Chapter 15 Earth, Moon, and Sun

Earth's rotation takes about

24 hours

Day and night are caused by

Earth's rotation on its axis

One complete revolution of Earth around the Sun takes about

one year

The Sun and Moon seem to move across the sky each day because of Earth's ____________________ on its axis.

rotation

The Moon can be seen from Earth because ____________________ reflects off the Moon's surface.

sunlight

Any object that revolves around another object in space is called a(an) ____________________.

satellite

The Moon rotates on its axis approximately every _________________ days.

30

___________ are caused by the force of gravity from the Sun and Moon acting on Earth.

Tides

The two factors that combine to keep Earth and the moon in their orbits are

gravity and inertia

The tendency for an object in motion to remain in motion is called ____________________.

inertia

The tendency of a moving object to continue moving in a straight line or a stationary object to remain in place is called

inertia

All objects are attracted to each other by the force of

gravity

The strength of the force of gravity depends on

the masses of the objects and the distance between them

The force that pulls the Moon toward Earth is called ____________________.

gravity

The phase of the moon you see depends on

how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces Earth.

Because the moon rotates once for each revolution around Earth,

you never see the far side of the moon from Earth.

The amount of the lighted side of the moon you can see is the same during

first quarter and third quarter phase.

During what phase of the moon can a lunar eclipse occur?

full moon

When the light is on the right side of the moon the light is said to be _____________.

waxing on

After the full moon, the light starts waning away on the __________________.

right side

During which phase of the moon can a solar eclipse take place?

new moon

When are tides the highest?

When the Sun, Earth and Moon are nearly in a line

Earth has seasons because

its axis is tilted as it moves around the sun.

When the north end of Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun, North America will experience

more direct rays and longer days.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the summer solstice occurs when the sun is

farthest south.

An equinox occurs when

neither end of Earth's axis is tilted toward or away from the sun.

The times when day and night are of equal length are called ____________________.

equinoxes

During what two months do the equinoxes occur?

March, September

During which two months do the solstices occur?

June, December