Republic of the Philippines

COLEGIO DE LA CIUDAD DE ZAMBOANGA

Ayala Campus

For:
(EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCES)

LESSON 1:
THE EARTH AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM
 LESSON 1
OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the students are able to:
a. State the hypothesis explaining the origin of the universe;
b. describe the different hypotheses explaining the origin of the solar system;
c. identify and describe the layers of the Earth (crust, mantle, and core).

The Earth and the solar system

1. The formation of the universe and the solar system
1.1 Big Bang Theory
1.2 The Solar Nebula Theory
1.3 Formation of Planetesimals
1.4 Galaxies and light years
1.5 Revolution and Rotation
2. Earth`s Materials and Resources
2.1 Core
2.2 Mantle
2.3 Crust

THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

For 2000 years, the minds of astronomers were shackled by a pair of ideas. The greek philosopher,
Plato argued that the heavens were perfect. Because the only perfect geometrical shape is a sphere, which
carries a point on its surface around in a circle, and because the only perfect motion is uniform motion. Plato
concluded that all the motion in the heaven must be made of combination of circles turning at uniform rates.
This idea is called uniform circular motion. (Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

Plato`s student Aristotle argued that earth was imperfect and lay at the center of the universe. Such
model is known as geocetric universe.

Big Bang Theory

For centuries, humans have gazed at the stars and wondered how the universe developed into what is
today. One of the famous and accepted models for the universe`s development is the big bang theory. Although
the big bang theory is famous, it`s also widely misunderstood. A common misconception about the theory is
that it describes the origin of the universe. That`s not quite right. The big bang is an attempt to explain how the
universe developed from a very tiny, dense state into what it is today. It doesn`t attempt to explain what
initiated the creation of the universe, or what came before the big bang or even what lies outside the universe.
(Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

Another miscoception is that the big bang was a kind of explosion. That`s the accurate either. The big
bang explains the expansion of the universe. While some version of the theory refer to an incredibly rspid
expansion (posibly fater than speed of light), it`s still ot an explosion in the classic sense. (Earth and Life
Science ; REX books store, 2016)

The Formation of the Solar System

Our Earth is one of the planets of the solar system, which is made up of the sun in the centre, nine
planets including the earth, and many smaller bodies. The smallest bodeis that rotate around the sun are called
asteroids, and fragments of these are meteors. Collections of dust and gas form comets.
All objects in the solar system, includin the earth are under the gravitational pull of the sun which holds them
orbiting, or turning, around it. (World of science, 1992)

There are several ideas and theories about how the solar system was formed. One theory is that the solar
system was created at the same time as the sun, which is a star, when it began to form from a giant cloud of gas.
This gas drew together to form a core around which the force of gravity collected and encircling disc of left-
over gas and particles and dust.The particles which made up this disc collided with each other and cause the
formation of other small solid bodies. These attracted more material from the disc until there was enough to
form the planets. The other objects in the solar system, such as meteors, are “rubbish” left over from that time.
(World of science, 1992)
 Our solar system is part of the universe, some of which we see when we look out at the night sky. No
one knows just how big the universe is, but we believe it stretchesfarther than we can see with the best
telescopes. In the universe there are many systems like our solar system. (World of science, 1992)

This theory therefore suggests that planets are formed as a result of star formation. In some cases, there
are two stars in a system and, as far as we know, these have no planets, but there are plenty of single stars which
we believe have planets rather like our own. (World of science, 1992)

The Solar Nebula Theory

Over the last two centuries, astronomers have proposed two kinds of hypotheses for the origin of the
planets in our solar system. Catastrophic hypothesis proposed that the planets formed from some improbable
event such as collision of the sun and the another star. Evolutionary hypothesis proposed that the planets formed
gradually and naturally as the sun formed. (Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

The Solar Nebula Theory supposes that planets form in the rotating disks of gas and dust around young
stars. The evidence is strong that our own planetary system formed in such a disk-shaped cloud around the sun.
When the sun became luminous enough, the remaining gas and dust were blown away into space, leaving the
planet orbiting the sun. (Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

According to the solar nebula theory, Earth and other planets of the solar system formed billions of years
ago as the sun condensed from a cloud of interstellar gas and dust. If planet formation is natural part of star
formation, most stars should have planets. (Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

Formation Of Planetisimals

Planetesimals are small rock fragments that combined together to eventually form planets. The collisions
eventually formed larger objects that led to the formation of planets. Beginning with a cloud of microscopic
cosmic dust and gas, the formation of the early solar system began as hydrogen gas collected at the center,
growing in size, starting the formation of our Sun. Away from the center, gas began to rotate around the center
and spread out into a disk that would lead to the formation of planets, asteroids, moons, and other small cosmic
objects.

While it is very possible Earth and other planets were forming 4.56 billion years ago or earlier, we know
planet formation for Earth was finished by at least 4.28 billion years ago. This is only one example; there is no
known time frame for planet formation, and each planet may have formed at different times and different rates.

As the small bodies orbit, their gravity is very weak and they must rely on non-gravitational forces to
stay together, such as radiation pressure and the emission of thermal photons. Growth of the small Planetesimals
caused the strength of its gravity to increase. Growth to approximately one kilometre in size allowed the gravity
of Planetesimals to attract objects to them, increasing their size to seeds for planetary formation.
Collisions were common during the formation of the solar system and planets. Planetesimals continually
collided and destroyed each other, but some Planetesimals were able to withstand the impacts and grow,
eventually forming into planets.
When a star like the Sun is born, a gas disk called a “protoplanetary disk” is formed around the star. The
protoplanetary disk contains solid particles (dust) on the order of a micron, and planets are formed through the
accretion of this dust. The celestial objects produced in this process which are about several kilometres in size
are called “Planetesimals.” There is a theory that Planetesimals are formed though the dust’s gravity. We
visualized a planet formation process numerical simulation based on this theory.

Galaxies and light years

A system of stars and planets like the one containing our solar system, is called a galaxy. There are
many galaxies in the universe. Our galaxy is called “Milkyway”.

There are great distances between the planets,and even greater distances between the stars. This
distances are measured in light years. One light year is the dsitance light travels in one year. Since ligght travels
travels about 300, 000 km a second, alight year is a vast distance. The sun is eight light minutes away, which
means, the light from the sun takes eight minute to reach us. Looking into space we are looking backward into
time. We see the sun as it was eight minutes ago and the nearest galaxy to ours, Andromeda, as it was millions
years ago. (World of science, 1992)
Revolution and Rotation
The planets revolve around the sun in orbits that lie close to a common plane. The orbit of Mercury, the
closest planet to the sun, is tipped 7.0 to earth`s orbit. The rest of the planet`s orbital planes are inclined by no
more than 3.4o. (Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016)

The rotation of the sun and planets on their axes also seem related to the rotation of the disk. The sun
rotates with its equator inclined only 7.2 o to Earth`s orbit, and most of the other planet`s equators are tipped less
than 30o. The rotation of Uranus and Venus are peculiar, however, Venus rotates backward compared with other
planets, whereas, Uranus rotates on its side with its equator almost perpendicular to its orbit. (Earth and Life
Science ; REX books store, 2016)

EARTH`S MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Our planet is almost spherical, with a radius of approximately 6400 km (about 4000 mi). Its central core
is about 3500 km (about 2200 mi) in radius. We know that the outer core is liquid from measurements of
earthquake waves passing through the Earth, which suddenly change behavior when they reach the core. But the
innermost part of the core is solid and made mostly of iron, with some nickel. The core is very hot—somewhere
between 3000°C and 5000°C (about 5400°F to 9000°F).

The core is surrounded by the mantle—a shell about 2900 km (about 1800 mi) thick. Mantle
temperatures range from about 2800°C (about 5100°F) near the core to about 1800°C (about 3300°F) near the
crust. The mantle is composed of ultramafic rock, which is made up of the densest forms of iron and
magnesium combined with silicon and oxygen.
The thin, outermost layer of our planet is the Earth’s crust. This skin of varied rocks and minerals ranges from
about 8 to 40 km (about 5 to 25 mi) thick and contains the continents and ocean basins. It is the source of soil
on the lands, salts in the sea, gases in the atmosphere, and of all the water of the oceans, atmosphere, and lands.

CORE

The Earth's core is the part of Earth in the middle of our planet. It has a solid inner core and a liquid
outer core.

OUTER CORE
The outer core of the Earth is a liquid layer about 2,260 kilometers thick. It is made of iron and nickel.
This is above the Earth's solid inner core and below the mantle. Its outer boundary is 2,890 km (1,800 mi)
beneath the Earth's surface. The transition between the inner core and outer core is approximately 5,000 km
(3,100 mi) beneath the Earth's surface. The temperature of the outer core ranges from 4400 °C in the outer
regions to 6100 °C near the inner core.

The average magnetic field strength in the Earth's outer core is 25 Gauss , 50 times stronger than the
magnetic field at the surface.Without the outer core, life on Earth would be very different. Convection of liquid
metals in the outer core creates the Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic field extends outward from the Earth
for several thousand kilometers, and creates a protective magnetosphere around the Earth that deflects the Sun's
solar wind. Without this field, the solar wind would directly strike the Earth's atmosphere. This might have
removed the Earth's atmosphere, making the planet nearly lifeless. It may have happened to Mars.

INNER CORE
The inner core of the Earth , as detected by seismology , is a solid sphere about 1,216 km (760 mi) in
radius, or about 70% that of the Moon . It is believed to be an iron – nickel alloy, and may have a temperature
similar to the Sun's surface, approximately 5778 K (5505 °C).

MANTLE

The mantle is a layer inside a terrestrial planet and some other rocky planetary bodies. For a mantle to
form, the planetary body must be large enough to have undergone the process of planetary differentiation by
density. The mantle is bounded on the bottom by the planetary core and on top by the crust.

Earth's mantle is a silicate rocky shell with an average thickness of 2,886 kilometres (1,793 mi). The
mantle makes up about 84% of Earth's volume. It is predominantly solid but in geological time it behaves as a
viscous fluid. The mantle encloses the hot core rich in iron and nickel, which makes up about 15% of Earth's
volume. Past episodes of melting and volcanism at the shallower levels of the mantle have produced a thin crust
of crystallized melt products near the surface. Information about the structure and composition of the mantle
has been obtained from geophysical investigation and from direct geoscientific analyses of Earth mantle-
derived xenoliths and mantle that has been exposed by mid-oceanic ridge spreading.

Two main zones are distinguished in the upper mantle: the inner asthenosphere composed of plastic
flowing rock of varying thickness, on average about 200 km (120 mi) thick, and the lowermost part of the
lithosphere composed of rigid rock about 50 to 120 km (31 to 75 mi) thick. A thin crust, the upper part of the
lithosphere, surrounds the mantle and is about 5 to 75 km (3.1 to 46.6 mi) thick.

CRUST

Earth's crust is Earth's hard outer layer. It is less than 1% of Earth's volume. The crust is made up of
different types of rocks: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks.The crust is of two different types. One
is the continental crust (under the land) and the other is the oceanic crust (under the ocean). The continental
crust is thicker, and the oceanic crust is thinner. The thickness of the crust varies from 5 to 80 kilometers.

The temperature of the crust increases with depth because of geothermal energy . Where the crust meets
the mantle the temperatures can be between 200 °C (392 °F) to 400 °C (752 °F). The crust is the coldest layer
because it is exposed to the atmosphere.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is a theory?
2. What Solar Nebula Theory.
3. Give at least two misconceptions about Big Bang theory.
4. Why did Greek astronomers conclude that the heavens were made up of perfect crystalline spheres
moving at constant speed?
5. Why did Aristotle believe that the Earth is the center of the solar system?
6. What is the difference between Revolution and Rotation?
7. How can you show to the class how rotation works?
8. Give examples of revolution that you can see everyday.
9. You are in a carnival and you obsereved a moving carousel. Based on what you know, is the moving of
the carousel a Rotation or a Revolution? Why?
10. Your younger sister observed that the Sun is rising in the east and setting in the west. She inferred that
the Sun revolved around Earth. Her belief is wrong. How would you correct her?
11. In your opinion, do most planetary systems have asteroid belts? Would all planetary systems show
evidence of an age of heavy bombardment?
12. How can scientists know anything about how the solar system formed, given that there was nobody
there to witness those events?
13. If the solar nebula theory hypothesis is correct, then there are probably more planets in the universe
than stars. Do you agree? Why or why not?
14. Your assignment was to bring something to describe and explain the layers of the Earth. What would
you bring and how would you use it to discuss the layers of the Earth?
15. Based on what you know, what evidences can you give to support the Big Bang theory? Expound your
answer.
16. Make a timeline of how the univerese formed.
17.
18.

ACTIVITIES
1.1 THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE

Procedure:
1. Using your handouts, list some important ideas about Big Bang theory.
2. Write your answers in manila paper, cartolina etc..
3. Present your ideas to the class.
 Big Bang

1.2 EARTH`S LAYERS

Procedure:
1. Based on what you know about the layers of the Earth, supply the answers to the following.
2. Color the layer that corresponds your answer.

Layer:
Thickness:
Made of:
Liquid or Solid?
Other Facts:

Layer:
Thickness:
Made of:
Liquid or Solid?
Other Facts:

Layer:
Thickness:
Made of:
References:
Earth and Life Science ; REX books store, 2016
World of science, 1992

Republic of the Philippines

COLEGIO DE LA CIUDAD DE ZAMBOANGA
Ayala Campus

For:
(PHYSICS)
 LESSON 1:
FORCES AND MOTION

LESSON 1
OBJECTIVES: At the end of the lesson, the students are able to:
a. State what is Force;
b. differentiate Balanced and Unbalanced Force; and
c. explain each Laws of Motion (Inertia, Acceleration and Action-Reaction).

Forces and Motion

1. Force and Net Force
1.1 Balance Force
1.2 Unbalanced Force
2. Newton`s Three Laws of Motion
2.1 Inertia
2.2 Acceleration
2.3 Action-Reaction

FORCE AND NET FORCE

A force is a push or a pull that is capable of changing the velocity of a mass. Forces are measured in “Newtons”
or “N”, in honor of Sir Isaac Newton. According to Mr. Newton, an object will only accelerate if there is “net force”
acting upon it. A net force is the sum of all forces acting on an object. A net force is capable of accelerating a mass. For
instance, if the wheels of a car push it forward with 5 Newtons and drag is 3 Newtons, the net force is 2 Newtons,
forward. Motion to the right is positive. Motion to the left is negative.
 If an object has a net force acting on it, it will accelerate. The object will speed up, slow down or change direction. An
unbalanced force (net force) acting on an object changes its speed and/or direction of motion. An unbalanced force is an
unopposed force that causes a change in motion. A net force = unbalanced force. If however, the forces are balanced (in
equilibrium) and there is no net force, the object will not accelerate and the velocity will remain constant.

Unbalanced Forces: Placing a box on the seesaw unbalances it. The weight of the box is
the unbalanced or net force which causes the seesaw to accelerate downward until it hits
the ground.

   

Let’s assume that the wheels of a car apply 10 N of force. What is the
net force if friction and drag are negligible?

The net force would equal 10 Newtons, forward. The mass will
accelerate.

   

What is the net force if the wheels of the car apply 10 Newtons but a
parachute applies 7 Newtons in the other direction?

The net force would equal 3 Newtons, forward. The mass will
accelerate.

 A rocket applies an additional force of 10 Newtons to the 10 Newtons

that are applied by the wheels. What is the net force if the parachute
continues to apply 7 Newtons in the other direction?

The net force would equal 13 Newtons, forward. The mass will
accelerate.

Balanced Forces: When forces are in balance,  

acceleration is zero. Velocity is constant and there
is no net or unbalanced force. A plane will fly at The forces are in balance.
constant velocity if the acceleration is zero.

Consider a person sliding down a slide at constant velocity. In this example, there is no net force when
a mass moves at constant velocity. Although friction is acting on the person, there is no change in
velocity and friction is not a net force in this case.

Friction is only a net force if it changes the velocity of a mass. If friction slowed the person down, then
there is a net force.
 
 A car is moving at 10 m/s. The wheels apply 10 N of force. Drag
exerts 10 N in the other direction. There is no net force.

According to Newton’s 2nd Law,

Fnet = MA

The acceleration will be zero, since there is no net force. Will the
speed of this car change under the present circumstances?
 
 No. 
 
A fireman slides down a pole at constant velocity. Friction resists his
 
fall. At constant velocity, his weight equals the force of friction. In
other words, there is no net force.
 

 
 
 If however, he loosens his grip and decreases the friction force, he
will accelerate downward. As he accelerates, there is a net force.

 
NEWTON`S THREE LAWS OF MOTION

Newton's First Law

Newton's First Law states that an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted
upon by an external force. It may be seen as a statement about inertia, that objects will remain in their state of motion
unless a force acts to change the motion. Any change in motion involves an acceleration, and then Newton's Second Law
applies. The First Law could be viewed as just a special case of the Second Law for which the net external force is zero,
but that carries some presumptions about the frame of reference in which the motion is being viewed. The statements of
both the Second Law and the First Law here are presuming that the measurements are being made in a reference frame
which is not itself accelerating. Such a frame is often referred to as an "inertial frame". The statement of these laws must
be generalized if you are dealing with a rotating reference frame or any frame which is accelerating.

Newton's First Law contains implications about the fundamental symmetry of the universe in that a state of motion in a
straight line must be just as "natural" as being at rest. If an object is at rest in one frame of reference, it will appear to be
moving in a straight line to an observer in a reference frame which is moving by the object. There is no way to say which
reference frame is "special", so all constant velocity reference frames must be equivalent.

Newton's Second Law

Newton's Second Law as stated below applies to a wide range of physical phenomena, but it is not a fundamental
principle like the Conservation Laws. It is applicable only if the force is the net external force. It does not apply directly to
situations where the mass is changing, either from loss or gain of material, or because the object is traveling close to the
speed of light where relativistic effects must be included. It does not apply directly on the very small scale of the atom
where quantum mechanics must be used.

Data can be entered into any of the boxes below. Specifying any two of the quantities determines the third. After
you have entered values for two, click on the text representing the third to calculate its value.
Newton's Third Law
Newton's third law: All forces in the universe occur in equal but oppositely directed pairs. There are no isolated
forces; for every external force that acts on an object there is a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction which acts
back on the object which exerted that external force. In the case of internal forces, a force on one part of a system will be
countered by a reaction force on another part of the system so that an isolated system cannot by any means exert a net
force on the system as a whole. A system cannot "bootstrap" itself into motion with purely internal forces - to achieve a
net force and an acceleration, it must interact with an object external to itself.

Without specifying the nature or origin of the forces on the two masses, Newton's 3rd
law states that if they arise from the two masses themselves, they must be equal in
magnitude but opposite in direction so that no net force arises from purely internal
forces.

Newton's third law is one of the fundamental symmetry principles of the universe. Since we have no examples of
it being violated in nature, it is a useful tool for analyzing situations which are somewhat counter-intuitive. For example,
when a small truck collides head-on with a large truck, your intuition might tell you that the force on the small truck is
larger. Not so!

Small truck,
large truck

Newton's Third Law Example

Newton's third law can be illustrated
by identifying the pairs of forces
which are involved in supporting the
blocks on the spring scale.

Presuming that the blocks are

supported and at
equilibrium, then
the net force on the
system is zero. All
the forces occur in
Newton's third law
pairs.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What is Force?
2. What is a Net Force?
3. Who describes the three laws of Motion?
4. What is the difference between Balanced force and Unbalanced force?
5. How would you explain Inertia?
6. What law is represented below? Explain your answer.
 7. Explain why a car with a large mass use more fuel than a car with a smaller mass.
8. You`re riding a bike when suddenly you hit a large rock. The bike stops moving but you fly over the
handlebars. What law is this? Explain your answer.
9. You went to a playgroud and you observed two girls on the swings. On the first swing is a small girl and
on the other swing is a big/chubby girl. If you will apply the same amount of force, will they have the
same acceleration? Why?
10. Find the acceleration of an object, whose mass is 50 kilograms, that is being acted upon by an
unbalanced force of 200 newtons.
11. A net force of 50N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5.5m/s2. Determine the mass.
12. How much force is needed to accelerate a 45kg skier 17m/sec/sec?
13.

References:
Wilson, Jerrt D. et al., An Introduction to Physical Science. Philippines: Rex Book Store. 2016