[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-426399-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-426399-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","apes-review-definitions","APES Review - Definitions","","Study-sheet definitions covering core AP Environmental Science concepts: energy and thermodynamics (first/second laws, high vs low quality energy, ionizing radiation, radioactive decay, half-life, fission and fusion), soil and water processes (humus, leaching, soil conservation, salinization, waterlogging, hydrologic cycle, watersheds, aquifers, cone of depression, saltwater intrusion), and major biogeochemical cycles (nitrogen, phosphorus, photosynthesis, aerobic respiration). Includes ecology terms (biotic/abiotic, trophic levels, succession, symbiosis) plus population and climate concepts (ENSO/La Niña, carrying capacity, natural selection, demographic transition model).",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/apes-review-definitions/426399/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/apes-review-definitions/426399.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"WPS_1786070896","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-19","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What does the first and second law of thermodynamics mean in APES?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The first law states energy is neither created nor destroyed, but can change forms. The second law states that when energy changes forms, some usable energy degrades into lower-quality energy, usually heat.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How do high-quality and low-quality energy differ?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"High-quality energy is organized and concentrated and can perform useful work (examples given include fossil fuels and nuclear). Low-quality energy is disorganized and dispersed, such as heat in the ocean or air/wind and solar energy.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What is ENSO and how does La Niña relate to it?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"ENSO is El Nino Southern Oscillation, where trade winds weaken and warm surface water moves toward South America, affecting fisheries, drought, precipitation, and hurricane frequency. La Niña is described as a “normal” year with easterly trade winds and currents pooling warm water in the western Pacific, enabling nutrient-rich upwelling off South America.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},426399,1790820994,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":101,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},549768072016,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","APES Review  \nDefinitions  \nFirst Law of Thermodynamics: energy is neither created nor destroyed, but may be converted from one form to another.  \nSecond Law of Thermodynamics: when energy is changed from one form to another, some useful energy is always degraded into lower quality energy (usually heat) .  \nIonizing radiation: radiation w/enough energy to free electrons from atoms forming ions, may cause cancer (ex. gamma, X-rays, UV) .  \nHigh Quality Energy: organized & concentrated, can perform useful work (ex. fossil fuels & nuclear) .  \nLow Quality Energy: disorganized, dispersed (ex. heat in ocean or air/wind, solar) .  \nNatural radioactive decay: unstable radioisotopes decay releasing gamma rays, alpha & beta particles (ex. Radon) .  \nHalf-life: the time it takes for 1⁄2 of the mass of a radioisotope to decay. A radioactive isotope must be stored for approximately 10 half-lives until it decays to a safe level.  \nNuclear Fission: nuclei of isotopes split apart when struck by neutrons.  \nNuclear Fusion: 2 isotopes of light elements (H) forced together at high temperatures till they fuse to form a heavier nucleus. Happens in the Sun, very difficult to accomplish on Earth, prohibitively expensive.  \nOre: a rock that contains a large enough concentration of a mineral making it profitable to mine.  \nMineral Reserve: identified deposits currently profitable to extract.  \nSurface mining: cheaper, can remove more minerals, less hazardous to workers.  \nHumus: organic, dark material remaining after decomposition by microorganisms.  \nLeaching: removal of dissolved materials from soil by water moving downwards through soil.  \nLoam: perfect agricultural soil with equal portions of sand, silt, and clay.  \nSoil Conservation Methods: conservation tillage, crop rotation, contour plowing, organic fertilizers.  \nSoil Salinization: in arid regions, water evaporates leaving salts behind. (ex. Fertile crescent, southwestern US)  \nWater Logging: water completely saturates soil starves plant roots of oxygen, rots roots  \nHydrologic Cycle Components: evaporation, transpiration, runoff, condensation, precipitation, and infiltration.  \nWatershed: all of the land that drains into a body of water.  \nAquifer: underground layers of porous rock allow water to move slowly.  \nCone of Depression: lowering of the water table around a pumping well.  \nSalt Water Intrusion: near the coast, overpumping of groundwater causes saltwater to move into the aquifer.  \nENSO: El Nino Southern Oscillation, trade winds weaken & warm surface water moves toward South America. Diminished fisheries off South America, drought in western Pacific, increased precipitation in southwestern North America, fewer Atlantic hurricanes.  \nLa Nina: “Normal” year, easterly trade winds and ocean currents pool warm water in the western Pacific, allowing upwelling of nutrient rich water off the West coast of South America.  \nNitrogen Fixation: because atmospheric N cannot be used directly by plants, it must first be converted into ammonia by bacteria.  \nAmmonification: decomposers covert organic waste into ammonia.  \nNitrification: ammonia is converted to nitrate ions (NO3- ) .  \nAssimilation: inorganic N is converted into organic molecules such as DNA/amino acids & proteins.  \nDenitrification: bacteria convert ammonia back into N.  \nPhosphorus: does not exist as a gas; released by weathering of phosphate rocks, it is a major limiting factor for plant growth. Phosphorus cycle is slow, and not atmospheric.  \nPhotosynthesis: plants convert CO2 (atmospheric carbon) into complex carbohydrates (glucose C6H 12O6) .  \nAerobic Respiration: oxygen consuming producers, consumers & decomposers break down complex organic compounds & convert C back into CO2.  \nBiotic: the living components of an ecosystem.  \nAbiotic: the nonliving components of an ecosystem.  \nProducer/Autotroph: organisms that make their own food—photosynthetic life (plants) .  \nTrophic Levels: producers → primary consumer → secondary􀒏 c","cbCaitpt7QmrFXOG","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitpt7QmrFXOG","pdf",147024,"English","# APES Review - Definitions\n## Thermodynamics, Radiation, and Nuclear Processes\n## Soil, Hydrology, and Watershed Terms\n## Climate Patterns (ENSO and La Niña)\n## Nitrogen and Phosphorus Cycles, Photosynthesis, Respiration\n## Ecology and Population Concepts","[{\"question\":\"What does the first and second law of thermodynamics mean in APES?\",\"answer\":\"The first law states energy is neither created nor destroyed, but can change forms. The second law states that when energy changes forms, some usable energy degrades into lower-quality energy, usually heat.\"},{\"question\":\"How do high-quality and low-quality energy differ?\",\"answer\":\"High-quality energy is organized and concentrated and can perform useful work (examples given include fossil fuels and nuclear). Low-quality energy is disorganized and dispersed, such as heat in the ocean or air/wind and solar energy.\"},{\"question\":\"What is ENSO and how does La Niña relate to it?\",\"answer\":\"ENSO is El Nino Southern Oscillation, where trade winds weaken and warm surface water moves toward South America, affecting fisheries, drought, precipitation, and hurricane frequency. La Niña is described as a “normal” year with easterly trade winds and currents pooling warm water in the western Pacific, enabling nutrient-rich upwelling off South America.\"}]","APES Review - Definitions | PDF",1790640451,15]