment)

Energy
conservation Low-quality
Energy
Energy
Sustainable (heat)
low-waste
economy
Waste Waste
Pollution and
Matter and
control pollution
pollution

Recycle
and
Matter reuse
Feedback

Energy Feedback

Fig. 2-16, p. 47