National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Earth Math
 Earth Math

A Brief Mathematical Guide

to
Earth Science
and
Climate Change

Space Math [Link]

 This collection of activities is based on a weekly series of space science problems
distributed to thousands of teachers during the 2009-2010 school year. They were intended
for students looking for additional challenges in the math and physical science curriculum in
grades 9 through 12. The problems were created to be authentic glimpses of modern
science and engineering issues, often involving actual research data.
The problems were designed to be ‘one-pagers’ with a Teacher’s Guide and Answer
Key as a second page. This compact form was deemed very popular by participating
teachers.

Reviewers:
Mr. Jim Bean (Carson High School, NV)
Mr. Graham Coleman (Wymondham College, UK)
Mr. Cris DeWolf (Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association, MI)
Dr. David Dillon (Colorado State University - Pueblo)
Ms. Kathy East (Challenger Learning Center, AK)
Ms. Wendy Ehnert (Lathrop High School, AK)
Dr. Mike Inglis (Suffolk County Community College)
Ms. Dorian Janney (Parkland Middle School, MD)
Ms. Elaine Lewis (NASA/Honeywell, MD)
Ms. Leidy Luciani (Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, FL)
Ms. Sally O'Leary (Murphysboro High School, IL)
Ms. Wendy Sheridan (Ottawa Township High School, IL)

For more weekly classroom activities about astronomy and space visit the NASA
website,
[Link]

To suggest math problem or science topic ideas, contact the Author, Dr. Sten
Odenwald at
[Link]@[Link]

Acknowledgments: We would especially like to thank Ms. Elaine Lewis, a Curriculum

Specialist at NASA/Goddard who provided the insights for the curriculum applications in the
'How to Use This Book' essay.

Front and back cover credits: Earth image from NASA's Terra Satellite; Night-time view of North and South
America from the DMSP satellite.

This booklet was created under an EPOESS-7 education grant, NNH08CD59C through the
NASA Science Mission Directorate.

Space Math [Link]

 Table of Contents

Grade Page
Acknowledgments i
Table of Contents ii
Alignment with Standards iii
Mathematics Topic Matrix iv
How to use this Book vi
Teacher Comments vii
Introduction to Earth Math viii

Fractions and Chemistry 4-6 1

Counting Atoms in a Molecule 4-6 2
Parts per Hundred 6-9 3
Parts per Thousand 6-9 4
Kelvin Temperatures and Very Cold Things 6-9 5

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 6-9 6

Ancient Eclipses and the Length of Day 6-9 7
Earth's Polar Wander - The Chandler Wobble 6-9 8
Identifying Materials by their Reflectivity 6-9 9
Reflectivity Fingerprints 6-9 10

Graphical Reflectivity Measurements 6-9 11

Electricity - Watts and Kilowatts 5-8 12
Energy in the Home 6-9 13
Energy Consumption in an Empty House! 6-9 14
Annual Electricity Consumption in a Home 6-9 15

Carbon Dioxide Production at Home 6-9 16

US Electrical Energy Consumption 6-9 17
World Electricity Consumption and Carbon Dioxide 6-9 18
Earth's Atmosphere 6-9 19
Carbon Dioxide Production and Sequestration 6-9 20

Carbon Dioxide Increases 6-9 21

Modeling the Keeling Curve with Excel 8-10 22
Carbon Dioxide - Where does it all go? 8-10 23
A Simple Model for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide 10-12 24
Carbon Dioxide Increases During the Last 2000 Years 6-8 25

Carbon Dioxide Changes During the Last 400,000 Years 6-8 26

Solar Insolation Changes and the Sunspot Cycle 6-8 27
The Solar Constant Since 1600 6-8 28
Scientists Track the Rising Tide 8-10 29
A Satellite View of Downtown Las Vegas 4-6 30

Space Math [Link]

 Table of Contents (contd)

Grade Page
Exploring Washington DC from Space! 4-6 31
Paris - In a Different Light 6-8 32
Glacier Retreat 6-8 33
Estimating Biomass Loss From a Large Fire 6-8 34
Earth - A Matter of Gravity! 9-11 35

Magnetic Earth and the Lithosphere 6-8 36

Studying Ocean Plankton From Space 6-8 37
NASA Satellite Sees Carbon Dioxide 6-8 38
Carbon Production in the US - 2002 6-8 39
Earth's Carbon Metabolism - Revealed 6-8 40

The International Space Station and Atmospheric Drag 9-12 41

Satellite Drag and the Hubble Space Telescope 9-12 42
Earth’s Rotation Changes and the Length of the Day 9-12 43
The Global Warming Debate and the Arctic Ice Cap 9-12 44
The Great Gulf Oil Catastrophe of 2010 9-12 45
Recent Events: A Perspective on Carbon Dioxide 9-12 46

Additional Resources
A Note From the Author

Alignment with Standards (AAAS Project:2061 Benchmarks).

(3-5) - Quantities and shapes can be used to describe objects and events in the world around
us. 2C/E1 --- Mathematics is the study of quantity and shape and is useful for describing events
and solving practical problems. 2A/E1

(6-8) Mathematicians often represent things with abstract ideas, such as numbers or perfectly
straight lines, and then work with those ideas alone. The "things" from which they abstract can
be ideas themselves; for example, a proposition about "all equal-sided triangles" or "all odd
numbers". 2C/M1

(9-12) - Mathematical modeling aids in technological design by simulating how a proposed

system might behave. 2B/H1 ---- Mathematics provides a precise language to describe objects
and events and the relationships among them. In addition, mathematics provides tools for
solving problems, analyzing data, and making logical arguments. 2B/H3 ----- Much of the work of
mathematicians involves a modeling cycle, consisting of three steps: (1) using abstractions to
represent things or ideas, (2) manipulating the abstractions according to some logical rules, and
(3) checking how well the results match the original things or ideas. The actual thinking need not
follow this order. 2C/H2

Space Math [Link]

 Mathematics Topic Matrix

Topic Problem Numbers

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
Inquiry
x x x x x
Technology,
rulers
x x
Numbers,
patterns,
x x x x x x x x x x x x
percentages
Averages
x
Time, distance,
speed
x x
Areas and
volumes
x
Scale
drawings
x x x
Geometry

Probability,
odds
Scientific
Notation
Unit
Conversions
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Fractions
Graph or Table
Analysis
x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Pie Graphs
x
Linear
Equations
x
Rates & Slopes
x x x x x x
Solving for X
x x x x
Evaluating Fns
x x
Modeling
x x x x
Trigonometry

Integration

Differentiation
x

Space Math [Link]

 Mathematics Topic Matrix (cont'd)

Topic Problem Number

32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46
Inquiry
Technology,
rulers
x x x x x x x x x x
Numbers,
patterns,
percentages
Averages
Time, distance,
speed
x x x x
Areas and
volumes
x x x x
Scale
drawings
x x x x x x x x x x x x
Geometry

Probability,
odds
Scientific
Notation
Unit
Conversions
x x x x x x x x x
Fractions
Graph or Table
Analysis
x x x x
Pie Graphs

Linear
Equations
x x
Rates & Slopes
x x x
Solving for X

Evaluating Fns

Modeling
x x x x x
Trigonometry
x
Integration

Differentiation

Space Math [Link]

 How to Use this Book

Teachers continue to look for ways to make math meaningful by providing students
with problems and examples demonstrating its applications in everyday life. Earth Math
offers math applications through strong motivation of discovery. Technology makes it
possible for students to experience the value of math, instead of just reading about it.
Technology is essential to mathematics and science for such purposes as “access to remote
locations, sample collection and treatment, measurement, data collection and storage,
computation, and communication of information.” 3A/M2 authentic assessment tools and
examples. The NCTM standards include the statement that "Similarity also can be related to
such real-world contexts as photographs, models, projections of pictures" which can be an
excellent application for all of the Earth Math applications.

This book is designed to be used as a supplement for teaching mathematical topics.

The problems can be used to enhance understanding of the mathematical concept, or as a
good assessment of student mastery.

An integrated classroom technique provides a challenge in math and science

classrooms, through a more intricate method for using Earth Math. Read the scenario that
follows:

Ms. Green decided to pose a new activity using Earth Math with her students. She
challenged each student team with math problems from the Earth Math book. She copied
each problem for student teams to work on. Beginning with the introductory math problems
at the beginning of the book she provided background and basic understanding of Global
Climate Change. She then had each team work through problems 25-29 that were
developed so that students could study long-term historical trends in the carbon
dioxide levels and solar insolation spanning up to 400,000 years. This issue is of
considerable importance, not only as a test of sophisticated climate models, but also
as a measure of whether current changes are caused by humans (anthropogenic) or
simply part of natural trends spanning decades, centuries or even millennia. Student
teams were then divided to debate, human impact vs. natural trends. One student from
each team was the lead for the debate , while other team members could supply information
during the debate to support their team’s conclusion.

Earth Math can be used as a classroom challenge activity, assessment tool,

enrichment activity or in a more dynamic method as is explained in the above scenario. It is
completely up to the teacher, their preference and allotted time. What it does provide,
regardless of how it is used in the classroom, is the need to be proficient in math. It is
needed especially in our world of advancing technology and physical science.

Space Math [Link]

 Teacher Comments

"Your problems are great fillers as well as sources of interesting questions. I have even given
one or two of your problems on a test! You certainly have made the problems a valuable
resource!" (Chugiak High School, Alaska)

"I love your problems, and thanks so much for offering them! I have used them for two years,
and not only do I love the images, but the content and level of questioning is so appropriate for
my high school students, they love it too. I have shared them with our math and science
teachers, and they have told me that their students like how they apply what is being taught in
their classes to real problems that professionals work on." (Wade Hampton High School ,SC)

"I recently found the Space Math problems website and I must tell you it is wonderful! I teach
8th grade science and this is a blessed resource for me. We do a lot of math and I love how
you have taken real information and created reinforcing problems with them. I have shared the
website with many of my middle and high school colleagues and we are all so excited. The
skills summary allows any of us to skim the listing and know exactly what would work for our
classes and what will not. I cannot thank you enough. I know that the science teachers I work
with and I love the graphing and conversion questions. The "Are U Nuts" conversion worksheet
was wonderful! One student told me that it took doing that activity (using the unusual units) for
her to finally understand the conversion process completely. Thank you!" (Saint Mary's Hall
MS, Texas)

"I know I’m not your usual clientele with the Space Math problems but I actually use them in a
number of my physics classes. I get ideas for real-world problems from these in intro physics
classes and in my astrophysics classes. I may take what you have and add calculus or
whatever other complications happen, and then they see something other than “Consider a
particle of mass ‘m’ and speed ‘v’ that…” (Associate Professor of Physics)

"Space Math has more up-to-date applications than are found in any textbook. Students enjoy
real-world math problems for the math they have already learned. Doing Space Math
problems has encouraged some of my students to take pre-calculus and calculus so they can
solve the more advanced problems. I learned about Space Math through an email last year. I
was very impressed with the problems. I assigned some of the problems to students in my
Physics classes, printing them out to put in their interactive notebooks. I displayed other
problems for group discussion, assigned some for homework and used some for group class
work. I like the diversity, the color format and having the solutions. I expect to use them even
more next year in our new space science class. We will have 50 students in two sections."
(Alan. High School Science Teacher)

"It took time for them to make the connection between the math they learned in math class and
applying it in the science classroom. Now I use an ELMO to project them. I have used them for
class work and/or homework. The math activities were in conjunction with labs and science
concepts that were being presented. The math helped "show" the science. Oftentimes
students were encouraged to help and teach each other. Students began to see how math and
science were connected. I knew the students were making the connections because they
would comment about how much math they had to do in science. Their confidence in both
classes increased as they were able practice the concepts they learned in math in my science
class." (Brenda, Technology Resource Teacher)

Space Math [Link]

 Introduction to Earth Math

We are at the dawn of a new era when our familiar ‘Nine Planets’ have been
replaced in a mater of a decade by a catalog of over 400 known planets orbiting other
stars. They go by crude names such as HD209458b or CoRoT-7a, but through the
advance of new technologies and techniques in spectroscopy, we are coming to know
the atmospheres of these words nearly as well as we do Venus, Mars or distant Pluto.

At the same time, and at long last, we are coming to know our own world just in
time to appreciate how fragile it is under the action of over 6 billion humans. Wildlife
biologists speak of the carrying capacity of an eco system. We now appreciate that,
given the manner in which we interact with Nature, the carrying capacity of Earth for
the Genus Homo Sapiens may be dramatically smaller than we had once imagined.

Although scientists have been sounding the alarm about Global Climate Change
(GCC) for over 40 years, only in the last five years has this realization penetrated
through the thick haze of social and political denial, and has even become a cause
celebre among the popular media. There are still naysayers, but the growing weight of
consistent data and sophisticated modeling has increasingly isolated ‘disbelievers’.
GCC is no longer a ‘belief system’ but a political, social and economic reality and fact
of our times. It will increasingly rob us of fresh water, coastal real estate, and even
good health in the face of diseases migrating out of tropical breading grounds and into
the mid-latitudes.

As a means to the end of understanding our environment, this book explores a

few of the many concepts that frequently come up in the study of Earth systems and
GCC. It is not meant to be exhaustive, but it does aspire to show how the underlying
basis for many of the issues we are now confronted by both socially and politically
have simple mathematical underpinnings. This book is meant to be used as a
companion guide to standard Earth Science and Mathematics courses at the middle
and high school-level. Ironically, both of these themes seldom offer enough
applications problems in mathematics to allow students to quantitatively understand
typical news media reports about GCC. The problems need not be executed in the
order presented.

This book begins with some ‘warm up’ problems that have to do with basic
terminology used in GCC news and research. Among these is the concept of ‘part per
million’ and ‘part per billion’ (1,2,3,4) and temperature (5). Also covered are problems
featuring a few of the general properties of Earth such as its length-of-day (6,7), polar
wander (8), gravity (35), magnetism (36). There are also simple exercises that let
students use satellite photos of familiar scenes such as Las Vegas (30), Washington
DC (31), Paris (32) to determine image scales and perform simple photogrammetry.
This is an important skill for completing projects involving satellite studies of glacial
retreat (33) and biomass loss (34). Also offered are problems dealing with the concept
of reflectivity and absorption (9, 10, 11). The intent is that students will be able to think
quantitatively about how the ability of a substance to reflect light influences how hot the
body is. Although not extensively covered in this book, reflectivity explains why asphalt

Space Math [Link]

soil and concrete have different temperatures on a sunny day, and why cities are
hotter than forests and other green spaces. This is related to why carbon dioxide is
a ‘green house gas’ and the role of urban planning and ‘green space’ in making a
city more comfortable in the summertime.

Once students are familiar with the basic terminology and computations, they
can begin working the second tier of problems that cover the atmospheric carbon
and carbon dioxide budgets. This discussion begins with students exploring how
electricity consumption is measured in terms of kilowatt-hours (12, 13). This is then
applied to having the student create an energy budget for their home and lifestyle,
and calculating its carbon impact (14, 15, 16).

The terminology learned from these exercises (kWh and tons of carbon) are
applied, first to the state-level (17), and then to the world electricity consumption
(18). The last step is an investigation of the state of the global atmosphere (19 – 24)
and the creation of a detailed description of sources and sinks of carbon, and
carbon sequestration. In the later topic, students are encouraged to create Excel
spreadsheets (22) to model and forecast future carbon dioxide levels in 2050 and
2100. Because even simple atmospheric models involve linear ‘rates of change’ one
problem (24) is provided for advanced high school students who know calculus and
can solve a simple first-order differential equations.

Additional problems (25 – 29) have been created so that students can study
long-term historical trends in the carbon dioxide levels and solar insolation spanning
up to 400,000 years. This issue is of considerable importance, not only as a test of
sophisticated climate models, but also as a measure of whether current changes are
caused by humans (anthropogenic) or simply part of natural trends spanning
decades, centuries or even millennia. The later is a common argument, not
supported by existing data, that is often cited by global warming nay-sayers.
Students need to be exposed to the underlying data so that they can make educated
decisions as future voters.

Needless to say, GCC science is sufficiently complex as a physical and

chemical process that only opinions based upon a sound knowledge of the
underlying system actually count for very much. This book will hopefully serve to
supply some modest quantitative rigor to classroom discussions about GCC.

In terms of the mathematics to be encountered in this book, students will be

exposed to many problems involving unit conversions. GCC science and reports
involve terms such as kilowatt-hour, megawatt-hour and gigawatt-hours, as well as
megatons and gigatons. Students will become versed in converting units where
appropriate, and through the calculations, need to work with the concept of
significant figures. Creating linear equations from graphical and tabular information
will be covered as well as forecasting. Although each problem page contains from
two to eight subsidiary math problems related to each of the 40 main topics,
students need not complete all of the problems to have a meaningful understanding
of GCC.

Space Math [Link]

 Fractions and Chemistry 1
Because molecules and
atoms come in 'integer'
packages, the ratios of various
molecules or atoms in a
compound are often expressible
in simple fractions. Adding
compounds together can often
lead to interesting mixtures in
which the proportions of the
various molecules involve mixed
numbers.
The figure shows some of
the ways in which molecules are
synthesized in interstellar clouds.
(Courtesy D. Smith and P. Spanel, "Ions in the
Terrestrial Atmosphere and in Interstellar
Clouds", Mass Spectrometry Reviews, v.14,
pp. 255-278. )

In the problems below, do not use a calculator and state all answers as simple
fractions or integers.

Problem 1 - What makes your car go: When 2 molecules of gasoline (ethane) are combined
with 7 molecules of oxygen you get 4 molecules of carbon dioxide and 6 molecules of water.

A) What is the ratio of ethane molecules to water molecules?

B) What is the ratio of oxygen molecules to carbon dioxide molecules?
C) If you wanted to 'burn' 50 molecules of ethane, how many molecules of water result?
D) If you wanted to create 50 molecules of carbon dioxide, how many ethane molecules
would you have to burn?

Problem 2 - How plants create glucose from air and water: Six molecules of carbon dioxide
combine with 6 molecules of water to create one molecule of glucose and 6 molecules of
oxygen.

A) What is the ratio of glucose molecules to water molecules?

B) What is the ratio of oxygen molecules to the total number of carbon dioxide and water
molecules?
C) If you wanted to create 120 glucose molecules, how many water molecules are needed?
D) If you had 100 molecules of carbon dioxide, what is the largest number of glucose
molecules you could produce?

Space Math [Link]

 1
Answer Key
Problem 1 - What makes your car go: When 2 molecules of gasoline (ethane) are combined
with 7 molecules of oxygen you get 4 molecules of carbon dioxide and 6 molecules of water.

A) In this reaction, 2 molecules of ethane yield 6 molecules of water, so the ratio is 2/6 or
1/3.
B) 7 oxygen molecules and 4 carbon dioxide molecules yield the ratio 7/4

C) The reaction says that 2 molecules of ethane burn to make 6 molecules of water. If you
start with 50 molecules of ethane, then you have the proportion:

50 ethane x-water
------------ = ------------- so X = 25 x 6 = 150 water molecules.
2 ethane 6 -water

D) Use the proportion:

50 Carbon Dioxide X ethane
------------------------- = --------------- so X = 2 x (50/4) = 25 molecules ethane
4 carbon dioxide 2 ethane

Problem 2 - How plants create glucose from air and water: Six molecules of carbon dioxide
combine with 6 molecules of water to create one molecule of glucose and 6 molecules of
oxygen.
A) What is the ratio of glucose molecules to water molecules?
B) What is the ratio of oxygen molecules to the total number of carbon dioxide and water
molecules?
C) If you wanted to create 120 glucose molecules, how many water molecules are needed?
D) If you had 100 molecules of carbon dioxide, what is the largest number of glucose
molecules you could produce?

A) Glucose molecules /water molecules = 1 / 6

B) Oxygen molecules / ( carbon dioxide + water) = 6 / (6 + 6) = 6/12 = 1/2

C) 120 glucose X water

------------------ = ----------- so X= 6 x 120 = 720 water molecules
1 glucose 6 water

D)
100 carbon dioxide X glucose
--------------------------- = ---------------- so X = 100/6 molecules.
6 carbon dioxide 1 glucose

The problem asks for the largest number that can be made, so we cannot include fractions
in the answer. We need to find the largest multiple of '6' that does not exceed '100'. This is
96 so that 6 x 16 = 96. That means we can get no more than 16 glucose molecules by
starting with 100 carbon dioxide molecules. (Note that 100/6 = 16.666 so '16' is the largest
integer).

Space Math [Link]

 Counting Atoms in a Molecule 2
The complex molecule Propanal
was discovered in a dense interstellar
cloud called Sagittarius B2(North)
located near the center of the Milky
Way galaxy about 26,000 light years
from Earth. Astronomers used the
giant radio telescope in Greenbank,
West Virginia to detect the faint signals
from a massive cloud containing this
molecule. It is one of the most complex
molecules detected in the 35 years that
astronomers have searched for
molecules in space. Over 140 different
chemicals are now known.

Problem 1 - How many atoms of hydrogen (H), carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are
contained in this molecule?

Problem 2 - What percentage of all atoms are hydrogen? Carbon? Oxygen?

Problem 3 - What is the ratio of carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms in propanal?

Problem 4 - If the mass of a hydrogen atom is defined as 1 AMU, and carbon and
oxygen have masses of 12.0 and 16.0 AMUs, what is the total mass of a propanal
molecule in AMUs?

Problem 5 - What is the complete chemical formula for propanal?

C3 H __ O
Problem 6 - If this molecule could be broken up, how many water molecules could it
make if the formula for water is H2O?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 2
Problem 1 - How many atoms of hydrogen (H), carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are
contained in this molecule?

Answer; There are 6 atoms of hydrogen, 3 atoms of carbon and 1 atom of oxygen.

Problem 2 - What percentage of all atoms are hydrogen? Carbon? Oxygen?

Answer: There are a total of 10 atoms in propanal so it contains 100% x (6 atoms /10
atoms) = 60% hydrogen; 100%x(3/10) = 30% carbon and 100% x ( 1/10) = 10 %
oxygen.

Problem 3 - What is the ratio of carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms in propanal?

Answer: 3 carbon atoms / 6 hydrogen atoms = 1/2 or a proportion of '1 to 2'.

Problem 4 - If the mass of a hydrogen atom is defined as 1 AMU, and carbon and
oxygen have masses of 12.0 and 16.0 AMUs, what is the total mass of a propanal
molecule in AMUs?

Answer: 1 AMU x 6 hydrogen + 12 AMU x 3 carbon + 16 AMU x 1 oxygen = 6 AMU +

36 AMU + 16 AMU = 58 AMU for the full molecule mass.

Problem 5 - What is the complete chemical formula for propanal?

C3 H 6 O
Problem 6 - If this molecule could be broken up, how many water molecules could it
make if the formula for water is H2O?

Answer: A single water molecule requires exactly 1 oxygen atom, and since propanal
only has 1 atom of oxygen per molecule, you can only get 1 molecule of water by
breaking up a single propanal molecule.

Space Math [Link]

 Parts Per Hundred (pph) 3
A common way of describing the
various components of a population of
objects is by the number of parts that
they represent for every 100, 1000 or 1
million items that are sampled.
For instance, if there was a bag of
100 balls: 5 were red and 95 were white,
you would say that the red balls
represented 5 parts per hundred (5 pph)
of the sample.
This also means that if you had a
bag with 300 balls in the same
proportions of red and white balls, the
red balls would still be '5 parts per
hundred' even though there are now 15
red balls in the sample (15/300 = 5/100 =
5 pph).

For each of the situations below, calculate the parts-per-hundred (pph) for
each sample.

Problem 1 - Your current age compared to 1 century

Problem 2 - 10 cubic centimeter (10 cc) of food coloring blended into 1 liter
(1000 cc) of water.

Problem 3 - The 4 brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster, compared to the
total population of the cluster consisting of 200 stars.

Problem 4 - One day compared to one month (30 days)

Problem 5 - Five percent of anything.

Problem 6 - The figure above shows the atoms of hydrogen (H) and carbon (C)
in the molecule of dimethylcyclohexane. What is the pph of the carbon atoms in
this molecule compared to the total number of atoms?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 3
Problem 1 - Your current age compared to 1 century

Answer: If your current age is 14 years, then compared to 100 years, your lifetime is 14
pph of a century.

Problem 2 - 1 cubic centimeter (10 cc) of food coloring blended into 1 liter (1000 cc) of
water.

Answer: 10 cc / 1000 cc is the same as 1 /100 so the food coloring is 1 pph of a liter.

Problem 3 - The 4 brightest stars in the Pleiades star cluster, compared to the total
population of the cluster consisting of 200 stars.

Answer: 4 stars / 200 members = 2 / 100 = 2 pph of the cluster stars.

Problem 4 - One day compared to one month ( 30 days)

Answer: 1 day / 30 days = 0.0333 so 0.033 x 100 = 3.3 pph of a month.

Problem 5 - Five percent of anything.

Answer: 5 % = 5 / 100 = 5 pph of anything.

Problem 6 - The figure above shows the atoms of hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) in the
molecule of dimethylcyclohexane. What is the pph of the carbon atoms in this
molecule compared to the total number of atoms?

Answer: There are a total of 24 atoms in this molecule. There are a total of 8 carbon
atoms, so the fraction is 8/24 = 1/3 which equals 0.333 x 100 = 33 pph of the total
atoms.

Space Math [Link]

 Parts per Thousand (PPT) 4
A convenient way to compare
the number of items of one kind
mixed into a population of other items
is the part-per-thousand (ppt).
For example your age (say 15
years) compared to the entire span of
recent history (2,000 years) is the
ratio 15/2000 or 0.0075. This can be
expressed as 75 parts per 10,000 or
7.5 parts per thousand (ppt).
The span of 30 minutes
compared to a day (1440 minutes) is
30/1440 = 0.021 which is 21 parts per
thousand.

Problem 1 - One day compared to a year.

Problem 2 - You compared to the number of living relatives in your family.

Problem 3 - The moon compared to the 167 satellites orbiting all of the planets in
our solar system (not including Pluto!).

Problem 4 - The figure above shows the amount of salt in ocean water
determined by the NODC Ocean Climate Laboratory. The units are in parts per
thousand where 1 gram of salt in 1 kilogram of water represents 1 ppt.

A) What is the difference in ppt between the saltiest and least-salty ocean
water?

B) Suppose you have 10 kilograms of ocean water at 30 ppt of salt, if you

removed all the water by evaporation, how many grams of salt would you collect?

C) A sea water distillation plant converts ocean water into freshwater. If it

processes 14 million kilograms of ocean water, how much salt, in metric tons, has
to be disposed of at a 34 ppt concentration if 1 metric ton equals 1,000
kilograms?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key
4
Problem 1 - One day compared to a year.

Answer; 1 / 365 = 0.0027 or 2.7 ppt.

Problem 2 - You compared to the number of living relatives in your family.

Answer: Students answers will vary, but for 37 living relatives, 1/37 = 0.027 which is 27
ppt.

Problem 3 - The moon compared to the 167 satellites orbiting all of the planets in our
solar system (not including Pluto!).

Answer; Students answers may vary depending on the sources that they use, but
current counts give a total of 167 planetary satellites so the moon represents 1/167 =
0.006 or 6 ppt.

Problem 4 - The figure above shows the amount of salt in ocean water determined by
the NODC Ocean Climate Laboratory. The units are in parts per thousand where 1
gram of salt in 1 kilogram of water represents 1 ppt.

A) What is the difference in ppt between the saltiest and least-salty ocean
water? Answer: The least-salty is 32.4 ppt in the water between Greenland and
North America. The most salty is 37.0 in the mid-Atlantic. The difference is 37.0 – 32.4
ppt = 4.6 ppt.

B) If you have 10 kilograms of ocean water at 30 ppt of salt, how many grams of
salt would you collect? Answer: 10 kilograms x 30/1000 = 0.3 kilograms or 300 grams
of salt.

C) A sea water distillation plant converts ocean water into freshwater. If it

processes 14 million kilograms of ocean water, how much salt in metric tons has to be
disposed of at a 34 ppt concentration? Answer: 14 million kg x 34/1000 = 0.47 million
kilograms or 470,000 kilograms. 1 metric ton = 1000 kg, so this equals 470 tons of
salt.

Space Math [Link]

 Kelvin Temperatures and Very Cold Things! 5

To keep track of some of the coldest

things in the universe, scientists use the
Kelvin temperature scale which begins at 0
Kelvin, which is also called Absolute Zero.
Vostok, Antarctica Nothing can ever be colder than Absolute
183 K Zero because at this temperature, all motion
160 K Phobos stops. The table to the left shows some
Superconductors typical temperatures of different systems in
134 K the universe.
128 K Europa summertime
Moon at night You are probably already familiar
120 K with the Centigrade (C) and Fahrenheit (F)
95 K Titan Noon temperature scales. The two formulas below
Liquid oxygen show how to switch from degrees-C to
90 K degrees-F.
88 K Miranda Noon 5 9
Enceladus summertime C = --- ( F - 32 ) F = --- C + 32
81 K 9 5
77 K Liquid nitrogen
Mercury at night Because the Kelvin scale is related to the
70 K Centigrade scale, we can also convert from
63 K Solid nitrogen Centigrade to Kelvin (K) using the equation:
55 K Pluto summertime
K = 273 + C
54 K Solid oxygen
Quaoar summertime Use these three equations to convert
50 K between the three temperature scales:
45 K Moon shadowed crater
Star-forming nebula Problem 1: 212 F converted to K
40 K
33 K Pluto wintertime Problem 2: 0K converted to F
20 K Hydrogen liquifies
Problem 3: 100 C converted to K
19 K Bose-Einstein matter
Helium liquifies Problem 4: -150 F converted to K
4K
3K Cosmic fireball light Problem 5: -150 C converted to K
1K Helium becomes solid
Problem 6: Two scientists measure the
0K ABSOLUTE ZERO daytime temperature of the moon using two
different instruments. The first instrument
gives a reading of + 107 C while the second
instrument gives + 221 F. A) What are the
equivalent temperatures on the Kelvin scale;
B) What is the average daytime temperature
on the Kelvin scale?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 5
5 9
C = --- ( F - 32 ) F = --- C + 32 K = 273 + C
9 5

Problem 1: 212 F converted to K :

First convert to C: C = 5/9 (212 - 32) = +100 C. Then convert from C to K:
K = 273 + 100 = 373 Kelvin

Problem 2: 0 K converted to F: First convert to Centigrade:

C = K - 273 so C = -273 degrees. Then convert from C to F:
F = 9/5 (-273) + 32 = -459 Fahrenheit.

Problem 3: 100 C converted to K : K = 273 + C = 373 Kelvin.

Problem 4: -150 F converted to K : Convert to Centigrade

C = 5/9 ( -150 - 32) = -101 C. Then convert from Centigrade to Kelvin: K = 273 - 101
= 172 Kelvin.

Problem 5: -150 C converted to K : K = 273 + (-150) = 123 Kelvin

Problem 6: Two scientists measure the daytime temperature of the moon using two
different instruments. The first instrument gives a reading of + 107 C while the second
instrument gives + 221 F.

A) What are the equivalent temperatures on the Kelvin scale?;

107 C becomes K = 273 + 107 = 380 Kelvins.
221 F becomes C = 5/9 (221 - 32) = 105 C, and so K = 273 + 105 = 378 Kelvins.

B) What is the average daytime temperature on the Kelvin scale?

Answer: (380 + 378)/2 = 379 Kelvins.

Space Math [Link]

 Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 6
Period Age Days per Hours per
(years) year day
Current 0 365
Upper Cretaceous 70 million 370
Upper Triassic 220 million 372
Pennsylvanian 290 million 383
Mississippian 340 million 398
Upper Devonian 380 million 399
Middle Devonian 395 million 405 21.6
Lower Devonian 410 million 410
Upper Silurian 420 million 400
Middle Silurian 430 million 413
Lower Silurian 440 million 421
Upper Ordovician 450 million 414
Middle Cambrian 510 million 424 20.7
Ediacarin 600 million 417
Cryogenian 900 million 486

We learn that an 'Earth Day' is 24 hours long, and that more precisely it is
23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds long. But this hasn't always been the case.
Detailed studies of fossil shells, and the banded deposits in certain sandstones,
reveal a much different length of day in past eras! These bands in sedimentation
and shell-growth follow the lunar month and have individual bands representing
the number of days in a lunar month. By counting the number of bands,
geologists can work out the number of days in a year, and from this the number of
hours in a day when the shell was grown, or the deposits put down. The table
above shows the results of one of these studies.

Problem 1 - Complete the table by calculating the number of hours in a day

during the various geological eras. It is assumed that Earth orbits the sun at a
fixed orbital period, based on astronomical models that support this assumption.

Problem 2 - Plot the number of hours lost compared to the modern '24 hours'
value, versus the number of years before the current era.

Problem 3 - By finding the slope of a straight line through the points can you
estimate by how much the length of the day has increased in seconds per
century?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 6
Period Age Days per Hours per
(years) year day
Current 0 365 24.0
Upper Cretaceous 70 million 370 23.7
Upper Triassic 220 million 372 23.5
Pennsylvanian 290 million 383 22.9
Mississippian 340 million 398 22.0
Upper Devonian 380 million 399 22.0
Middle Devonian 395 million 405 21.6
Lower Devonian 410 million 410 21.4
Upper Silurian 420 million 400 21.9
Middle Silurian 430 million 413 21.2
Lower Silurian 440 million 421 20.8
Upper Ordovician 450 million 414 21.2
Middle Cambrian 510 million 424 20.7
Ediacarin 600 million 417 21.0
Cryogenian 900 million 486 18.0

Problem 1 - Answer; See table above.

Problem 2 - Answer; See figure below

Problem 3 - Answer: From the line indicated in the figure below, the slope of this line
is m = (y2 - y1 )/ (x2 - x1) = 6 hours / 900 million years or 0.0067 hours/million years.
Since there are 3,600 seconds/ hour and 10,000 centuries in 1 million years (Myr), this
unit conversion yields 0.0067 hr/Myr x (3600 sec/hr) x (1 Myr / 10,000 centuries) =
0.0024 seconds/century. This is normally cited as 2.4 milliseconds per century.

Space Math [Link]

 Ancient Eclipses and the Length of the Day 7

Astronomers can use sophisticated mathematical models to accurately

predict when eclipses occurred anywhere on Earth as long ago as 10,000 years.
But to achieve this, the models must account for the length of the day being
shorter than it is today! The above figure (right) shows the track of the total solar
eclipse of April 15, 136 BC recorded on cuneiform tablets by Babylonian
astronomers. The figure (left) also shows the predicted track without allowing for
the different length of day back in 136 BC!

Problem 1 - At the latitude of Babylon, the computed track crosses at a longitude

of +4.3 West. The actual longitude of Babylon is +44.5 East. By how many
degrees in longitude does the computed track miss Babylon?

Problem 2 - How long does it take Earth, in seconds, to rotate through the
longitude difference in Problem 1?

Problem 3 - To calculate the rate, R, at which the day is lengthening in

2
milliseconds per century, geologists use the formula T = 18 R t . If T is your
answer to Problem 2, and t is the number of centuries between 136 BC and
today, what is R?

Problem 4 - Based on your answer for R, what will be the length-of-day in 100
million years from now expressed in decimal hours?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 7
Problem 1 - At the latitude of Babylon, the computed track crosses at a longitude of
+4.3 West. The actual longitude of Babylon is +44.5 East. By how many degrees in
longitude does the computed track miss Babylon? Answer; 44.3 + 4.3 = 48.8 degrees.

Problem 2 - How long does it take Earth, in seconds, to rotate through the longitude
difference in Problem 1? Answer: In 24 hours it rotates through 360 degrees in
longitude, so to rotate 48.8 degrees it will take 24 hours x (48.8 / 360) = 3.25 hours,
and so 3.25 hrs x (3600 sec/1 hour) = 11,700 seconds.

Problem 3 - To calculate the rate, R, at which the day is lengthening in milliseconds

2
per century, geologists use the formula T = 18 R t . If T is your answer to Problem 2,
and t is the number of centuries between 136 BC and today, what is R?

Answer: T = 11,700 seconds

t = (2008 + 136)/100 = 21.4 centuries (note there was no Year-Zero !)
2
solve the equation for R to get R = T/18t
2
and so R = (11,700) / (18 x 21.4 )
R = 1.4 milliseconds/century

Problem 4 - Based on your answer for R, what will be the length-of-day in 100 million
years from now expressed in decimal hours?

Answer: In 100 million years there are 1 million centuries, so

1 million centuries x 1.4 milliseconds/century x (0.001 seconds/millisecond) = 1400
seconds. Since there are 3600 seconds in 1 hour, the new 'day' will be 24 hours +
1400/3600 hours = 24 + 0.39 hours = 24.39 hours long.

Space Math [Link]

 Earth's Polar Wander - The Chandler Wobble 8
X Y
Year Month (meters) (meters)
2008 1 -3 +8 The Earth rotates on its axis
2008 2 -4 +10 once every 24 hours (23 hours 56
2008 3 -4 +13 minutes and 4 seconds more-
2008 4 -2 +15
accurately!), but like a bobbing,
2008 5 +1 +16
2008 6 +4 +16
spinning top, the direction doesn't point
2008 7 +7 +15 exactly at an angle of 23 1/5 degrees.
2008 8 +9 +13
2008 9 +9 +10 For over 200 years, careful
2008 10 +8 +7 measurements of the rotation axis
2008 11 +6 +5 have shown that it moves slightly. The
2008 12 +3 +4 data in the table to the left gives the
2009 1 0 +4 axis location of the North Pole as it
2009 2 -3 +6 passes through Earth's surface. The X-
2009 3 -4 +9 axis runs East-West and the Y-axis
2009 4 -4 +12 runs North-South. The units are in
2009 5 -2 +15
meters measured on the ground.
2009 6 +1 +16
2009 7 +4 +16
2009 8 +7 +15

Problem 1 - On a Cartesian graph, plot the location of the North Pole during
the time span indicated by the table.

Problem 2 - About how long, in days, does it take the North Pole to return to
its starting position based on this data?

Problem 3 - About what is the average speed of this Polar Wander in meters
per day?

Problem 4 - Based on your plot, does it look like the motion will exactly repeat
itself in space during the next cycle?

Problem 5 - About what is the X and Y location of the center of the movement
pattern?

Problem 6 - What would you use as the best location of the North Pole?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 8
Problem 1 - Answer; See below.

Problem 2 - Answer; The plotted track is nearly circular and one complete loop takes
about 14 months or 420 days. This is called the Chandler Period.

Problem 3 - Answer: In one month the point moves on the circle about 3 meters, so
the speed is about 3 meters/30 days or 0.1 meter/day.

Problem 4 - Answer; Not exactly. The new cycle points do not follow the circle of the
older cycle. This motion is called the Chandler Wobble.

Problem 5 - Answer; X = + 2 meters, Y = +10 meters.

Problem 6 - Answer: Probably the point at the center of the circle, because it
represents the average position of the North Pole over time.

18

16

14

12
Y (meters)

10

0
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
X (meters)

Space Math [Link]

 Identifying Materials by their Reflectivity 9
Material Reflectivity
Snow 80%
White Concrete 78%
Bare Aluminum 74%
Vegetation 50%
Bare Soil 30%
Wood Shingle 17%
Water 5%
Black Asphalt 3%

When light falls on a material, some of the light energy is absorbed while
the rest is reflected. The absorbed energy usually contributes to heating the body.
The reflected energy is what we use to actually see the material! Scientists
measure reflectivity and absorption in terms of the percentage of energy that falls
on the body. The combination must add up to 100%.
The table above shows the reflectivity of various common materials. For
example, snow reflects 80% of the light that falls on it, which means that it
absorbs 20% and so 80% + 20% = 100%. This also means that if there are 100
watts of light energy falling on the snow, 80 watts will be reflected and 20 watts
will be absorbed.

Problem 1 - If 1000 watts falls on a body, and you measure 300 watts reflected,
what is the reflectivity of the body, and from the Table, what might be its
composition?

Problem 2 - You are given the reflectivity map at the top of this page. What are
the likely compositions of the areas in the map?

Problem 3 - What is the average reflectivity of these four equal-area regions

combined?

Problem 4 - Solar radiation delivers 1300 watts per square meter to the surface
of Earth. If the area in the map is 20 meters on a side; A) how much solar
radiation, in watts, is reflected by each of the four materials covering this area? B)
What is the total solar energy, in watts, reflected by this mapped area? C) What is
the total solar energy, in watts, absorbed by this area?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 9
Problem 1 - If 1000 watts falls on a body, and you measure 300 watts reflected, what
is the reflectivity of the body, and from the Table, what might be its composition?

Answer: The reflectivity is 100% x (300 watts/1000 watts) = 30%. From the table,
Bare Soil has this same reflectivity and so is a likely composition.

Problem 2 - You are given the reflectivity map at the top of this page. What are the
likely compositions of the areas in the map?

Answer: 50% = Vegetation

78% = White Concrete
30% = Bare Soil
3% = Black Asphalt

Problem 3 - What is the average reflectivity of these four equal-area regions

combined? Answer: Because each of the four materials cover the same area, we just
add up their reflectivities and divide by 4 to get (50% + 78% + 30% + 3%)/4 = 40%.

Problem 4 - Solar radiation delivers 1300 watts per square meter to the surface of
Earth. If the area in the map is 20 meters on a side; A) how much solar radiation, in
watts, is reflected by each of the four materials covering this area? B) What is the total
solar energy, in watts, reflected by this mapped area? C) What is the total solar
energy, in watts, absorbed by this area?

Answer: Each material covers 10 meters x 10 meters = 100 square meters:

2 2
A) Vegetation: 0.50 x 1300 watts/m x 100 m = 65,000 watts.
2 2
Concrete: 0.78 x 1300 watts/m x 100 m = 101,400 watts.
2 2
Bare Soil: 0.30 x 1300 watts/m x 100 m = 39,000 watts.
2 2
Black Asphalt: 0.03 x 1300 watts/m x 100 m = 3,900 watts.

B) 65,000 + 101,400 + 39,000 + 3,900 = 209,300 watts.

2 2
C) The total wattage entering this area is 1,300 watts/m x 100 m x 4 = 520,000
watts. Since 209,300 watts are reflected, that means that 520,000 watts - 209,300
watts = 310,700 watts are being absorbed.

Note: If you work with significant figures the answers are to 2 SF: A) 65,000 ; 100,000;
39,000 and 3,900 B) = 210,000 C) 520,000-210,000 = 310,000 watts.

Space Math [Link]

 Reflectivity Fingerprints! 10
Material R(UV) R(Vis) R(NIR)
Snow 90% 80% 70%
White Concrete 22% 80% 73%
Aluminum Roof 75% 74% 68%
Vegetation 15% 50% 40%
Bare Soil 15% 30% 50%
Wood Shingle 7% 17% 28%
Water 2% 5% 1%
Black Asphalt 4% 3% 3%

The amount of light a body reflects isn't the same for all of the different
light wavelengths that fall on its surface. Because of this, each substance can
have a unique fingerprint of reflectivity at different wavelengths that lets you
identify it. The table above shows the reflectivity of various common materials.
For example, snow reflects 80% of the light that falls on it at visible light
wavelengths (Vis= 400 to 600 nm), but reflects quite a bit more at ultraviolet
wavelengths (UV= 200 to 300 nm), and quite a bit less at near-infrared
wavelengths (NIR= 700 to 1500 nm).

Problem 1 - If 1000 watts falls on a body in the ultraviolet band, and you measure
150 watts reflected, what is the reflectivity of the body, and from the Table, A)
what might be its composition? B) What other reflectivity measurements can you
make to tell the difference between your choices?

Problem 2 - You are given the reflectivity maps in each of the three wavelength
bands, UV, VIS and NIR at the bottom of this page. What are the likely
compositions of the areas in the map?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 10
Problem 1 - If 1000 watts falls on a body in the ultraviolet band, and you measure 150
watts reflected, what is the reflectivity of the body, and from the Table, A) what might
be its composition? B) What other reflectivity measurements can you make to tell the
difference between your choices?

Answer; A) The reflectivity is 100% x (150 watts/1000 watts) = 15% in the ultraviolet
band. There are two candidates from the table: a surface covered with vegetation, and
a surface covered with bare soil. B) By measuring the reflected power in the visible
band (Vis) the difference in reflectivity is 50% for the vegetation and 30% for the bare
soil, which is enough for you to be able to tell the difference.

Problem 2 - What are the likely compositions of the areas in the map? Answer: See
map below. V = Vegetation; bS = Bare Soil; C = Concrete; S = Snow and A =
Aluminum Roof.

Note: The problem can be made more challenging by only giving students two out of
the three band measurements for a given map 'pixel', and have the student fill -in the
missing reflectivity percent and then identify the material.

Space Math [Link]

 Graphical Reflectivity Measurements 11

Very precise measurements can be made of the reflectivity of materials

that more easily reveal their subtle differences. Above is a plot of the reflectivities
of green vegetation, dry vegetation and soil between wavelengths of 0.4 and 2.5
micrometers (400 to 2500 nm). Scientists use graphs such as these to design
instruments that help them discriminate between a variety of interesting materials
and mineral deposits.

Problem 1 - An astronomer wants to map the surface of Mars with telescopes on

Earth to search for plant life. What wavelength range would help her more easily
discriminate between the martian soil and living vegetation?

Problem 2 - An earth scientist measures the intensity of light between two

neighboring land areas at a wavelength of 2.0 microns and 0.7 microns. Spot A
appears to be 5 times brighter than Spot B in the longer wavelength band, but
nearly equal in brightness in the shorter-wavelength band. What may be the
difference in substances between the two spots?

Problem 3 - The difference in the vegetation reflectivity between green

vegetation and dry vegetation is that green vegetation still contains the molecule
chlorophyll. What is the difference in absorption by chlorophyll molecules at a
wavelength of 0.6 microns?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 11
Problem 1 - An astronomer wants to map the surface of Mars with telescopes on
Earth to search for plant life. What wavelength range would help her more easily
discriminate between the martian soil and living vegetation?

Answer: The graph shows that the reflectivity of green vegetation is substantially
brighter than soil between wavelengths of 0.7 to 1.4 microns. At 0.9 microns, the
reflectivity of green vegetation is about 0.7 or 70%, while soil is only about 0.25 (
25%) at the same wavelength, so green vegetation is nearly three times as bright as
bare soil at 0.7 microns.

Problem 2 - An earth scientist measures the intensity of light between two neighboring
land areas at a wavelength of 2.0 microns and 0.7 microns. Spot A appears to be 5
times brighter than Spot B in the longer wavelength band, but nearly equal in
brightness in the shorter-wavelength band. What may be the difference in substances
between the two spots?

Answer: The graph shows that at 0.7 microns, the reflectance curves for green
vegetation and dry vegetation cross, which means they are of equal reflectivity at this
wavelength. At 2.0 microns, the reflectivity of dry vegetation is about 0.25 or 25%,
while green vegetation is much darker and only 0.05 or 5% reflective. Spot B appears
to be 5 times brighter than Spot A so that suggests that Spot A consists of green
vegetation and Spot B consists of dry vegetation.

Problem 3 - The difference in the vegetation reflectivity between green vegetation and
dry vegetation is that green vegetation still contains the molecule chlorophyll. What is
the difference in absorption by chlorophyll molecules at a wavelength of 0.6 microns?

Answer: From the graph, green vegetation has a reflectivity of about 5% while dry
vegetation has a reflectivity of about 18%. Because %emission + %absorption =
100%, the absorption of green vegetation is 95% while dry vegetation absorbs only
82% of the light at this wavelength. The difference in absorption is 13%.

Note: Student’s answers may vary in percentage depending on the graph estimation
method used.

Space Math [Link]

 Electricity - Watts and kilowatt-Hours 12
Electricity is a complicated thing to keep
track of and measure. You can't see it, but you
sure can't live without it in the 21st Century!
One way is to measure the flow of
electrical energy by using a unit called the Watt. A
100-watt bulb allows electrical energy to flow 10
times faster than a 10-watt bulb. This also means
that a 100-watt bulb will be much brighter than a
10-watt bulb.
A second way to measure electrical energy
is by the total energy that is used over a period of
time. The unit we use is the kilowatt-Hour (kWh). If
a 100-watt bulb is left on for 10 hours, it uses 100
x 10 = 1000 watt-hours or 1 kWh.

Problem 1 - A 350-watt computer is left on for 5 hours each day. How many kilowatt-
hours of electrical energy does it consume each day?

Problem 2 - Six, 75-watt flood lights in a living room ceiling are left on for 5 hours
each night for 1 month (30 days). How many kilowatt-hours are consumed?

Problem 3 - Your refrigerator uses 200-watts and runs continuously for 1 year. How
many kilowatt-hours of electricity does it consume in a year if there are 8,760 hours
in one year?

Problem 4 - To prepare your dinner, your 1000-watt stove is used for 1/2 hour. You
bake a cake in your 500-watt oven for 30 minutes, and your 150-watt dishwasher
runs for 45 minutes to clean the dishes. How many kWh of electricity are used?

Problem 5 - Your home has 15 'instant on' clocks, radios, computers, TVs and
kitchen appliances. If each of them uses 5 watt in this mode how many kWh of
electricity will be used each year?

Problem 6 - If electricity costs $0.11 for each kWh consumed, how much will each of
your answers to the previous 5 problems cost?

Problem 7 - Why is a kilowatt-hour a better electrical unit to use than a watt when
you are comparing how energy is used in a home? Can you think of an analogy that
describes this difference?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 12
Problem 1 - A 350-watt computer is left on for 5 hours each day. How many kilowatt-
hours of electrical energy does it consume each day? Answer: 350 x 5 = 1,750 watt-
hours = 1.75 kWh

Problem 2 - Six, 75-watt flood lights in a living room ceiling are left on for 5 hours each
night for 1 month (30 days). How many kilowatt-hours are consumed? Answer: 6 x 75
x 5 x 30 = 67,500 watt-hours = 67.5 kWh.

Problem 3 - Your refrigerator uses 200-watts and runs continuously for 1 year. How
many kilowatt-hours of electricity does it consume in a year if there are 8,760 hours in
one year? Answer: 200 x 8,760 = 1,752,000 watt-hours = 1,752 kWh.

Problem 4 - To prepare your dinner, your 1000-watt stove is used for 1/2 hour. You
bake a cake in your 500-watt oven for 30 minutes, and your 150-watt dishwasher runs
for 45 minutes to clean the dishes. How many kWh of electricity are used? Answer:
1000 x 0.5 + 500 x 0.5 + 150 x 0.75 = 862 watt-hours = 0.862 kWh.

Problem 5 - Your home has 15 'instant on' clocks, radios, computers, TVs and kitchen
appliances. If each of them uses 5 watt in this mode how many kWh of electricity will
be used each? Answer: 15 x 5 x 8760 = 657,000 watt-hours = 657 kWh.

Problem 6 - If electricity costs $0.11 for each kWh consumed, how much will each of
your answers to the previous 5 problems cost? Answer:
Problem 1 = 1.75 kWh x 0.11 = $0.19; Problem 2 = 67.5 x 0.11 = $7.43; Problem 3 =
1,752 x 0.11 = $192.72; Problem 4 = 0.862 x 0.11 = $0.09; Problem 5 = 657 x 0.11 =
$72.27.

Problem 7 - Why is a kilowatt-hour a better electrical unit to use than a watt when you
are comparing how energy is used in a home? Can you think of an analogy that
describes this difference? Answer: Because the wattage only tells you how fast energy
is being consumed, not the total amount being consumed. One student analogy can
involve a car: A car travels a total of 250 miles on one tank of gasoline. At its fastest
road speed, it consumes 0.1 gallons of gasoline each mile traveled. The wattage of the
bulb is like the usage of gasoline (gallons per mile) and the kiloWatt-hour is like the
total gasoline used to travel 250 miles. Alternatively, the total number of gallons that go
over a waterfall in one hour is like the kilowatt-hour, while the rate of the water going
over the fall, in gallons per minute, is like the wattage.

Space Math [Link]

 Energy in the Home 13
Every month, we get the Bad
News from our local electrical company.
A bill comes in the mail saying that you
used 900 Kilowatt Hours (kWh) of
electricity last month, and that will cost
you $100.00! What is this all about?

Definition: 1 kiloWatt hour is a unit of

energy determined by multiplying the
electrical power, in kilowatts, by the
number of hours of use.

Example: A 100-watt lamp is left on all

day. E = 0.1 kilowatts x 24-hours = 2.4
kWh. Note: At 11-cents per kWh, this
costs you 2.4 x 11 = 26 cents!

Problem 1 – You turned on your computer at 3:00 PM, and finished your
homework at 9:00 PM, but you forgot to turn it off before going to bed. At 7:00
AM, it was finally shut off by an angry parent after being on all night. If this
happened each school day in the month (25 days):

A) How many hours was the computer operated in this way during a 25-day
period?

B) How many kilowatt hours were wasted by leaving the computers on but not
used?

C) If the computer runs at 350 watts, and if electricity costs 11-cents per kilowatt
hour, how much did this waste cost each month?

D) How many additional songs could you buy with iTunes for the wasted money
each month if the cost of a song is $0.99?

Problem 2 – The Tevatron ‘atom smasher’ at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois collides

particles together at nearly the speed of light to explore the innermost structure of
matter. When operating, the accelerator requires 70 megaWatts of electricity –
about the same as the power consumption of the entire town of Batavia
(population: 27,000). If an experiment, from start to finish, lasts 24 hours:

A) What is the Tevatron’s electricity consumption in kilowatt hours?

B) At $0.11 per kilowatt-hour, how much does one experiment cost to run?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 13
Problem 1 –A) How many hours was the computer operated in this way during a 25-
day period? Answer: The computer was turned off between 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM
which is 8-hours, so the total time it stayed on each day was 24 – 8 = 16 hours. Over
25 days, this comes to 25 x 16 = 400 hours.

B) How many kilowatt hours were wasted? Answer: The computer was used between
3:00 PM and 9:00 PM, which is 6-hours out of the 16, so the wasted time was 10 hours
each day, or 10 x 25 = 250-hours of wasted ‘ON’ time each month.

C) If the computer runs at 350 watts, and if electricity costs 11-cents per kilowatt hour,
how much did this waste cost each month? Answer: The wasted time = 250 hours, so
the number of kilowatt hours is 0.35 kilowatts x 250 hours = 87.5 kilowatt hours. At
$0.11 per kilowatt hours, this becomes 87.5 x 0.11 = $9.63 wasted each month.

D) How many additional songs can you buy with iTunes for the wasted money each
month? Answer: At $0.99 per song, you can buy $9.63/.99 = 9 songs.

Problem 2 – The Tevatron ‘Atom Smasher’ at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois collides

particles together at nearly the speed of light to explore the innermost structure of
matter. When operating, the accelerator requires 70 megaWatts of electricity – about
the same as the power consumption of the entire town of Batavia (population: 27,000).
If an experiment, from start-up to finish, lasts 24 hours,

A) What is the Tevatron’s electricity consumption in kilowatt hours?

Answer: 70 megaWatts x (1,000 kiloWatts/1 megaWatt) = 70,000 kiloWatts.

Then 70,000 kiloWatts x 24 hours = 1,680,000 kiloWatt hours.

B) At $0.11 per kilowatt-hour, how much does one experiment cost to run? Answer:
1,680,000 kiloWatt-hrs x $0.11 / kilowatt-hr = $184,800.00

Space Math [Link]

 Energy Consumption in an Empty House! 14
Device Number Total Watts It makes sense that, when no
Aquarium 1 5 one is at home, there should be no
Telephone 4 12 electricity consumption, but that isn't
iPod Home 2 6 usually the case. Many appliances
Radio 2 6 have 'instant on' or 'standby' features,
Night Light 1 5 and an energy audit shows that this
Oven clock 1 5 can add up over time.
Microwave clock 1 5 The table to the left shows an
Kitchen lights 2 80
audit of a typical suburban home in
TV 3 12
Maryland using a power measuring
Stereo 1 4
device called a ' kill-a-watt' meter.
Computer 3 40
Total Watts = Number x watts/device

Electrical energy consumption is measured in units called kilowatt-Hours. For

example, a 100-watt bulb that is left on for 10 hours will consume 100 watts x 10
hours = 1000 watt-hours. Since 'kilo' means 1000, this energy is equal to 1 kiloWatt-
hour, which we abbreviate as 1 kWh. When you are charged each month for
electrical energy use, you are charged, not by how fast you use the energy (called a
watt) but how much electrical energy you use (the kWh). This is like charging for the
total number of gallons of water that you used to fill your swimming pool, but not how
many gallons per hour you are using in order to fill it. Let's apply the idea of the
kiloWatt-hour to a very practical problem!

Problem 1 - What is the total wattage of this house for ‘instrant-on’ appliances when
no one is at home?

Problem 2 - What is the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed by this

home during one day (24 hours)?

Problem 3 - What is the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed by this

home during one year?

Problem 4 - If electricity costs $0.11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), how much does it cost
to keep this house running at this minimum ‘instant-on’ level each year?

Problem 5 - How could this house substantially reduce its electricity consumption
cost below $80.00 each year?

Problem 6 - Using the data in the table, conduct your own daytime electricity audit
and estimate what your own dwelling costs to run in a 'stand by' mode!

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key
14
Problem 1 - What is the total wattage of this house for ‘instant-on’ appliances when no
one is at home?
Answer: Add up the number in the right-hand column of the table to get 180 watts.

Problem 2 - What is the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed by this

home during one day (24 hours)? Answer: In 24 hours, you will use 180 watts x 24
hours = 4,320 watt-hours or 4.32 kWh.

Problem 3 - What is the total number of kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed by this

home during one year? Answer: In 365 days you will use 180 x 24 x 365 = 1,577 kWh.

Problem 4 - If electricity costs $0.11 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), how much does it cost to
keep this house running at this minimum ‘instant-on’ level each year? Answer: 1,577
kWh x $0.11 = $173.47 per year.

Problem 5 - How could this house substantially reduce its electricity consumption cost
below $80.00 each year? Answer: If you shut off the kitchen lights and unplug the
computers, you will save 120 watts each hour or 120 watts x 24 hrs = 2.88 kWh each
day, or 2.88 kWh x 365 days/year = 1,051 kWh each year. This is a savings of 1,051
kWh x $0.11 = $115.61, which will bring your annual electricity consumption down to
1,577 - 1,051 = 526 kWh or just $57.86.

Problem 6 - Using the data in the table, conduct your own daytime electricity audit and
estimate what your own dwelling costs to run in a 'stand by' mode!

Answer: Students may include hot water heaters, washer and drier, air conditioning,
TV, attic fans, and other electricity-consuming devices. They may also create a
timeline that shows when devices are on or idle, and convert this into a daily, monthly,
annual electricity profile for their family. This can also be compared to electricity bills so
students can track down hidden waste.

Space Math [Link]

 Annual Electricity Consumption in a Home 15

A typical single-family home in

suburban Maryland has the monthly energy
consumption shown in the table below. The
table shows the number of kilowatt-hours
(kWh) of electricity used each month for the
years 2006, 2007 and 2008. For example, in
2007 during the month of August the house
used 1,270 kWh of electricity.

2008 2007 2006 2008 2007 2006

January 830 930 1260 July 1330 1620 1440
February 820 1090 1040 August 1110 1270 1630
March 840 950 830 September 1040 1310 1940
April 770 770 790 October 740 920 1520
May 750 810 640 November 650 830 1150
June 1160 1360 680 December 1100 1200 950

Problem 1 - What was the total amount of electrical energy used each year in
kilowatt-hours (kWh)?

Problem 2 - What was the average monthly kWh used each year?

Problem 3 - Did the annual electricity use increase, decrease or stay about the
same between 2006 - 2008?

Problem 4 - What was the rate of change in electricity consumption between

2006 and 2008?

Problem 5 - In most locations, electricity is generated from the burning of fossil

fuels such as oil, coal or natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels produces water
and carbon dioxide, which can both enter the atmosphere and contribute to
global warming. For every kWh of electrical energy that is consumed, 700
grams of carbon dioxide are also produced. For 2006, 2007 and 2008, what was
the total amount of carbon dioxide, in tons, that was produced in order to supply
the electrical energy for this house? (Note: 1 metric ton equals 1 million grams)

Problem 6: For the same home, the electrical energy use during one year is
proportioned as follows: Air Conditioning =10%, Refrigerator = 20%, Lights =
40%, and Miscellaneous Electronics (computers, radios etc) = 30% . From your
answer to Problem 5 for 2008, how many tons of carbon dioxide were produced
by each of these electrical systems?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 15
Problem 1 - What was the total amount of electrical energy used each year in kilowatt-
hours (kWh)? Answer: 2006 = 13,870 kWh; 2007 = 13,060 kWh and 2008 = 11,140
kWh.

Problem 2 - What was the average monthly kWh used each year? Answer: Divide
your answers to Problem 1 by 12 months to get 2006 = 1,156 kWh/month; 2007 =
1,088 kWh/month and 2008 = 928 kWh/month.

Problem 3 - Did the annual electricity use increase, decrease or stay about the same
between 2006 - 2008? Answer: It decreased from 13,870 kWh in 2006 to 11,140 kWh
in 2008.

Problem 4 - The rate of change is the slope defined by (y2 - y1)/(x2 - x1) = (11140 -
13870)/ (2008-2006) = -1.37 kWh/year. A negative slope means that the consumption
has decreased between 2006 and 2008. For a comparison, if you ran a 100-watt bulb
for 13 hours each year, it would equal 1.3 kWh/year, so the decrease in electrical
energy usage for this house is about equal to NOT using a 100-watt bulb for 10 hours
each year starting in 2006!

Problem 5 - In most locations, electricity is generated from the burning of fossil fuels
such as oil, coal or natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels produces water and carbon
dioxide, which can both enter the atmosphere and contribute to global warming. For
every kWh of electrical energy that is consumed, 700 grams of carbon dioxide are also
produced. For 2006, 2007 and 2008, what was the total amount of carbon dioxide, in
tons, that was produced in order to supply the electrical energy for this house? (Note: 1
metric ton equals 1 million grams)

Answer: For 2006: 13,870 kWh x 700 grams/kWh = 9.7 metric tons.
For 2007: 13,060 kWh x 700 grams/kWh = 9.1 metric tons.
For 2008: 11,140 kWh x 700 grams/kWh = 7.8 metric tons

Problem 6: For the same home, the electrical energy use during one year is
proportioned as follows: Air Conditioning = 10%, Refrigerator = 20%, Lights = 40%,
and Miscellaneous Electronics (computers, radios etc) = 30% . From your answer to
Problem 5 for 2008, how many tons of carbon dioxide were produced by each of these
electrical systems?
Answer:

Air Conditioning = 0.10 x 7.8 tons = 0.8 tons of carbon dioxide.

Refrigerator = 0.20 x 7.8 tons = 1.6 tons of carbon dioxide
Lights = 0.4 x 7.8 tons = 3.1 tons of carbon dioxide
Electronics = 0.3 x 7.8 tons = 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide Production at Home 16
A 'Carbon Footprint' calculator
found on the Internet calculates the
number of tons of carbon dioxide
generated by a family of 4 living in
suburban Maryland, driving one car
(26 mpg) for 14,000 miles each year,
Driving and taking 3 long flights and 4 short
Flying flights each year. The family recycles,
Home Energy uses energy-efficient appliances and
Food and Diet lights, and organically grown food.
Recycling The results are shown in the figure to
the left.
The household produced 50
tons of carbon dioxide each year. The
US average for such a household is
110 tons, and the world average is 22
tons/year.

In the figure, Home Energy = 24 tons; Food and Diet = 4 tons; Flying = 8
tons, Driving = 10 tons, and Recycling = 3 tons. The per-capita (per person)
carbon dioxide production for this household is 50 tons/4 people= 12 tons/year.
We can compare this with the national average of 1,600 gigatons of carbon
dioxide in a population of about 300 million people and get 53 tons/person for the
average American.

Problem 1 - Find a Carbon Footprint calculator on the Internet, and fill out the
required information for your own home. How does your per-capita carbon
production compare with the 12 tons per person each year produced by the
Maryland family in the example?

Problem 2 - A human exhales about 0.7 kilogram of carbon dioxide each day.
How much, in percentage, does the respiration from the family of four in Maryland
change the total household carbon dioxide production?

Problem 3 – What would be the easiest life-style change that the Maryland family
could make to reduce their carbon dioxide production?

Problem 4 - What is the largest contribution to your home carbon dioxide

production, and how might you consider reducing it?

Problem 5 - What would you have to do to reduce your carbon production to the
world average of 4 tons per person per year?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 16
Problem 1 - Find a Carbon Footprint calculator on the Internet, and fill out the required
information for your own home. How does your per-capita carbon production compare
with the 12 tons/year/person produced by the Maryland family in the example?

Answer: Students answers will vary depending on the calculator they used and the
detailed information they provide. Some calculators ask for much more detailed
information than others. Students might compare the answers they get from several
different calculators, and discuss which answers they had the greatest confidence in.
They might also experiment by filling in only partial information to see just how different
lifestyle issues change the results. Students may be asked to specify whether they
want the answer in terms of the tons per individual, or the tons per household. The
'per-capita' answer would be for the individual.

Problem 2 - A human exhales about 0.7 kilogram of carbon dioxide each day. How
much, in percentage, does the respiration from the family of four in Maryland change
the total household carbon dioxide production? Answer: 0.7 kg x 365 = 0.25
tons/person/year x 4 people = 1.0 tons/year for the house. This only changes our
estimate of 50 tons for the entire household by about 2 %.

Problem 3 - What would be the easiest life-style change that the Maryland family
could make to reduce their carbon dioxide production? Answer: By not taking any jet
flights, or doing so rarely, they could reduce their production by 8 tons/year or 16%.

Problem 4 - What is the largest contribution to your home carbon dioxide production,
and how might you consider reducing it? Answer: Home energy consumption,
especially if you get your electricity and heating from the combustion of fossil fuels at a
distant power plant. You can reduce it by 1) not leaving computers, TVs or lights on
when not in use, 2) By using solar panels to generate electricity; 3) By switching to an
energy supplier that uses nuclear power, wind, hydroelectric or solar generation.

Problem 5 - What would you have to do to reduce your carbon production to the world
average of 4 tons per person per year? Answer: The world average for a family of four
is 4 x 4tons/year/person = 16 tons/year per family. For example, the Maryland
household would have to reduce its 50 tons/year to 16 tons/year by reducing their
output by 34 tons/year. They would have to stop flying and driving to save 18 tons, and
would have to cut their home energy consumption from 24 tons to only 8 tons/year!

Space Math [Link]

 US Electrical Energy Consumption 17
State gWh State gWh Although a typical single-family
Alabama 143,826 Montana 28,931 home may use about 13,000 kiloWatt-
Alaska 6,821 Nebraska 32,442 hours (kWh) in one year, when you
Arizona 113,340 Nevada 32,669
multiply this by the number of homes in
Arkansas 54,596 New Hamps. 23,277
California 210,847 New Jersey 62,671
the US, and all of the industries that use
Colorado 53,907 New Mexico 35,985 electricity, the electrical energy
Connecticut 33,171 New York 145,878 consumption for a country like the United
Delaware 8,534 North Carolina 130,115 States is simply staggering!
Florida 225,416 North Dakota 31,224 According to the Department of
Georgia 145,155 Ohio 155,155 Energy, the total United States
Hawaii 11,533 Oklahoma 72,819
consumption of electrical energy during
Idaho 11,484 Oregon 55,077
Illinois 200,260 Pennsylvania 226,088 2007 was 4,154,013 gigaWatt-hours. The
Indiana 130,637 Rhode Island 7,049 state-by-state breakdown is shown in the
Iowa 49,789 South Carolina 103,402 table to the left.
Kansas 50,122 South Dakota 5,991 Because these energy units are so
Kentucky 97,225 Tennessee 95,113 enormous, we need to re-write them into a
Louisiana 92,578 Texas 405,492 simpler form by using the prefix multipliers
Maine 16,128 Utah 45,372
Maryland 50,197 Vermont 5,823
'mega;' and 'giga'. There are 1,000 kWh in
Massachusetts 47,075 Virginia 78,360 one megaWatt-hr (mWh), and 1,000 mWh
Michigan 119,309 Washington 106,990 in one gigaWatt-hour (gWh).
Minnesota 54,477 West Virginia 93,933 The example of the average, single-
Mississippi 50,043 Wisconsin 63,390 family home consumes 13,000 kWh which
Missouri 91,153 Wyoming 43,144 equals 13 mWh, or 0.013 gWh.
Source:
[Link]

Problem 1 - Which state consumes the least amount of electrical energy? Why do you
think this is so?

Problem 2 - Which state consumes the most electrical energy? Why do you think this is
so?

Problem 3 - Approximately 71% of the total US electrical energy comes from burning
fossil fuels, which produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. If 700 grams of carbon
dioxide are produced for each kilowatt-hour of electricity production from fossil fuels, how
much carbon dioxide is produced in units of A) kilograms, B) tons, C) megatons, D)
gigatons?

Problem 4 - For your state, and from the table above, how many megatons of carbon
dioxide are produced each year to generate your electricity?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 17
Problem 1 - Which state consumes the least amount of electrical energy? Why do you
think this is so?

Answer: Vermont consumes only 5,823 gigaWatt-hours of electricity. It is a sparsely

populated state with no heavy industry to require large amounts of electricity.

Problem 2 - Which state consumes the most electrical energy? Why do you think this
is so?

Answer: Texas consumes 405,498 gigaWatt-hours of electricity each year. It is a

heavily populated state with many large industries.

Problem 3 - Approximately 71 % of the total US electrical energy comes from burning

fossil fuels, which produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. If 700 grams of
carbon dioxide are produced for each kilowatt-hour of electricity production from fossil
fuels, how much carbon dioxide is produced in units of A) kilograms, B) tons, C)
megatons, D) gigatons?

A) The US gets 0.71 x 4,154,013 gigaWatt-hours = 2,900,000 gigaWatt-hours from

fossil fuels. Note that since the percentage is only known to 2 significant figures, our
answer can be rounded to this accuracy as well.

2,900,000 gWh x (1,000,000 kWh/1 gWh) = 2.9 trillion kWh.

2.9 trillion kWh x ( 0.7 kg / kWh) = 2.0 trillion kg

B) 2.0 trillion kg x (1 ton / 1,000 kg) = 2.0 billion tons.

C) 2.0 billion tons x (1 megaton/1,000,000 tons) = 2,000 megatons.

D) 2.0 billion tons x (1 gigaton/1,000,000,000 tons) = 2.0 gigatons.

Problem 4 - For your state, and from the table above, how many megatons of carbon
dioxide are produced each year to generate your electricity?

Example, for Massachusetts, 47,075 gWh = 47,075,000,000 kWh. Then

47,075,000,000 kWh x (0.7 kg/kWh) x (1 ton/1,000 kg) = 33,000,000 tons or 33
megatons.

Space Math [Link]

 World Electricity Consumption and Carbon Dioxide 18
A single-family home consumes about
13,000 kWh of electrical energy each year, and
since most of this energy is produced by burning
fossil fuels, this generates about 8 tons of carbon
dioxide each year.
On the national scale, the United States
consumes about 4.2 million gigaWatt-hours (gWh)
of electricity each year, and this generates about 2
gigatons of carbon dioxide.
On the global scale, the table to the left
shows how a selection of other countries
consumed electrical energy in 2007. The world
electrical consumption was 19 million gWh from
Country Energy (gWh) 213 countries.
USA 4,167,000
China 3,256,000 Problem 1 - The world population in 2007 was
European Union 3,256,000
Japan 1,195,000
about 6.67 billion people. If each person used
Russia 1,016,000 about the same amount of electrical energy, about
India 665,000 how many kWh per person would this be? This is
Canada 612,000 called the 'per capita' world electrical energy
Germany 594,700 usage.
France 570,000
United Kingdom 371,000 Problem 2 - The population of the US in 2007 was
Spain 294,000
South Africa 264,000
303 million people. What was the per-capita
Australia 244,000 electrical consumption for the US in kilowatt-hours?
Mexico 243,300
Taiwan 225,300
Iran 193,000 Problem 3 - The population of Rwanda in 2007
Saudi Arabia 179,000 was 66 million people. What was the per-capita
Sweden 143,000
electrical consumption for Rwanda in kilowatt-
Finland 74,000
Philippines 53,600 hours?
Iraq 37,000
Puerto Rico 24,000 Problem 4 - The amount of carbon dioxide
Cuba 18,000 produced by electricity generation is about 0.7
Zimbabwe 9,500 kilograms per kilowatt-hour. How many tons per
Guatemala 7,600 year were produced by A) An average US citizen?
Namibia 1,600
Afghanistan 840
B) A citizen of Rwanda?
Haiti 550
Greenland 300 Problem 5 - What is the total number of tons of
Somalia 280 carbon dioxide generated by the world-wide
Rwanda 130 consumption of electrical energy, assuming that
Chad 95 70% of all electrical power is produced by fossil
Tonga 40 fuel burning? Give your answer in gigatons.
Kiribati 10
Niue 4
Source: CIA World Fact Book

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 18
Problem 1 - The world population in 2007 was about 6.67 billion people. If each
person used about the same amount of electrical energy, about how many kWh would
this be? This is called the 'per capita' electrical energy usage. Answer: Dividing the
total world consumption of 19 million gWh by 6.67 billion people we get 19 million
billion Wh / 6.67 billion people = 19 million Wh/6.67 = 2.8 million Wh x (1 kWh/1,000
Wh) , or 28,000 kWh per person each year.

Problem 2 - The population of the US in 2007 was 303 million people. What was the
per-capita electrical consumption for the US? Answer: From the table, we see that the
US electrical usage was 4,167,000 gWh, so dividing this by 303 million people we get
an average consumption of

4,167,000 gWh x (1 billion watts/1 gWh) /303 million people

= (4.167 million /303 million) x 1 billion Watt-hrs
= 13.7 megaWatt-hours per person.
= 13,700,000 WattHours per person
But since 1 kWh = 1,000 Wh, we get 13.7 mWh x (1,000 kWh/1 mWh) = 13,700 kWh
per person.

Problem 3 - The population of the Rwanda in 2007 was 66 million people. What was
the per-capita electrical consumption for Rwanda in kilowatt-hours per person?
Answer: From the table, Rwanda used 130 gigaWatt-hours each year, so the per-
capita consumption is 130,000,000,000 Wh x (1 kWh/ 1000 Wh)/66 million people =
130,000,000 kWh /66,000,000 people = 2,000 kWh per person each year, rounded to
2 significant figures.

Problem 4 - The amount of carbon dioxide produced by electricity generation is about

0.7 kilograms per kilowatt-hour. How many tons per year were produced by A) An
average US citizen? B) A citizen of Rwanda? Answer; US = 13,700 kWh x (0.7
kg/1kWh) = 9.6 tons of carbon dioxide. B) 2,000 kWh x (0.7 kg/kWh) = 1.4 tons per
person.

Problem 5 - What is the total number of tons of carbon dioxide generated by the
world-wide consumption of electrical energy assuming that 70% of all electrical power
is produced by fossil fuel burning? Give your answer in gigatons. Answer: The grand
total was 19 million gWh. Now convert this to gigatons of carbon dioxide:

19 million billion Wh x ( 1 kWh/1,000 Wh) = 19 thousand billion kWh.

19 thousand billion kWh x (0.7 kg/1 kWh) = 13,300 billion kg
13,300 billion kg x (1 ton/1,000 kg) = 13.3 billion tons
or 13.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide.

Space Math [Link]

 Earth's Atmosphere 19
The International Space Station orbits
earth at an altitude of 350 kilometers, but
even at this great distance, it still flies through
a low-density atmosphere. At 120 km, the
atmosphere is dense enough to have an
effect upon re-entering space shuttles, yet by
an altitude of 11 kilometers, nearly 3/4 of the
atmospheric mass is below you!
The atmosphere consists of a large
number of gas components, only a few of the
more common ones are shown in the table.
The total mass of the atmosphere is
18
estimated to be about 5.1 x 10 kilograms.
Scientists compare the abundances of each
element in several ways.

Method 1 - In the table, neon is listed

Gas Component Fraction by Parts Per as '18 ppm' by mass, which means that for
Mass Million every million particles in the gas there are 18
Nitrogen 0.755 781,000 neon atoms.
Oxygen 0.231 209,000
Argon 0.013 9,340
Method 2 - Another way is by stating
Carbon Dioxide 0.000582 383
Neon 0.000013 18 the gas’s mass fraction. For example, if a
Helium 0.0000072 5.2 sample of the atmosphere has a mass of 100
Methane 0.0000094 1.7 kilograms, and nitrogen has a mass fraction of
Krypton 0.0000033 1.1 0.755, that means nitrogen constitutes 100 x
Hydrogen 0.000000038 0.55 0.755 = 75.5 kilograms of the sample.

Problem 1 - Suppose you have 100 kilograms of air. How many grams of carbon
dioxide will the sample contain?

Problem 2 - What is the mass of Earth's atmosphere in gigatons?

Problem 3 - What is the total mass of carbon dioxide gas in Earth's atmosphere in units
of A) kilograms? B) tons? C) gigatons?

Problem 4 - What is the total mass of methane gas in Earth's atmosphere in units of
gigatons?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 19
Problem 1 - Suppose you have 100 kilograms of air. How many grams of carbon
dioxide will the sample contain?

Answer: 100 kg x 0.000582 = 0.058 kilograms or 58 grams.

Problem 2 - What is the mass of earth's atmosphere in gigatons?

Answer: 5.1 x 1018 kilograms x (1 ton/1,000 kilograms) x (1 gigaton/109 tons) =

5,100,000 gigatons.

Problem 3 - What is the total mass of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere in units of
A) kilograms? B) tons? C) gigatons?

Answer; A) 5.1 x 1018 kilograms x 0.000582 = 3.0 x 1015 kilograms B) 1 ton = 1,000 kg
so 3.0 x 1015 kilograms/1,000 = 3.0 x 1012 tons. C) 1 gigaton = 1.0 x 109 tons so 3.0
x 1012 tons/109 = 3,000 gigatons

Problem 4 - What is the total mass of methane gas in Earth's atmosphere in units of
gigatons?

Answer: 5,100,000 gigatons x 0.0000094 = 48 gigatons.

Note to Teacher: Carbon dioxide and methane, along with water vapor, are the three
most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Although humans have little
direct control over the water vapor content, we do have measurable impacts on the
methane and carbon dioxide amounts. An important calculation for the chemistry of the
atmosphere is to convert from the volume abundance of a gas, normally cited in parts-
per-million to an equivalent number of gigatons for the gas. Here is a step-by-step
method. Let's take the very important gas, carbon dioxide.

It is usually stated as having an abundance of 383 parts per million ( 383 ppm) by
volume. This means that for a given volume of the atmosphere, every 1 million
particles sampled will have 383 molecules of carbon dioxide. We can also think of this
as if the original volume represented 100%, then carbon dioxide comprises 100% x
383/1 million = 0.0383 % of the volume. To convert this into a mass, we have to use
the fact that one-mole (6.02 x 1023 particles) of atmospheric particles has a total mass
of 28.97 grams (also called 28.97 AMU). Also, the mass of a carbon dioxide molecule,
which has 1 carbon and 2 oxygen atoms is 12 AMU + 2 x 16 AMU = 44 AMU. This
means that 1 mole of carbon dioxide will have a mass of 44 grams. So, for the
atmosphere, there are 383 carbon dioxide molecules for every 1 million air particles, so
the mass will be (44 AMU/28.97 AMU) x 383 ppm = 582 ppm of carbon dioxide by
mass. This means that for a given MASS of atmosphere 582/1million = the fraction by
mass that is carbon dioxide. Since the mass of the atmosphere is 5,100,000 gigatons,
we have 5,100,000 x 582/1 million = 2,968 gigatons of carbon dioxide, which we round
to 2 significant figures to get 3,000 gigatons.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide: Production and Sequestration 20
The concentration of carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere is a balance between
processes that produce it such as burning
fossil fuels, human respiration and forest
fires, and processes that remove it (called
sequestration) such as burying dead
leaves and plant respiration.
The picture shows a plot of
landscape measuring 1 kilometer on a
side. The green trees sequester carbon
dioxide at a rate of 1 ton per acre per year.
The bare land sequesters it at a rate of 0.2
tons per acre per year.

Problem 1 - Estimate the size of the forested (dark green) area of the picture in
square kilometers. If 1 acre is equal to 0.004 square kilometers. How many acres
are forested in this picture?

Problem 2 - Estimate the size of the de-forested, bare area of the picture in square
kilometers. How many acres have been de-forested in this picture?

Problem 3 - What is the total rate of carbon dioxide sequestration in this particular
area in terms of tons per year?

Problem 4 - A typical American home produces about 10 tons of carbon dioxide per
year. What is the net production of carbon dioxide from the area shown in this
photograph including the impact of the one house?

Problem 5 - The home owner who owns the above property, and the single house
shown in the photograph, decides to sell the de-forested area to a developer who
builds 50 houses. What is the net carbon dioxide rate?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 20
Problem 1 - Estimate the size of the green area of the picture in square kilometers .If 1
acre is equal to 0.004 square kilometers. How many acres are forested in this picture?

Answer: For an accurate value, students may grid the picture into smaller squares,
count the squares, and multiply by the area of a grid square to determine the total area
of the irregular region in green. They may also estimate that 2/3 of the area is covered
in green so the forested area is about 2/3 square km. This equals 0.66/0.004 = 165
acres.

Problem 2 - Estimate the size of the de-forested, bare area of the picture in square
kilometers. How many acres have been de-forested in this picture? Answer: Students
may estimate that about 1/3 of the picture is de-forested, so this equals 0.33 square
kilometers or 0.33/0.004 = 83 acres.

Problem 3 - What is the total rate of carbon dioxide sequestration in this particular
area in terms of tons per year?
Answer: The forest removes 1 ton per acre per year x 165 acres = 165 tons per year.
The de-forested area sequesters 0.2 tons/acre/year x 80 acres = 16 tons/year, so the
total rate is 165+16 = 181 tons/year.

Problem 4 - A typical American home produces about 10 tons of carbon dioxide per
year. What is the net production of carbon dioxide from the area shown in this
photograph including the impact of the one house? Answer: In this case, with only one
house per square kilometer, the net rate is 181 tons/year - 10 tons/year = 171
tons/year sequestered.

Problem 5 - The home owner who owns the above property, and the single house
shown in the photograph, decides to sell the de-forested area to a developer who
builds 50 houses. What is the net carbon dioxide rate?

Answer: The deforested land no longer sequesters any carbon dioxide because it has
been paved over, so the net sequestration rate is from the forested area only and is
181 tons/year. The 51 houses and families that now occupy this land each produce 10
tons of carbon dioxide each year, so the total production rate from the houses is 51 x
10 = 510 tons/year. The net carbon dioxide rate is 510 tons/year - 181 tons/year = 329
tons per year, which goes into the atmosphere.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide Increases 21
The Keeling Curve to the
left, shows the variation in
concentration of atmospheric
carbon dioxide since 1958. It is
based on continuous
measurements taken at the
Mauna Loa Observatory in
Hawaii under the supervision of
Dr. Charles Keeling of the
Scripps Institution of
Oceanography in San Diego.
Keeling's measurements
beginning in 1958, showed the
first significant evidence of rapidly
increasing carbon dioxide levels
in the atmosphere. Additional
measurements by scientists
working at NOAA have extended
the Keeling Curve from 1974-
2006.

Atmospheric scientists measure the concentration of gases in terms of parts-

per-million (ppm). One ppm = 1 particle out of 1 million particles in a sample. It also
represents a percentage: ppm/1million x 100%.

Problem 1 - In the graph, what was the concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005?

Problem 2 - What percentage of Earth's atmosphere, by volume, was carbon dioxide

gas in 2005?

Problem 3 - If a concentration of 127 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

equals a total of 1,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide (1,000 billion tons), about what
was the total mass of carbon dioxide gas in 2005?

Problem 4 - How many additional gigatons of carbon dioxide were added to the
atmosphere between 1958 and 2005?

Problem 5 - What was the average rate of increase of carbon dioxide gas in
gigatons per year between 1958 and 2005?

Problem 6 - The seasonal change in carbon dioxide is shown by the 'wavey' shape
of the line. What is the width of this wave (range from maximum to minimum) in ppm,
and about how many gigatons does this natural change correspond to?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 21
Problem 1 - In the graph, what was the concentration of carbon dioxide in 2005?
Answer: About 379 ppm.

Problem 2 - What percentage of Earth's atmosphere, by volume, was carbon dioxide

gas in 2005? Answer: 379 ppm is equal to 100% x 379/1 million = 0.0379 %

Problem 3 - If a concentration of 127 ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere equals

a total of 1,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide (1,000 billion tons), about what was the total
mass of carbon dioxide gas in 2005? Answer: (379/127) x 1,000 gigatons = 2,984
gigatons, or to 3 significant figures, 2,980 gigatons.

Problem 4 - How many additional gigatons of carbon dioxide were added to the
atmosphere between 1958 and 2005?
Answer: In 1958 the concentration was about 315 ppm, so it gained 379-315 = 64
ppm of carbon dioxide. Since 1,000 gigatons corresponds to 127 ppm, we have
(64/127) x 1,000 gigatons = 500 gigatons were added.

Problem 5 - What was the average rate of increase of carbon dioxide gas in gigatons
per year between 1958 and 2005? Answer: For the 47 years that span the time
interval, there was a 500 gigaton increase, so the rate was 500 gigatons/47 years =
11 gigatons/year.

Problem 6 - The seasonal change in carbon dioxide is shown by the 'wavey' shape of
the line. What is the width (range from maximum to minimum) of this wave in ppm, and
about how many gigatons does this natural change correspond to? Answer: Using a
metric ruler and estimating the peak to peak variation of the amplitude, students should
get about 5 ppm as the range. This equals (5 ppm/127 ppm) x 1,000 gigatons = 39
gigatons.

Space Math [Link]

 Modeling the Keeling Curve with Excel 22

This is the Keeling Curve, derived by researchers at the Mauna Kea

observatory from atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements made between
1958 and 2005. The accompanying data, in Excel spreadsheet form, for the
period between 1982 and 2008 is provided at

[Link]

Problem 1 - Based on the tabulated data, create a single mathematical model

that accounts for, both the periodic seasonal changes, and the long-term trend.

Problem 2 - Convert your function, which describes the carbon dioxide volume
concentration in parts per million (ppm), into an equivalent function that predicts
the mass of atmospheric carbon dioxide if 383 ppm (by volume) of carbon dioxide
corresponds to 3,000 gigatons.

Problem 3 - What would you predict as the carbon dioxide concentration (ppm)
and mass for the years: A) 2020? B)2050, C)2100?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 22
Data from: C. D. Keeling, S. C. Piper, R. B. Bacastow, M. Wahlen, T. P. Whorf, M. Heimann, and H. A.
Meijer, Exchanges of atmospheric CO2 and 13CO2 with the terrestrial biosphere and oceans from 1978
to 2000. I. Global aspects, SIO Reference Series, No. 01-06, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San
Diego, 88 pages, 2001. Excel data obtained from the Scripps CO2 Program website at
[Link]

Problem 1 - Answer: The general shape of the curve suggests a polynomial function of low-
order, whose amplitude is modulated by the addition of a sinusoid. The two simplest functions
that satisfy this constraint are a 'quadratic' and a 'cubic'… where 't' is the elapsed time in years
since 1982
F1 = A sin (Bt + C) + (Dt2 + Et + F) and F2 = a sin(bt + c) + (dt3 + et2 + ft + g)

We have to solve for the two sets of constants A, B, C, D , E, F and a,b,c,d,e,f,g. Using Excel
and some iterations, as an example, the constants that produce the best fits appear to be: F1:
(3.5, 6.24, -0.5, +0.0158, +1.27, 342.0) and F2: (3.5, 6.24, -0.5, +0.0012, -0.031, +1.75,
+341.0). Hint: Compute the yearly averages and fit these, then subtract this polynomial from
the actual data, and fit what is left over (the residual) with a sine function.) The plots of these
two fits are virtually identical. We will choose Fppm = F1 as the best candidate model because
it is of lowest-order. The comparison with the data is shown in the graph below: red=model,
black=monthly data. Students should be encouraged to obtain better fits.

Problem 2 - Answer: The model function gives the atmospheric carbon dioxide in ppm by
volume. So take Fppm and multiply it by the conversion factor (3,000/383) = 7.83
gigatons/ppm to get the desired function, Fco2 for the carbon mass.

Problem 3 - What would you predict as the carbon dioxide concentration (ppm), and mass for
the years: A) 2020? B)2050, C)2100? Answer:

A) t = 2020-1982 = 38, so Fco2(38) = 7.83 x 410 ppm = 3,200 gigatons

B) t = 2050-1982 = 68, so Fco2(68) = 7.83 x 502 ppm = 3,900 gigatons

C) t = 2100-1982 = 118, so Fco2(118) = 7.83 x 718 ppm = 5,600 gigatons

400
390
380
370
CO2 (ppm)

360
350
340
330
320
310
1 19 37 55 73 91 109 127 145 163 181 199 217 235 253 271 289
Months since 1982

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide - Where does it all go? 23

This diagram, provided by the US Department of Energy, shows the many

pathways that contribute to the current atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Currently, at
380 ppm, there are 3,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists
consider carbon dioxide a part of the global 'Carbon Cycle'. Since carbon dioxide, CO2,
has a mass of 44 AMU and C has a mass of 12 AMU, to get the equivalent carbon mass,
we divide the CO2 mass by (44/12) = 3.67 so that 3670 gigatons of carbon dioxide will
equal 1000 gigatons of carbon. In the above diagram, the basis for the current
atmospheric level of carbon dioxide is 775 x 3.67 = 2,800 gigatons (for a carbon dioxide
concentration of 350 ppm). The arrows give the direction of flow of the carbon in each
part of this system. The boxed numbers give the size of each reservoir of carbon. For
example, plant respiration and photosynthesis emit 60 gigatons of carbon into the
atmosphere, but removes 61.3 gigatons, so plants remove (sequester) a net of 1.3
gigatons of carbon (or 4.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere.

Problem 1 - What is the net direction of change, and magnitude, of carbon exchange
between the atmosphere and ocean?

Problem 2 - Combining all of the arrows and man-made impacts, what is the net amount
and direction of these carbon sources and sinks?

Problem 3 - Since 1850, the average rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has been about 11 gigatons/year. What is this in terms of carbon increase,
and what does this indicate about the flow diagram above?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 23
The diagram was obtained from

[Link]

Problem 1 - What is the net direction of change, and magnitude, of carbon exchange
between the atmosphere and ocean? Answer: +90 - 92 = -2 gigatons/year, so 2
gigatons/year of carbon are removed from the atmosphere. This is called sequestering.

Problem 2 - Combining all of the arrows and man-made impacts, what is the net
amount and direction of these carbon sources and sinks? Answer: 60 - 61.3 + 90 - 92
-2.2 - 1.7 + 1.4 + 6.0 = +0.2 gigatons/year of carbon are added to the [Link]
year.

Problem 3 - Since 1850, the average rate of increase of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has been about 11 gigatons/year. What is this in terms of carbon increase,
and what does this indicate about the flow diagram above?

Answer; 11/3.67 = 3 gigatons/year of carbon. From Problem 2, the net change was an
increase of 0.2 gigatons/year of carbon, and 0.2 x 3.67 = 0.7 gigatons/year of carbon
dioxide. This means that the diagram has not completely accounted for all of the
carbon increase since 1850, because an additional 2.8 gigatons/year is needed to
completely account for the rise in carbon dioxide levels during this time.

Note to Teacher: When reading about global climate change, it is very important
to keep straight the difference between a gigaton of carbon and a gigaton of carbon
dioxide. As we have seen, there is nearly a factor of four (actually 3.67) difference
between these amounts. When newspapers or the news media choose to cite such
figures, they may gloss over the difference between ‘carbon’ and ‘carbon dioxide’,
which can be confusing. Also, when graphs are published showing ‘carbon’ changes, it
is always helpful to check that the Author actually meant ‘carbon’ and not ‘carbon
dioxide’. You might challenge your students to find examples of graphs ‘on line’ where
this distinction is not clear.

Space Math [Link]

 A Simple Model for Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide 24

The graph to the left shows the 'Keeling Curve' which plots the increase in
atmospheric carbon dioxide between 1958 and 2005. The average net annual rate
implied by this curve is about 11 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year. The figure to the
right shows a simplified view of the sources and sinks of carbon on Earth. Note that, for
every 44 gigatons of the carbon dioxide molecule, there are 12 gigatons of the element
carbon.

Problem 1 - What are the sources of carbon increases to the atmosphere in the above
diagram? What are the sinks of carbon?

Problem 2 - From the values of the sources and sinks, and assuming they are constant
in time, create a simple differential equation that gives the rate-of-change of
atmospheric carbon in gigatons.

Problem 3 - Integrate the equation in Problem 2, assuming that C(2005) = 730 gigatons,
and derive A) the simple equation describing the total amount of carbon in the
atmosphere as a function of time; B) the equation for the total amount of carbon
dioxide.

Problem 4 - What does your model predict for the amount of carbon in the atmosphere
in 2050 if the above source and sink rates remain the same?

Problem 5 - If the current carbon dioxide abundance is 384 ppm, what does your model
predict for the carbon dioxide abundance in 2050?

Problem 6 - Does your answer for the net change in Problem 2 match up with the
Keeling Curve data that indicates a net annual increase of carbon dioxide of +11
gigatons/year?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 24
Problem 1 - Answer: The sources of the carbon (arrows pointed into the atmosphere in the
figure) are Vegetation (+119.6 gigatons/yr), oceans (+88 gigatons/yr), human activity (+6.3
gigatons/yr) and changing land use (+1.7 gigatons/yr). The sinks remove carbon (the arrows
pointed down in the figure) and include vegetation (-120 gigatons/yr), oceans (-90 gigatons/yr),
and changing land use (-1.9 gigatons/yr).

Problem 2 - From the values of the sources and sinks, and assuming they are constant in
time, create a simple differential equation that gives the rate-of-change of atmospheric carbon
dioxide, C(t), in gigatons.

Answer: dC(t)
------- = + 119 + 88 + 6.3 + 1.7 - 120 -90 - 1.9
dt

so d C(t)
------- = +3.1
dt

Problem 3 - Answer: C(t) = 3.1 t + a where a is the constant of integration.

Since C(2005) = 730
730 = 3.1 (2005) + a and so a = -5500
C(t) = 3.1 t - 5500. for the total element carbon.

Since 44 gigatons of carbon dioxide contain 12 gigatons of carbon, the equation for the CO2
increase is 44/12 = 3.7x C(t) so that CO2(t) = 11.5 t - 20,300

Problem 4 - What does your model predict for the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
in 2050 if the above source and sink rates remain the same?

Answer: C(2050) = 3.1 (2050) - 5500

C(2050) = 860 gigatons of carbon.

Problem 5 - If the current carbon dioxide abundance is 384 ppm, what does your model
predict for the abundance in 2050? Answer: Since we are interested in the carbon dioxide
increase we use the equation
CO2(t) = 11.4 t - 20,300
For t = 2050 we get CO2(2050) = +3070 gigatons of CO2.

Since 384 ppm corresponds to 730 gigatons of CO2, by a simple proportion, 3275 gigatons
corresponds to 384 ppm x (3070/730) = 1,600 ppm of CO2.

Problem 5 - Does your answer for the net change in Problem 2 match up with the Keeling
Curve data that indicates a net annual increase of carbon dioxide 11 gigatons/year?
Answer: Yes. The net change in Problem 2 was +3.1 gigatons/year of the element carbon.
Since for every 44 gigatons of carbon dioxide there are 12 gigatons of the element carbon, we
have + 3.1 x (44/12) = +11.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide increase, which is similar to the
annual average of the increase implied by the Keeling Curve. This means that our simple
model, based on the specified rates, provides a consistent picture of the atmospheric changes
at the present time. Note: This simple, linear, model is only valid over the time span of the
Keeling Curve.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide Increases During the Last 2000 Years. 25
This graph shows the changes in the
carbon dioxide concentration in the
atmosphere during the last 2000 years. It
was prepared by the International
Committee on Climate Change in 2008.
Atmospheric scientists measure gas
concentrations in parts-per-million (ppm),
which means there is 1 particle of a
substance for every 1 million particles of the
gas that contains it. For carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere, a value of 127 ppm would
correspond to 1,000 gigatons of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.

Problem 1 - What was the average concentration of carbon dioxide, in ppm, in the
atmosphere before the year 1800?

Problem 2 - How many gigatons did this pre-1800 concentration correspond to?

Problem 3 - About what was the rate at which the pre-1800 concentration was
changing during the period from 0 to 1800 according to the graph? Give your
estimate in ppm per year, and gigatons per year.

Problem 4 - By what amount, compared to the pre-1800 average, did the

concentration increase between 1800-2005 in ppm and gigatons?

Problem 5 - What was the annual rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide
between 1800 and 2005, in ppm/year and in gigatons/year?

Problem 6 - The world population in 1800 was 1 billion while in 2005 it was 6 billion.
From your answer to Problem 3 and 5, what was the average carbon dioxide
production per person before 1800, and in 2005 in tons per year per person?

Problem 7 - Can you explain why scientists think human activity is to blame for the
recent rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations since 1800?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 25
Problem 1 - What was the average concentration of carbon dioxide, in ppm, in the
atmosphere before the year 1800?
Answer: Students may use a ruler to draw a horizontal line that follows the average
values during this period of time. The value would be about 278 ppm.

Problem 2 - How many gigatons did this pre-1800 concentration correspond to?
Answer: (278 ppm/127 ppm) x 1,000 gigatons = 2,190 gigatons to three significant
figures.

Problem 3 - About what was the rate at which the pre-1800 concentration was
changing during the period from 0 to 1800 according to the graph? Give your estimate
in ppm per year, and gigatons per year. Answer: Students estimates will vary,
especially since the graph does not show an obvious slope. One possibility is that the
initial value is 277 ppm and the final value is 280 ppm, so the change is +3 ppm over
1800 years or 0.0017 ppm/year, or (0.0017/127) x 1,000 = 0.013 gigatons/year.

Problem 4 - By what amount, compared to the pre-1800 average, did the

concentration increase between 1800-2005 in ppm and gigatons? Answer: by 2005,
the concentration had increased to 380 ppm, for a change of 380 - 278 = 102 ppm or
(102/127) x 1000 = 800 gigatons.

Problem 5 - What was the annual rate of increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide
between 1800 and 2005, in ppm/year and in gigatons/year? Answer: for a rate of 102
ppm/205 years = 0.5 ppm/year, and (0.5/127) x 1000 = 4.0 gigatons/year.
Note, this rate of increase is 0.5/0.0017 = 294 times faster than the pre-1800
rates we can estimate.

Problem 6 - The world population in 1800 was 1 billion while in 2005 it was 6 billion.
From your answers to Problem 3 and 5, what was the average carbon dioxide
production per person before 1800, and in 2005, in tons per year per person? Answer:
In 1800, 0.01 gigatons/1 billion people or 0.01 tons per person per year. In 2005 it was
4.0 gigatons/6 billion people = 0.7 tons/person/year.

Problem 7 - Can you explain why scientists think human activity is to blame for the
recent rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations since 1800? Answer;
Students may use the result from Problem 6 to explain that before 1800 the average
person was adding only 0.01 tons/year to the atmosphere, but after the Industrial
Revolution this increased to 0.7 tons per person per year, and that the amount being
added is keeping step with the population increase on a 'per person' basis.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Dioxide Changes during the Last 400,000 years
26

The graph above shows the changes in carbon dioxide concentration

during the last 400,000 years. It was produced by measuring ice samples in
Antarctica and extracting atmospheric gases from trapped bubbles of air. The
100,000-year ice age cycle is clearly recognizable. Also shown on the graph is
the last 150 years of carbon dioxide concentration data since 1850. (Data
sources: Petit et al. 1999; Keeling and Whorf, 2004).
Atmospheric scientists measure gas concentrations in parts per million
(ppm). For every 1 million atoms or molecules of Earth's atmosphere, there are
currently about 375 molecules of carbon dioxide, so the current concentration is
375 ppm. In terms of mass, 127 ppm equals 1,000 gigatons of carbon dioxide in
the entire atmosphere of Earth.

Problem 1 - If it were not for the sharp rise in carbon dioxide after 1850, what
would you predict would have been the carbon dioxide changes during the next
100,000 years?

Problem 2 - Some people believe that the current rise in carbon dioxide is part of
a natural cycle of changes. Based on this graph, what would your reply be to this
belief?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 26
Problem 1 - If it were not for the sharp rise in carbon dioxide after 1850, what would
you predict would have been the carbon dioxide changes during the next 100,000
years?

Answer: Students may draw various extrapolations using the previous rise and fall of
Ice Age carbon dioxide concentrations as a guide. See the figure below as an
example.

Problem 2 - Some people believe that the current rise in carbon dioxide is part of a
natural cycle of changes. Based on this graph, what would your reply be to this belief?

Answer: Students may provide various answers, but from the graph of the data, there
is no evidence that in the last 400,000 years there have ever been carbon dioxide
concentrations as high as the ‘spike’ corresponding to the most recent 150 years.
There is no evidence that the current changes are part of any 'periodic' cycles in
atmospheric concentrations, even though such cycles for previous Ice Ages and
warming episodes are clearly seen in the data. The current CO2 concentration is 380
ppm and continues to increase every year, but the peaks of the previous 400,000
years of Ice Age cycles do not exceed 300 ppm! In the last 150 years, we have
modified the atmosphere’s CO2 in a way that has not been seen in the previous
400,000 years.

Space Math [Link]

 Solar Insolation Changes and the Sunspot Cycle 27

Insolation is a measure of the amount of solar energy that falls upon one square
meter of exposed surface, usually measured at the 'top' of Earth's atmosphere. This
energy increases and decreases with the season and with your latitude on Earth, being
lower in the winter and higher in the summer, and also lower at the poles and higher at
the equator. But the sun's energy output also changes during the sunspot cycle!

The figure above shows the solar power (called irradiance) and sunspot number
since January 1979 according to NOAA's National Geophysical Data Canter (NGDC).
The thin lines indicate the daily irradiance (red) and sunspot number (blue), while the
thick lines indicate the running annual average for these two parameters. The total
variation in solar irradiance is about 1.3 watts per square meter during one sunspot cycle.
This is a small change compared to the 100s of watts we experience during seasonal
and latitude differences, but it may have an impact on our climate. The solar irradiance
data obtained by the ACRIM satellite, measures the total number of watts of sunlight that
strike Earth's upper atmosphere before being absorbed by the atmosphere and ground.

Problem 1 - About what is the average value of the solar irradiance between 1978 and
2003?
Problem 2 - What appears to be the relationship between sunspot number and solar
irradiance?
Problem 3 - A homeowner built a solar electricity (photovoltaic) system on his roof in
1985 that produced 3,000 kilowatts-hours of electricity that year. Assuming that the
amount of ground-level solar power is similar to the ACRIM measurements, about how
much power did his system generate in 1989?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 27
Problem 1 - About what is the average value of the solar irradiance between 1978 and 2003?
Answer: Draw a horizontal line across the upper graph that is mid-way between the highest
and lowest points on the curve. An approximate answer would be 1366.3 watts per square
meter.

Problem 2 - What appears to be the relationship between sunspot number and solar
irradiance? Answer: When there are a lot of sunspots on the sun (called sunspot maximum)
the amount of solar radiation is higher than when there are fewer sunspots. The solar
irradiance changes follow the 11-year sunspot cycle.

Problem 3 - A homeowner built a solar electricity (photovoltaic) system on his roof in 1985 that
produced 3,000 kilowatts-hours of electricity that year. Assuming that the amount of ground-
level solar power is similar to the ACRIM measurements, about how much power did his
system generate in 1989?

Answer: In 1985, the amount of insolation was about 1365.5 watts per square meter when the
photovoltaic system was built. Because of changes in the sunspot cycle, in 1989 the insolation
increased to about 1366.5 watts per square meter. This insolation change was a factor of
1366.5/1365.5 = 1.0007. That means that by scaling, if the system was generating 3,000
kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1985, it will have generated 1.0007 x 3,000 kWh = 2 kWh more
in 1989 during sunspot maximum! That is equal to running one 60-watt bulb for about 1 day
(actually 33 hours).

Space Math [Link]

 The Solar Constant Since 1600 28

The graph above shows the solar irradiance (also called the solar constant) since
1610. Although sensitive instruments were not available back in 1600 to make these
measurements, scientists have developed many techniques to 'reconstruct' the irradiance
values using other astronomical and geophysical data. The thin line in the graph
indicates the annual solar irradiance, while the thick line shows the running average. It is
plain to see that today's values are significantly higher than in centuries past. Some
scientists feel this accounts for global warming which has also increased, mostly since
1800. The majority of scientists have concluded that solar increases only account for 1/2
of the global warming since the 1970's, and significantly less than 1/2 in the 2000s.

Problem 1 - Between 1645 and 1715, a period known as the Maunder Minimum, there
were few sunspots observed, and no 11-year sunspot cycle. It was a time of extremely
cold winters in Europe. What was the average solar insolation (Solar Constant) during
this time?

Problem 2 - What has been the average insolation during the period after 1950?

Problem 3 - What is the percent change in solar insolation between the Maunder
Minimum period and the time period after 1950?

Problem 4 - Although some global warming has been measured since 1800, the most
dramatic change in global temperatures has occurred since 1970. Based on the historical
insolation derived from solar activity cycles, why do scientists who study climate change
claim that solar changes do not account for the most recent temperature increases?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 28

Problem 1 - Between 1645 and 1715, a period known as the Maunder Minimum, there were
few sunspots observed, and no 11-year sunspot cycle. It was a time of extremely cold winters
in Europe. What was the average solar insolation (Solar Constant) during this time? Answer:
The graph shows a pronounced minimum to the insolation with a value near 1,363.4 watts per
square meter.

Problem 2 - What has been the average insolation during the period after 1950? Answer:
Estimates near 1,366 watts per square meter are acceptable based on the trend in the data.

Problem 3 - What is the percent change in solar insolation between the Maunder Minimum
period and the time period after 1950? Answer: 100% x (1,366 - 1,363.4)/1,363.4 = 0.2%
increase since the 1600s.

Problem 4 - Although some global warming has been measured since 1800, the most
dramatic change in global temperatures has occurred since 1970. Based on the historical
insolation derived from solar activity cycles, why do scientists who study climate change claim
that solar changes do not account for the most recent temperature increases?

Answer: When the historical changes in solar insolation since 1600 are compared with global
temperature changes, the significant increases measured since 1970 do not match up with the
essentially 'flat' average insolation changes since the 1950's. This suggests to scientists that at
least since 1970, solar changes have been less responsible for global temperature rise than
other factors. The most significant one that has been measured is the rise in carbon dioxide
levels due to human activity.

Teacher Note: Satellites were not available before the 1970's to accurately measure the solar
constant every year, so scientists have devised a number of 'proxies' that they think correlate
with solar insolation changes. Once these proxies are verified using satellite data, they can be
used to extrapolate how the solar constant has changed in previous decades and centuries.
The more of these proxy data bases scientists can correlate with solar insolation, the more
accurate are the extrapolations back in time for the particular quantity they are historically
studying.

For more about how scientists reconstruct solar insolation from past years, see the article by J.
Lean, "Evolution of the Sun's Spectral Irradiance Since the Maunder Minimum" published in
the Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 27, No. 16, pp. 2425-2428 on Aug. 15, 2000.

Space Math [Link]

 Scientists Track the Rising Tide 29

The graph, produced by scientists at the University of Colorado and

published in the IPCC Report-2001, shows the most recent global change in sea
level since 1880 based on a variety of tide records and satellite data. The many
colored curves show the individual tide gauge trends. The black line represents
an average of the data in each year.

Problem 1 - If you were to draw a straight line through the curve between 1920
and 2000 representing the average of the data, what would be the slope of that
line?

Problem 2 - What would be the equation of the straight line in A) Two-Point

Form? B) Point-Slope Form? C) Slope-Intercept Form?

Problem 3 - If the causes for the rise remained the same, what would you predict
for the seal level rise in A) 2050? B) 2100? C) 2150?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 29
Problem 1 - If you were to draw a straight line through the curve between 1920 and
2000 representing the average of the data, what would be the slope of that line?
Answer; See figure below. First, select any two convenient points on this line, for
example X= 1910 and Y = 0 cm (1910, +0) and X = 1980 Y= +15 cm (1980, +15). The
slope is given by m = (y2-y1)/(x2-x1) = 15 cm / 70 years = 0.21 cm/year.

Problem 2 - What would be the equation of the straight line in A) Two-Point Form? B)
Point-Slope Form? C) Slope-Intercept Form? Answer:

(y2 - y1) (15 - 0)

A) y - y1 = ------------ ( x - x1) so y - 0 = ------------------- (x - 1910)
(x2 - x1) (1980 - 1910)

B) y - y1 = m ( x - x1) so y - 0 = 0.21 (x - 1910)

C) y = 0.21 x - 0.21(1910) so y = 0.21x - 401.1

Problem 3 - If the causes for the rise remained the same, what would you predict for
the seal level rise in A) 2050? B) 2100? C) 2150? Answer:
A) y = 0.21 (2050) - 401.1 = 29.4 centimeters. (Note; this equals 12 inches)
B) y = 0.21 (2100) - 401.1 = 39.9 centimeters (Note: this equals 16 inches)
C) y = 0.21 (2150) - 401.1 = 50.4 centimeters. (Note: this equals 20 inches)

Space Math [Link]

 A Satellite View of Downtown Las Vegas 30

This QuickBird Satellite image was taken of downtown Las Vegas Nevada from an altitude of 450
kilometers. Private companies such as Digital Globe ([Link] provide images such as
this to many different customers around the world. The large building shaped like an upside-down 'Y' is the
Bellaggio Hotel at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The width of the image is 700
meters.
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
700 meters wide.

Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?

Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.

Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter. Report your answer to two significant figures.

Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.

Question 1: How long is each of the three wings of the Bellaggio Hotel in meters?
Question 2: What is the length of a car on the street in meters?
Question 3: How wide are the streets entering the main intersection?
Question 4: What is the smallest feature you can see, in meters?
Question 5: What kinds of familiar objects can you identify in this image?

Space Math [Link]

 30
Answer Key:
This QuickBird Satellite image was taken of downtown Las Vegas Nevada on October 14, 2005
from an altitude of 450 kilometers. Private companies such as Digital Globe ([Link]
provide images such as this to many different customers around the world. The large building shaped like an
upside-down 'Y' is the Bellaggio Hotel at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Flamingo Road. The width
of the image is 700 meters.

The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. In this case, we are told the field of view of the image is
700 meters wide.

Step 1: Measure the width of the image with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image?
Answer: 150 millimeters.

Step 2: Use clues in the image description to determine a physical distance or length. Convert this to
meters.
Answer: The information in the introduction says that the image is 700 meters long.

Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter.
Answer: 700 meters / 150 millimeters = 4.66 meters / millimeter. To two [Link] this becomes 4.7
meters/mm

Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.

Question 1: How long is each of the three wings of the Bellaggio Hotel in meters?
Answer: About 25 millimeters on the image or 25 mm x (4.7 meters/mm) = 120 meters.

Question 2: What is the length of a car on the street in meters?

Answer: About 1 millimeter on the image or 1 mm x 4.7 meters/mm = 4.7 meters.

Question 3: How wide are the streets entering the main intersection?
Answer: About 8 millimeters on the image or 8 mm x 4.7 meters/mm = 37 meters.

Question 4: What is the smallest feature you can see, in meters?

Answer: Some of the small dots on the roof tops are about 0.2 millimeters across which equals 1 meter.

Question 5: What kinds of familiar objects can you identify in this image?
Answer: Will vary depending on student.
1. Cars, busses
2. Swimming pools and reflecting ponds
3. Trees
4. Lane dividers
5. Shadows of people walking across the plaza to the Hotel.

Note: Ask the students to use image clues to determine the time of day (morning, afternoon, noon); Whether
it is rush-hour or not; Time of year, etc.

Space Math [Link]

 Exploring Washington, D.C. From Space! 31

This is a picture taken by International Space Station astronauts of Washington, DC, and can be
found among many other pictures at [Link] The
bridge at the bottom-center of the image is the George Mason Bridge (1) and it is 0.75 kilometers from end
to end across the main part of the Potomac River (2).
The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the
image whose separation in physical units you know. It is the most important number to determine because
without it, you don't know how big the objects in the image are!

Step 1: Measure the length of the George Mason Bridge with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is
the image of the bridge?

Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the bridge is actually 0.75 kilometers long. Convert this
number into meters.

Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.

Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.

Question 1: About what is the distance between the US Capitol Building (3) and the Washington
Monument (4)?
Question 2: About how wide are the major boulevards and roadways?
Question 3: About how wide is the Potomac River?
Question 4: How big is the smallest feature you can measure, and what do you think it is?
Question 5: How big is the area covered by this image in kilometers rounded to the nearest tenth?
Question 6: What other features can you recognize in this image?

You can use GOOGLE-Earth to help find other interesting landmarks in the image!

Space Math [Link]

 31
Answer Key:

The scale of an image is found by measuring with a ruler the distance between two points on the image
whose separation in physical units you know. It is the most important number to determine because without
it, you don't know how big the objects in the image are!

It is highly recommended that students use GOOGLE-Earth and dial-in 'Washington DC' to zoom-in on this
area in higher resolution. They can use the various tools to bring up the labels for roads, buildings and
geographic features.

Step 1: Measure the length of the Mason Bridge with a metric ruler. How many millimeters long is the image
of the bridge? Answer: 15 millimeters

Step 2: The information in the introduction says that the bridge is actually 0.75 kilometers long. Convert this
number into meters. Answer: 750 meters

Step 3: Divide your answer to Step 2 by your answer to Step 1 to get the image scale in meters per
millimeter to two significant figures.
Answer: The image scale is 50 meters/mm

Once you know the image scale, you can measure the size of any feature in the image in units of
millimeters. Then multiply it by the image scale from Step 3 to get the actual size of the feature in meters to
two significant figures.

Question 1: About what is the distance between the US Capitol Building and the Washington Monument?
Answer: 72 millimeters on the image x 50 meters/mm = 3,600 meters or 3.6 kilometers.

Question 2: About how wide are the major boulevards and roadways?
Answer: The thick black lines are about 1.0 millimeter wide or 1.0mm x 50 meters/mm = 50 meters.

Question 3: About how wide is the Potomac River?

Answer: The river banks are about 12 millimeters apart along most of the river, so their true width is 12 mm
x 50 meters/mm = 600 meters or 0.6 kilometers.

Question 4: How big is the smallest feature you can measure…and what do you think it is?
Answer: Students should be able to find many buildings that look like white spots with barely a square
shape. These would be about 1 millimeter wide or 50 meters in true physical size.

Question 5: How big is the area covered by this image in kilometers rounded to the nearest tenth?
Answer; The field is 169 millimeters by 97 millimeters which is 8.5 kilometers x 4.9 kilometers in true size.

Question 6: What other features can you recognize in this image?

Answer: Students should be able to figure out the following features without using GOOGLE:
1. Rivers and waterways
2. Large and small buildings
3. Major boulevards
4. Minor streets
5. Bridges
6. Areas with trees and plant life

Space Math [Link]

 Paris in a Different Light 32
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of
five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18, 1999, on NASA's Terra satellite
([Link] The infrared image below is of Paris taken on July 23, 2000. The
famous Seine River snakes through the image from left to right, and appears black because water is
colder than the surrounding landscape. Vegetation appears red and buildings appear blue-gray because
of the color-coding that was used to represent warm (red) and cold (blue) areas.

Problem 1 - This image is 5.6 kilometers wide. Using a metric ruler, what is the scale of the
image in meters/mm?

Problem 2 - What is the width, in meters, of; A) The Seine River? B) The traffic circle (Arc
de Triomphe)

Problem 3 - The shadow of the Eiffel Tower can be seen as the triangular spot between the
two arrows. Measure the length of the shadow indicated by the arrows, and from the solar
elevation angle of 60 degrees at the time of the photograph. Create a scaled drawing of the
tower, the shadow and the solar angle. A) From your drawing, what is the height of the Eiffel
Tower in meters? B) At what sun angle would the shadow be 311 meters long?

Space Math [Link]

 32
Answer Key
Problem 1 - This image is 5.6 kilometers wide. Using a metric ruler, what is the scale of
the image in meters/mm? Answer: The width is 140 mm, so the scale is 5600/140 = 40
meters/mm.

Problem 2 - What is the width, in meters, of

A) the Seine River? Answer: About 5 mm or 200 meters.
B) The traffic circle (Arc de Triomphe) Answer: About 7mm or 280 meters.

Problem 3 - The shadow of the Eiffel Tower can be seen in this ASTER image as the triangular
spot between the two arrows. Measure the length of the shadow indicated by the arrows, and
from the solar elevation angle of 60 degrees at the time of the photograph. Create a scaled
drawing of the tower, the shadow and the solar angle. A) From your drawing, what is the height of
the Eiffel Tower in meters? B) At what sun angle would the shadow be 311 meters long?
Answer: A) The sketch below gives this information. The length of the shadow is about 4.5 mm or
180 meters. Students may carefully draw a scaled triangle using 1cm = 10 meters, so that the
shadow (base of triangle) is 18cm long. The hypotenuse will then be 180m x (2) = 360 meters or
36 cm. The vertical side, which is the height of the Eiffel Tower will be 180 m x (3)1/2 = 180m x
1.732 = 311 meters. The actual height of the Eiffel Tower is 300 meters to the roof and 320
meters including the radio spire at its top, so the student's estimate from the shadow length is
reasonably accurate, given the resolution of the photo.
B) Answer: If the height of the tower is the same as the shadow length, the angle must be 45
degrees.
The photograph below shows a more familiar view of this historic structure. (Courtesy
[Link])

Space Math [Link]

 Glacier Retreat 33

The Eyjabakkajökull Glacier is an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap in

Iceland. It has been retreating since a major surge occurred in 1973. This true-color
Landsat-7 image shows the glacier terminus in September 2000. The light- and dark-
blue outlines show the terminus extent in 1973 and 1991, respectively.

Problem 1 - Using a metric ruler, and the conversion 1 mile = 1.61 kilometers, what is
the scale of the image in meters per millimeter?

Problem 2 - How many kilometers did the glacier retreat between A) 1973 and 1991?
B) 1991 and 2000?

Problem 3 - From your answers to Problem 2, what is the average rate of retreat in
kilometers per year between A) 1973-1991, and B) 1991 to 2000? C) Is the retreat of
the glacier speeding up or slowing down?

Problem 4 - Assume that the height of the glacier is 1000 meters. About what volume
of ice has been lost between 1973 and 1991 in cubic kilometers, assuming that the
missing ice is shaped like a wall?

Space Math [Link]

 33
Answer Key
Problem 1 - Using a metric ruler, and the conversion 1 kilometer = 0.62 miles, what is
the scale of the image in meters per millimeter? Answer; The 1-mile legend on the lower
right measures 14mm wide, and since 1 mile = 1.61 km, the scale is 1610
meters/14mm = 115 meters/mm.

Problem 2 - How many kilometers did the glacier retreat between

A) 1973 and 1991? Answer; At the head of the glacier (top end) the distance is 8 mm or
8 x 115 = 920 meters.
B) 1991 and 2000? Answer: the distance traveled is about 10mm or 10 x 115m = 1,150
meters.

Problem 3 - From your answers to Problem 2 ,what is the average rate of retreat in
kilometers per year between A) 1973-1991: 920 meters/18 years = 51 meters/year.
and B) 1991 to 2000? 1150 meters/9 years = 128 meters/year.
C) Is the retreat accelerating (speeding up or slowing down?) Answer: the retreat is
definitely speeding up (51 m/yr compared to 128 m/yr).

Problem 4 - Assume that the height of the glacier is 1000 meters. About what volume of
ice has been lost between 1973 and 1991 in cubic kilometers?

Answer: The height of the wall is 1000 meters. The width of the wall is estimated by
using the average width of the retreated ice between 1973 and 2000, which from the
photo is about (5mm + 8mm + 20 mm)/3 = 11 mm or 11 x 115 m/mm = 1,300 meters.
The length of the wall is the perimeter of the retreating ice which is about 140 mm x 115
m/mm = 16,000 meters. The volume in cubic kilometers is then 1.0km x 1.3km x 16 km
= 21 cubic kilometers!

Space Math [Link]

 Estimating Biomass Loss from a Large Fire
34

The fires in Greece during the summer of 2007 devastated large tracks of forest
and ground cover in this Mediterranean region. These before (left) and after (right)
images were taken on July 18 and September 4 by Landsat-7. The red areas show the
extent of the biomass loss from the fires.

Problem 1 - Using a metric ruler, and the conversion 1 mile = 1.61 kilometers, what is
the scale of the image in meters per millimeter?

Problem 2 - About what is the total area, in square-kilometers, of this photo of Greece
and its surroundings?

Problem 3 - About what was the land area, in square-kilometers, that was burned?

Problem 4 - What percentage of the total area was lost to the fires?

Problem 5 - Suppose that a typical forest in this region contains about 5.0 kilograms of
biomass per square meter. How many metric tons of biomass were lost during the
fires?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key
34

Problem 1 - Answer: The legend on the lower right indicates that 12 miles = 12
millimeters, so in kilometers this becomes 19.4 km /12mm = 1.6 km/mm

Problem 2 - Answer: The field on the right measures 78mm x 98mm = 125 km x 157
2
km = 19,700 km .

Problem 3 - Answer. To estimate the area of irregular regions, divide the image into a
suitable number of smaller squares, for example, 5mm on a side ( = 8 km on a side or
2
an area of 64 km ) as shown in the figure below. The full area has 13 squares across
2
and 19 squares vertically, for a total of 247 cells and a total area of 16,000 km .
Because the drawn cells are slightly irregular, we can re-calculate their average area as
2 2
19,700 km /247 cells = 80 km . The land area is covered by 173 cells for a total area of
2
173 x 80 = 13,800 km . The red areas that were burned total about 30 cells or 2,400
2
km . Students answers will vary depending on how they counted the cells. Students
may combine their counts and average them to get a more accurate estimate.

Problem 4 - Answer: 100% x 2400/13800 = 17%

2 2 2 2
Problem 5 - Answer: 5.0 kg/m x (1,000,000 m /km ) x 2,400 km = 12 billion kg or 12
million metric tons.

Space Math [Link]

 Earth - A matter of gravity! 35

The joint NASA-German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate

Experiment (GRACE) mission has created the most accurate map yet of Earth’s gravity
field. The map shows how the acceleration of gravity at Earth's surface varies from the
standard g=9.8067 meters/sec2 (32 feet/sec2) in units of milliGals. One thousand
milliGals equals 9.8067 meters/sec2, so 1 milliGal = 0.0098067 meters/sec2. In the map,
for example, an orange color means the acceleration of gravity, g, is +40 mGals larger
than 9.8067 or g= (9.8067 + 20(0.0098)) = +10.0027 meters/sec2. Regions where the
crust is dense, or rich in iron deposits, will tend to have higher than average strengths.

Problem 1 - About what is the average acceleration of gravity across the continental
United States?

Problem 2 - About where is the red 'gravity anomaly' located in the continental United
States?

Problem 3 - The period of a 1-meter pendulum in seconds, T, is given by the formula

2 2 2
T = 4π L / g where g is the acceleration of gravity in meters/sec . From the map value
for g and L = 1.0, what is T for a pendulum in: A) California? B) Hawaii? C) The middle of
the Indian Ocean?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 35
Problem 1 - About what is the average acceleration of gravity across the continental United
States?

Answer: The average color is light-blue which corresponds to about -20 milliGals or -0.020 g
2 2
which equals a difference of -0.020 x 9.8067 m/sec or -0.196 m/sec . The total acceleration
2
is then 9.8067 - 0.196 = 9.611 m/sec .

Problem 2 - About where is the red 'gravity anomaly' located in the continental United States?
Answer: The gravity anomaly is in Utah. Students may attempt a more exact answer from
scaled measurements and 'triangulation' with other geographic features in the GRACE map.

Problem 3 - The period of a 1-meter pendulum in seconds, T, is given by the formula

2 2 2
T = 4π L / g where g is the acceleration of gravity in meters/sec . From the map value for g
and L = 1.0, what is T for a pendulum in: A) California? B) Hawaii? C) The middle of the Indian
Ocean?

Answer: A) In California on the map, the average color is light-blue which corresponds to about
2
-20 milliGals or -0.020 g which equals a difference of -0.020 x 9.8067 m/sec or -0.196
2 2 2
m/sec . The total acceleration is then 9.8067 - 0.196 = 9.611 m/sec . From the formula T =
2
39.463 / g we get T = 39.463/9.611 = 4.106 and so taking the square-root we get T = 2.026
seconds.

B) Hawaii is the small red dot on the map in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The average
color is red which corresponds to about +60 milliGals or +0.060 g which equals a difference of
2 2
+0.060 x 9.8067 m/sec or +0.588 m/sec . The total acceleration is then 9.8067 + 0.588 =
2 2 2
10.395 m/sec . From the formula T = 39.463 / g so T = 39.463/10.395 = 3.796 and so taking
the square-root we get T = 1.948 seconds.

C) The average color is dark-blue which corresponds to about -60 milliGals or -0.060 g which
2 2
equals a difference of -0.060 x 9.8067 m/sec or -0.588 m/sec . The total acceleration is then
2 2 2
9.8067 - 0.588 = 9.219 m/sec . From the formula T = 39.463 / g so T = 39.463/9.219 = 4.281
and so taking the square-root we get T = 2.069 seconds.

Space Math [Link]

 Magnetic Earth and the Lithosphere 36

The map was constructed using data collected from a variety of different
spacecraft orbiting about 400 km above the Earth, including NASA’s Magsat mission and
Polar Orbiting Geophysical Observatory, the German CHAMP satellite, and the Danish
Oersted satellite. The average magnetic field of Earth's surface has a strength of 70,000
nanoTeslas and is shown as a white color in the map scaling. The map shows variations
in Earth’s surface magnetism so that a variation of +30 nanoTeslas (dark red) means an
actual surface strength of 70,000 + 30 = 70,030 nanoTeslas. The variations are related
to deposits of iron-rich ores in the lithosphere.

For the following problems, use a Mercator map of the Earth to determine latitude,
longitude coordinates and distances.

Problem 1 - About how large, in kilometers, are the magnetic anomalies that can be
detected in this map?

Problem 2 - What European country has the largest magnetic anomaly compared to the
area of the country?

Problem 3 - At about what latitude and longitude is the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly
located?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 36
Problem 1 - About how large, in kilometers, are the magnetic anomalies that can be detected
in this map? Answer: The red and blue spots are about 300 to 500 kilometers across

Problem 2 - What European country has the largest magnetic anomaly compared to the area
of the country? Answer: Norway is nearly completely covered by a magnetic anomaly with a
strength of -30 nanoTeslas. This mountainous country is known for its iron mining.

Problem 3 - At about what latitude and longitude is the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly
located? Answer: Students may estimate the latitude and longitude by comparing the anomaly
map with a conventional map that includes a coordinate grid as shown below. The
approximate location of the magnetic anomaly is indicated by the dark spot. The coordinates
are approximately Latitude = -50 degrees and Longitude = 40 degrees West. This is a
relatively barren part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Space Math [Link]

 Studying Ocean Plankton from Space 37

The purpose of the NASA Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS)

Project is to provide quantitative data on global ocean bio-optical properties to the Earth
science community. Subtle changes in ocean color signify various types and quantities of
marine phytoplankton (microscopic marine plants), the knowledge of which has both
scientific and practical applications. Since an orbiting sensor can view every square
kilometer of cloud-free ocean every 48 hours, satellite-acquired ocean color data
constitute a valuable tool for determining the abundance of ocean biota on a global scale
and can be used to assess the ocean's role in the global carbon cycle.

Problem 1 - The above map gives the concentration of phytoplankton in units of

milligrams per cubic meter of water. Near the coastline of the eastern United States, the
concentration is about 10 milligrams per cubic meter. How much plankton, in kilograms,
could you harvest by processing 1 billion gallons of seawater every day? (1 gallon equals
3.78 liters).

Problem 2 - In which areas would you most expect to find whales and other aquatic life?

Problem 3 - How far to the east of Cape Cod do fishing boats have to travel before they
encounter areas where fishing might be economically profitable?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 37
Problem 1 - The above map gives the concentration of phytoplankton in units of milligrams per
cubic meter of water. Near the coastline of the eastern United States, the concentration is
about 10 milligrams per cubic meter. How much plankton, in metric tons, could you harvest by
processing 1 billion gallons of seawater every day? (1 gallon equals 3.78 liters).

Answer: There are several approaches to this problem. First convert cubic meters to gallons,
then convert the plankton concentration to grams per gallon, then multiply by the number of
gallons and convert to metric tons.
3 3 3 3
1 m x ( 1,000,000 cm /m ) x (1 liter/1000 cm ) x (1 gallon/3.78 liters) = 265 gallons. Then
3 3
10 milligrams/m x (1 m /265 gallons) = 0.000038 grams/gallon. Then 0.000038 grams/gallon
x 1 billion gallons = 38,000 grams or 38 kilograms.

Note: One average-sized swimming pool contains about 700,000 gallons of water!

Problem 2 - In which areas would you most expect to find whales and other aquatic life?
Answer: The areas of the highest plankton concentration are coded in red. Plankton consists of
embryonic and young life forms, and whose adult forms are often co-located with the plankton.
Also, plankton is on the lowest rung of the food chain and is a major food source for aquatic
animals, so we would expect that the distribution of plankton in the ocean closely matches the
distribution pattern of living things that feed on the plankton. By measuring plankton
concentration from space, we can also measure, and keep track of, the location of various
aquatic biomes.

Problem 3 - How far to the east of Cape Cod do fishing boats have to travel before they
encounter areas where fishing might be economically profitable? Answer: From the map
below, and the scale bar that indicates '100 kilometers', we see that they have to travel about
150 to 200 kilometers to enter the densest plankton concentrations. This region is called
Georges Bank, and fishermen have to consume quite a lot of diesel fuel to get their boats out
to where they can start fishing, usually under hazardous conditions.

Space Math [Link]

 NASA Satellite 'Sees' Carbon Dioxide 38

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA's Aqua spacecraft

has been used by scientists to observe atmospheric carbon dioxide. The above map
shows the concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide in units of 'parts per million', and
range from 363 ppm (dark blue) to 380 ppm (red). The data was obtained in July 2003,
and the gas is at an altitude of 8 kilometers. The map shows that carbon dioxide is not
evenly mixed in the atmosphere, but there are regional differences that change in time.
For example, the red 'clouds' move in time and change size and shape.

Problem 1 - From the color bar, about what is the average concentration of carbon
dioxide across the globe, in ppm, not including the orange or red areas?

Problem 2 - What is the difference in ppm between your answer to Problem 1, and the
highest levels of concentration?

Problem 3 - At these altitudes, atmospheric winds generally blow from west to east (left
to right on the map). What geographic regions are nearest the highest concentrations of
carbon dioxide in this map?

Problem 4 - The average mass of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, at a concentration

2
of 1 ppm equals 15 tons per square kilometer. How many tons/km are represented by
the: A) Red color? B) Yellow color? and C) The difference between red and yellow?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 38
Problem 1 - From the color bar, about what is the average concentration of carbon dioxide
across the globe, in ppm, not including the orange or red areas?
Answer: Most of the areas are yellowish, but the rest is light blue, so according to the color
bar, the concentrations is about 375 ppm…very roughly.

Problem 2 - What is the difference in ppm between your answer to Problem 1, and the highest
levels of concentration? Answer: The darkest reds are near 382 ppm, so the difference is
about 7 ppm.

Problem 3 - At these altitudes, atmospheric winds generally blow from west to east (left to
right on the map) in the Northern Hemisphere. What geographic regions are nearest the
highest concentrations of carbon dioxide in this map? Answer: Western United States, the
East Coast of the US, and regions in the Mediterranian and mid-East, some of which are
'downwind' from Europe.

Problem 4 - The average mass of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, at a concentration of 1

2
ppm equals 15 tons per square kilometer. How many tons/km are represented by the: A)
Red color? B) Yellow color? and C) The difference between red and yellow?

Answer: A) The color bar says that red = 382 ppm so the concentration equals 382 x 15 =
2 2
5730 tons/km . B) yellow = 378 ppm so the concentration equals 378 x 15 = 5670 tons/km . C)
2
the difference is 5730 - 5670 = 60 tons/km of additional CO2.

Teacher Note: Most studies suggest that human activity add about 25 gigatons per year.
Since the NASA map represents an average over a month, we see that our very crude
estimate of 2.3 gigatons/month x 12 months = 28 gigatons/year which is close to more
detailed estimates. This similarity may, however, be accidental since certain approximations
had to be used in deriving our estimate that would not be made in the more careful studies.
Also, the satellite only observed the carbon dioxide at an altitude of 8 kilometers, not all of the
additional carbon dioxide down to sea-level.

Space Math [Link]

 Carbon Production in the US for 2002 39

The image above shows the total carbon dioxide emissions in the 48
States of the United States. The green areas represent an average annual
production rate of 6 tons/km2. The yellow areas produce about 50 tons/km2 each
year, and the red areas correspond to 450 tons/km2 produced each year. The
total US fossil fuel CO2 emissions for 2002 come to 1.6 gigatons of carbon each
year.

Problem 1 - The population, in 2002, was 280 million people. About what was the
average carbon dioxide production per person in 2002?
Problem 2 - The total area of the 48-states is about 9.8 million km2 . From the
map, estimate the fraction of the US area covered in green, yellow and red.
Based on the color scaling and the total area of the 48-states, what would be your
estimate for the total carbon dioxide production by the 48-states during 2002?
Problem 3 - From the published data for the total production, what was the
average carbon dioxide production rate per square kilometer for the 48-states?
Problem 4 - Based on the features in the map, explain how the map shows that
human activity produces most of the excess carbon dioxide generated by the
United States.

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 39
Problem 1 - The population, in 2002, was 280 million people. About what was the
average carbon dioxide production per person in 2002? Answer; 1,600 million
tons/280 million people = 5.7 tons per person per year.

2
Problem 2 - The total area of the 48-states is about 9.8 million km . From the map,
estimate the fraction of the US area covered in green, yellow and red. Based on the
color scaling and the total area of the 48-states, what would be your estimate for the
total carbon dioxide production by the 48-states during 2002?
Answer: If the students estimate the each color occupies 1/3 of the land area, they will
get
Green = 1/3 x 9.8 million km2 x 6 tons/km2 = 20 million tons;
Yellow = 1/3 x 9.8 million km2 x 50 tons/km2 = 163 million tons; and
Red = 1/3 x 9.8 million km2 x 450 tons/km2 = 1,470 million tons.
The total would be 1,653 megatons or 1.7 gigatons, which is about the same as the
published value for 2002. Students estimates from the map areas may vary.

Problem 3 - From the published data for the total production, what was the average
carbon dioxide production rate per square kilometer for the 48-states? Answer: 1,600
million tons/9.8 million km2 = 163 tons/km2.

Problem 4 - Based on the features in the map, explain how the map shows that
human activity produces most of the excess carbon dioxide generated by the United
States.

Answer: Students should note that the highest-production regions (red) show
clustering near major cities, heavily populated states, and linear features that indicate
major highways and communities adjacent to these highways.

Space Math [Link]

 Earth's Carbon Metabolism - revealed 40

NASA scientists unveiled the first consistent and continuous global

measurements of Earth’s “metabolism" based on data from the Terra and Aqua satellites.
This new measurement is called Net Primary Production because it indicates how much
carbon dioxide is taken in by vegetation during photosynthesis minus how much is given
off during respiration. The false-color map shows the rate at which plants absorbed
carbon out of the atmosphere during the years 2001 and 2002. The yellow and red areas
show the highest rates of absorption, ranging from 2 to 3 kilograms of carbon taken out of
the atmosphere per square kilometer per year. The green areas are intermediate rates,
while blue and purple shades show progressively lower productivity.

Problem 1 - According to the map, which regions are the most productive in removing
carbon from the atmosphere?

Problem 2 - Assume that the Amazon Basin has an area of 7 million square kilometers.
How many tons of carbon does it remove from the atmosphere each year?

Problem 3 - The oceans cover an area of 335 million square kilometers. What is the
average rate of carbon removal according to the map color, and how many tons of
carbon is removed by plant life on the oceans?

Problem 4 - The mass of carbon dioxide is 3.7 times more than pure carbon. How many
tons of carbon dioxide do your answers to Problem 2 and 3 represent?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 40
Problem 1 - According to the map, which regions are the most productive in removing carbon
from the atmosphere? Answer: The most productive places on Earth show up as a yellow
color on the map. These are found, in large quantities in the Amazon Basin and in Indonesia.

Problem 2 - Assume that the Amazon Basin has an area of 7 million square kilometers. How
many tons of carbon does it remove from the atmosphere each year? Answer: Its yellow color
indicates a carbon removal rate of about 2 kg per square kilometer per year, so the total
removal is 14 million kg per year. This equals 14,000 tons of carbon per year.

Problem 3 - The oceans cover an area of 335 million square kilometers. What is the average
rate of carbon removal according to the map color, and how many tons of carbon is removed
by plant life on the oceans? Answer: The average color is magenta, which corresponds to a
rate of about 0.3 kg per square kilometer per year, so the removal rate from the world's
oceans is about 0.3 x 335 million = 100 million kilograms/year or 100,000 tons/year of carbon.

Problem 4 - The mass of carbon dioxide is 3.7 times more than pure carbon. How many tons
of carbon dioxide do your answers to Problem 2 and 3 represent?

Answer: 14,000 tons of carbon/year x 3.7 = 52,000 tons/year from the Amazon Basin,
and 100,000 tons/year x 3.7 = 370,000 tons/year of carbon dioxide from the world's
oceans.

Space Math [Link]

 The International Space Station and Atmospheric Drag 41
At the present time, the International Space Station is losing about 300 feet
(90 meters) of altitude every day. Its current altitude is about 345 km after a 7.0-
km re-boost by the Automated Transfer Vehicle, Jules Vern spacecraft on June
20, 2008. The graph below shows the ISS altitude since 1999.

The drag of Earth's atmosphere causes the ISS altitude to decrease each day, and
this is accelerated during sunspot maximum (between 2000-2001) when the dense
atmosphere extends to a much higher altitude. At altitudes below about 200 km,
spacecraft orbits decay and burn up within a week.

Problem 1 - From the present trends, what do you expect the altitude of the ISS to be
between 2010 until its retirement year around 2020?

Problem 2 - Sunspot maximum will occur between 2012-2014, and we might expect a 50-
km decline in altitude during this period if the solar activity weaker than the peak in 2000,
which is currently forecasted. Including this effect, what might be the altitude of the ISS in
2020? Is the ISS in danger of atmospheric burn-up?

Problem 3 - What are the uncertainties in predicting ISS re-entry, and what strategy
would you use if you were the Program Manager for the ISS?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key
41
Problem 1 – Answer: The graph below shows several plausible linear trends depending on
which features you use as a model for the slope. The predicted altitude would be between 220
and 300 km .

Problem 2 - The graph below shows, for example, two forecasts that follow the extremes
of the general decline trend, but then assume all of the altitude loss occurred between
2012-2014 at 50 km. Note that the range of altitudes in the graph in either case is 180-260
km. This places the ISS in danger of burn-up before its retirement year in 2014.

Problem 3 - The largest uncertainty is the strength of the next solar activity (sunspot)
cycle. If it is stronger than the previous maximum between 2000-2001, the ISS altitude
losses will be even larger in 2012-2014, and the ISS will be in extreme danger of re-entry
before 2020.
The period after 2010, when the US losses access to space travel and has to rely
on Russian low-capacity shuttles, will be a critical time for the ISS, and an intensely
worrisome one for ISS managers.

Space Math [Link]

 Satellite Drag and the Hubble Space Telescope 42
The Hubble Space Telescope was never designed to operate forever. What
to do with the observatory remains a challenge for NASA once its scientific mission
is completed in ca 2012. Originally, a Space Shuttle was proposed to safely return
it to Earth, where it would be given to the National Air and Space Museum in
Washington DC. Unfortunately, after the last Servicing Mission, STS-125,
scheduled for May, 2009, no further Shuttle visits are planned. In time, the HST
orbit will decay, and the satellite will burn up in the atmosphere. The predictions for
when this will happen depend on the just how intense the next sunspot cycle will be
between 2009-2018. As solar activity increases, the upper atmosphere heats up
and expands, causing greater friction for low-orbiting satellites like HST, and a
more rapid re-entry. The curves show four re-entry scenarios. Green is with no re-
boosts at all. Brown is with one, 5-km re-boost in 2004. Blue is with one re-boost in
2009 by 18-km; Red is with one 5-km re boost in 2005 and one 18-km re-boost in
2009.

Problem 1 – The last Servicing Mission in 2009 will only extend the science
operations by another 5 years. Which scenario keeps the HST operating just long
enough to support the science goals?

Problem 2 – Once HST reaches an altitude of 400 km, with no re-boosts, about
how many weeks will remain before the satellite burns up? (Hint: Use a millimeter
ruler.)

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 42
Problem 1 – The last Servicing Mission in 2009 will only extend the science operations
by another 5 years. Which scenario keeps the HST operating just long enough to
support the science goals?

Answer: The Servicing Mission will occur in 2009. The upgrades an gyro repairs
will extend the satellite’s operations by 5 more years, so if it re-enters after 2014
it will have maximized its usefulness. This occurs in the scenario where there is
only one re-boost in 2004 and none in 2009, which is the brown curve.

Problem 2 – Once HST reaches an altitude of 400 km, with no re-boosts, about how
many weeks will remain before the satellite burns up? (Hint: Use a millimeter ruler.)

Answer: Use a millimeter ruler to determine the scale of the horizontal axis in
weeks per millimeter. For the green curve, mark the point on the curve that
corresponds to a vertical value of 400 km. Draw a line to the horizontal axis and
measure its distance from 2013 in millimeters. Convert this to weeks using the
scale factor you calculated.

“HST science lifetime could potentially be limited by HST spacecraft orbital decay. Long-
term orbit decay predictions are developed based on atmospheric models and solar flux
predictions. All contributing combinations of solar flux strength and timing are run in order
to bound the orbit decay predictions from a best case atmosphere to a worst case
("unkind") atmosphere. The predictions also consider the effects of Space Shuttle re-boost
during HST Servicing Missions. The figure shows the model results for a worst case, 2-
sigma high solar cycle (Cycle 24), followed by an early Cycle 25 of average intensity.
Figure 3 depicts four curves for various shuttle re-boost scenarios. For the case of no
further HST re-boost in any future servicing mission, the prediction is that HST will reenter
the Earth's atmosphere in late 2013 or early 2014. The HST science program will cease
approximately one year prior to re-entry due to loss of the precise attitude control
capability required for science observing, as the atmospheric drag increases. The earliest
expected end of the HST science program due to orbital decay is thus late 2012. Further
information about this topic is contained in the accompanying Hubble Fact Sheet, entitled
"HST Orbit Decay and Shuttle Re-boost." [From ‘Expected HST Science Lifetime after SM4”,
HST Program Office; July 21, 2003]

Space Math [Link]

Earth’s Rotation Changes and the Length of the Day 43
Period Age Days per Hours per
(years) year day
Current 0 365
Upper Cretaceous 70 million 370
Upper Triassic 220 million 372
Pennsylvanian 290 million 383
Mississippian 340 million 398
Upper Devonian 380 million 399
Middle Devonian 395 million 405
Lower Devonian 410 million 410
Upper Silurian 420 million 400
Middle Silurian 430 million 413
Lower Silurian 440 million 421
Upper Ordovician 450 million 414
Middle Cambrian 510 million 424
Ediacarin 600 million 417
Cryogenian 900 million 486

We learn that an 'Earth Day' is 24 hours long, and that more precisely it is
23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds long. But this hasn't always been the case.
Detailed studies of fossil shells, and the banded deposits in certain sandstones,
reveal a much different length of day in past eras! These bands in sedimentation
and shell-growth follow the lunar month and have individual bands representing
the number of days in a lunar month. By counting the number of bands,
geologists can work out the number of days in a year, and from this the number of
hours in a day when the shell was grown, or the deposits put down. The table
above shows the results of one of these studies.

Problem 1 - Complete the table by calculating the number of hours in a day

during the various geological eras. It is assumed that Earth orbits the sun at a
fixed orbital period, based on astronomical models that support this assumption.

Problem 2 - Plot the number of hours lost compared to the modern '24 hours'
value, versus the number of years before the current era.

Problem 3 - By finding the slope of a straight line through the points can you
estimate by how much the length of the day has increased in seconds per
century?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 43
Period Age Days per Hours per
(years) year day
Current 0 365 24.0
Upper Cretaceous 70 million 370 23.7
Upper Triassic 220 million 372 23.5
Pennsylvanian 290 million 383 22.9
Mississippian 340 million 398 22.0
Upper Devonian 380 million 399 22.0
Middle Devonian 395 million 405 21.6
Lower Devonian 410 million 410 21.4
Upper Silurian 420 million 400 21.9
Middle Silurian 430 million 413 21.2
Lower Silurian 440 million 421 20.8
Upper Ordovician 450 million 414 21.2
Middle Cambrian 510 million 424 20.7
Ediacarin 600 million 417 21.0
Cryogenian 900 million 486 18.0

Problem 1 - Answer; See table above. Example for last entry: 486 days implies 24
hours x (365/486) = 18.0 hours in a day.

Problem 2 - Answer; See figure below

Problem 3 - Answer: From the line indicated in the figure below, the slope of this line
is m = (y2 - y1 )/ (x2 - x1) = 6 hours / 900 million years or 0.0067 hours/million years.
Since there are 3,600 seconds/ hour and 10,000 centuries in 1 million years (Myr), this
unit conversion yields 0.0067 hr/Myr x (3600 sec/hr) x (1 Myr / 10,000 centuries) =
0.0024 seconds/century. This is normally cited as 2.4 milliseconds per century.

Space Math [Link]

 The Global Warming Debate and the Arctic Ice Cap 44

The graph above, based upon research by the National Sea Ice Data Center
(Courtesy Steve Deyo, UCAR), shows the amount of Arctic sea ice in September
(coldest Arctic month) for the years 1950-2006, based on satellite data (since 1979)
and a variety of direct submarine measurements (1950 - 1978). The blue region
indicates model forecasts based on climate models. Meanwhile, the figure on the
right shows the results of polls conducted between 2006 and 2009 of 1,500 adults
by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The graph indicates the
number of people, in all three major political parties, believing there is strong
scientific evidence that the Earth has gotten warmer over the past few decades.

Problem 1 - Based on the red curve in the sea ice graph, which gives the number
of millions of square kilometers of Arctic sea ice identified between 1950 and 2006,
what is a linear equation that models the average trend in the data between 1950-
2006?

Problem 2 - Based on the polling data, what are the three linear equations that
model the percentage of Democrats (Dem.), Independents (Ind.) and Republicans
(Rep.) who believed that strong evidence existed for global warming?

Problem 3 - From your linear model for Arctic ice cover, about what year will the
Arctic Ice Cap have lost half the sea ice that it had in 1950-1975?

Problem 4 - From your model for the polling data, by about what years will the
average American in the Pew Survey, who identifies themselves as Democrats,
Independents or Republicans, no longer believe that there is any scientific evidence
at all for global warming?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 44
Problem 1 - Based on the red curve in the graph, which gives the number of millions of square
kilometers of Arctic sea ice identified between 1950 and 2006, what is a linear equation that
models the average trend in the data between 1950-2006? Answer: The linear equation will
be of the form y = mx + b. From the graph, the y-intercept for the actual data is 8.5 million km2
for 1950. The value for 2006 is 5.5 million km2. The slope is m = (5.5 - 8.5) / (2006 - 1950) =
-0.053, so the equation is given by Y = -0.053(x-1950) + 8.5 in millions of km2.

Problem 2 - Based on the polling data, what are the three linear equations that model the
percentage of Democrats (Dem.), Independents (Ind.) and Republicans (Rep.) who believed
that strong evidence existed for global warming?
Answer:
Dems: m = (75% - 90%)/(2009-2006) = -5.0, so the model becomes
y = -5.0(x - 2006) + 90 percent ;
Ind. m = (52% - 79%)/(2009-2006) = -9.0, so the model becomes
y = -9.0(x - 2006) + 79 percent.
Rep. ; (35% - 60%)/(2009-2006) = -8.3, so the model becomes
y = -8.3(x - 2006) + 60 percent

Problem 3 - From your linear model for Arctic ice cover, about what year will the Arctic Ice
Cap have lost half the sea ice that it had in 1950-1975?
Answer: In 1950-1975 there were about 8.5 million km2 of sea ice in September. Half of this
is 4.3 million km2. Set y = 4.3 and solve for x:

Solve 4.3 = -0.053(x-1950)+ 8.5 to get

-4.2 = -0.053(x-1950)
4.2 = 0.053(x-1950)
4.2/0.053 = x-1950
79 = x - 1950
And so x = 2029. So, during the year 2029 AD there will only be half as much sea Ice in the
Arctic in September.

Note: If we use only the slope data since 1975 when the ice cover was 8.0 million km2, the
slope would be m = (5.5 - 8.0)/(2006-1975) = -0.083, and linear equation is y = - 0.083(x-
1975) + 8.0. The year when half the ice is present would then be about 2023 AD, because the
slope is steeper during the most resent 30 years. If the slope continues to steepen with time,
the year when only half the ice is present will move closer to the current year.

Problem 4 - From your model for the polling data, by about what years will the Democrats,
Independents and Republicans no longer believe that there is any scientific evidence at all for
global warming?
Answer: Solve each linear model in Problem 2 for X, given that y=0:
Democrats: 0 = -5.0(x - 2006) + 90 so x = 2024 AD.
Independents: 0 = -9.0 (x-2006) + 79 so x = 2015 AD
Republicans: 0 = - 8.3(x-2006) + 60 so x = 2013 AD.

Space Math [Link]

 The Great Gulf Oil Catastrophe of 2010 45

NASA's Terra satellite flew over the Deepwater Horizon rig's oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico on Saturday, May 1 and captured the above natural-color image of the
slick from space. The oil slick resulted from an accident at the Deepwater Horizon rig
in the Gulf of Mexico. NOAA's estimated release rate of oil spilling into the Gulf is
200,000 gallons per day since April 20 when the accident occurred.
Problem 1 – Using a metric ruler, calculate the scale of this image in kilometers/mm.
Problem 2 – What is the approximate area of this oil leak in A) square kilometers? B)
square centimeters?
Problem 3 - The estimated quantity of oil covering this area is about 2 million
gallons. If one gallon of oil has a mass of 3.0 kg, what is the surface density, S, of oil
2 2
in this patch in A) Gallons/meter ? B) kg/meter ?
3
Problem 4 – The density of crude oil is about D=850 kg/m . From your estimate for
S, what is the approximate thickness, h, of the oil layer covering the ocean water?
Problem 5 - Suppose that an average ‘oil’ molecule has a length of about 5
nanometers. About what is the average thickness of this oil layer in molecules if the
molecules are lined up end to end?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 45
Problem 1 – Using a metric ruler, calculate the scale of this image in kilometers/cm.
Answer: The ‘25km’ legend mark on the Terra image is 1.7 cm long, so the scale is
25 km / 1.7 cm = 15 km/cm.

Problem 2 – What is the approximate area of this oil leak in A) square meters? B)
square centimeters?
Answer: The oil spill is about 6 cm in diameter or 6cm x 15 km/cm = 90 km in
diameter. A) As a circle, the area is A = π (45 km)2 = 2
6,358 km or to 1 significant
2
figures A = 6,000 km .
2 2 9 2
B) A = 6,000 km x (1,000 m/1 km) so A = 6.0 x 10 m .

Problem 3 - The estimated quantity of oil covering this area is about 2 million gallons.
If one gallon of oil has a mass of 3.0 kg, what is the surface density, S, of oil in this
2 2
patch in A) Gallons/meter ? B) kg/meter ?

Answer: Mass = 2 million gallons x (3 kg/1 gallon) = 6 million kg. Then

9 2 2
A) S = 2 million gallons / 6.0 x 10 m so S = 0.0003 gallons/m .
9 2 2
B) S = 6 million kg/ 6.0 x 10 m so S = 0.001 kg/m .

3
Problem 4 – The density of crude oil is about D=850 kg/m . From your estimate for S,
what is the approximate thickness, h, of the oil layer covering the ocean water?

2 3 -6
Answer: h = S/D so h= (0.001 kg/m )/(850 kg/m ) = 1.0 x 10 meters (or 1 micron)

Problem 5 – Suppose that an average ‘oil’ molecule has a length of about 5

nanometers. About what is the average thickness of this oil layer in molecules if the
molecules are lined up end to end?
Answer: Assuming that these cylindrical molecules are stacked up vertically along
-6 -9
their maximum length, the layer is about 1.0 x 10 meters/5.0 x 10 meters = 200
molecules thick.

Space Math [Link]

Recent Events: A Perspective on Carbon Dioxide 46

On March 21, 2010 the Eyjafjalla Volcano in Iceland erupted, and the
expanding ash cloud grounded over 3,000 flights in Europe. Then on April 20, a
major oil spill began in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the preferred method for
dealing with the oil spill is to collect it using skimmers, burning it is also a common
option (see above left photo). A major concern in burning this oil is the addition of
carbon dioxide to the atmosphere during the combustion process.

Problem 1 – The Gulf Oil Spill is predicted to generate 200,000 gallons of crude
oil every day. If 50% of this is ultimately burned-off, how many tons/day of carbon
dioxide are generated if the combustion of 1 gallon of oil generates 10 kg of
carbon dioxide?

Problem 2 – Scientists have estimated that the Iceland volcano generated

15,000 tons of carbon dioxide per day, and this eruption continued for about 28
days. How many days will the Gulf Oil burn-off have to continue before its carbon
dioxide contribution equals that of the total carbon dioxide generated by the
Eyjafjalla Volcano?

Problem 3 – It has been estimated that the European aviation industry generates
344,000 tons of carbon dioxide each day. If 60% of this industry was shut down
by the ash cloud from the Eyjafjalla Volcano, how many tons of carbon dioxide
would have been produced by airline flights during the 5-day shut-down of the
industry?

Problem 4 – What can you conclude by comparing your answers to Problem 1, 2

and 3?

Space Math [Link]

 Answer Key 46
Problem 1 – The Gulf Oil Spill is predicted to generate 200,000 gallons of crude oil
every day. If 50% of this is ultimately burned-off, how many tons/day of carbon dioxide
are generated if the combustion of 1 gallon of oil generates 10 kg of carbon dioxide?

Answer: 200,000 gallons/day x (0.50) x (10 kg/ 1 gallon) = 1,000,000 kg/day or 1,000
tons/day

Problem 2 – Scientists have estimated that the Iceland volcano generated 15,000
tons of carbon dioxide per day, and this eruption continued for about 28 days. How
many days will the Gulf Oil burn-off have to continue before its carbon dioxide
contribution equals that of the total carbon dioxide generated by the Eyjafjalla
Volcano?

Answer: The volcano generated 15,000 tons/day x 28 days = 420,000 tons of CO2.
The Gulf Oil burn-off generates 1,000 tons/day, so the Gulf Oil burn-off would have to
continue for 420 days before it equaled the emission of the volcano.

Problem 3 – It has been estimated that the European aviation industry generates
344,000 tons of carbon dioxide each day. If 60% of this industry was shut down by the
ash cloud from the Eyjafjalla Volcano, how many tons of carbon dioxide would have
been produced by airline flights during the 5-day shut-down of the industry?

Answer: 344,000 tons/day x (0.6) x (5 days) = 1 million tons.

Problem 4 – What can you conclude by comparing your answers to Problem 1, 2 and
3?

Answer: The total carbon dioxide generated by the volcano is only 40% of what was
generated by the European airline industry during the time it was shut down, and the
burn-off of the oil spill will only exceed what the volcano generated if the cleanup
continues for over one year, which most experts say is very unlikely. The oil spill
cleanup is a small part of the carbon dioxide generated by aviation or by the Icelandic
volcano.

Note: Since the crude oil was destined to be burned to generate electricity, and
combusted in cars, the fact that the clean-up is producing carbon dioxide is almost
beside the point since this very same quantity of carbon dioxide would have been
generated anyway once the crude oil is used under more controlled conditions.

Space Math [Link]

 Additional Resources
GLOBE Program - International project involving millions of students who take data on
their local climate and geological conditions and publish their data in a growing,
communal data base, that can then be analyzed by students in many different ways to
explore the earth system.
[Link]

NASA Earth Observing System - a huge data base of images and scientific data
about earth together with news announcements and access to dozens of earth-orbiting
satellites dedicated to measuring the atmosphere, oceans, crust and interior from
space.
[Link]

NASA Earth Observatory -Provides an extensive collection of images, stories, and

discoveries about climate and the environment that emerge from NASA research,
including its satellite missions, in-the-field research, and climate models.
[Link]

Earth Science Picture of the Day - Every day a new image taken from satellites or
ground-based studies of a different aspect of our home planet.

[Link]

Carbon Emission Calculators - The EPA and Nature Conservancy calculators are
very detailed. The estimates for similar inputs to the forms can vary from 17 to 44 tons
total each year, for a family of 4, living in Maryland with two cars, and taking occasional
airline flights..

• US-EPA - [Link]
• Nature Conservancy - [Link]
• Carbon Fund - [Link]
• Inconvenient Truth - [Link]
• Fight Global Warming - [Link]
 A Note from the Author

Dear Teacher and Student,

It is hard to avoid the disturbing news that our environment and climate are
both changing more rapidly now than at any other time in recent history. A few nay-
sayers still maintain, against overwhelming scientific opinion, that there is no ‘global
warming’ and that what we are experiencing is just a natural consequence of solar
activity.

This book provides many of the quantitative skills your students will need to
make sense out of what has now become the on-going front- page news story of
our time. It is a story that will not go away, and the way that we approach this
subject will say much about how our future will unfold. Ultimately, the way we will
have to adjust to climate change will demand a great deal from us, and quite a few
sacrifices. Habits will have to be changed, demands for certain types of consumer
products will have to be altered, and the true long-term costs of our consumer-
based 'buy it now' economy will have to be confronted.

To think quantitatively about climate change, we will need to be fluent in

working with the two common temperature scales; Centigrade (Celsius) and
Fahrenheit. A 2-degree C global temperature change by 2100 doesn't sound like
much, but in Fahrenheit terms that's nearly 4-degrees F! We will also need to
understand the difference between watts, kilowatts and kilowatt-hours; the
difference between tons and gigatons, and between BTUs and tons of carbon
dioxide. All of these units appear in modern news stories about global warming and
human impacts upon the carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere.

It is true that our parents never had to worry about these terms, let alone
their mathematical relationships, but those days of ignoring the balances in our
environment that lead to stable climate, are now largely a thing of the past. Savvy
consumers now worry about the energy efficiency of their cars and appliances,
insulate their homes to reduce energy consumption, and have become increasingly
familiar with their ‘carbon footprint’.

To avoid the worst aspects of climate change in the future, we need to

become more educated consumers today. This math guide uses NASA satellite
resources to explore the mathematics behind living on a green, and healthy, planet.

Sincerely,

Dr. Sten Odenwald

Space Math @ NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Space Math @ NASA

Goddard Spaceflight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771
[Link]

[Link]