i need help in earth science. what are the answers for these questions?

Question

1.what is our atmosphere composed of? 2.what is the different between magnetic north and true north? who cares? 3.why do we have daylight and nighttime? 4.why do we have season?5.where and when in earth's orbit around the sun do the season occur?

Answer 1

First of all, try listening in class before asking dumb questions.. honestly, #3 and #4 are just sad....
1) 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other gases (wikipedia)
2) Magnetic north is where the compass points to, true north is the place where all the lines of longitude converge (exactly opposite the equator, if you understand what I'm saying) Also check out Wikipedia for details on this one.
3) Day and night are phenomena caused by the revolution of the Earth about its axis. When a certain point of the Earth is facing away from the sun, it is night, when the same point faces the sun, it is day. Just, FYI, it can be day in one part of the world and night in another.
4) Seasons are cause by the angle of the earth (about 23 degrees). When the hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, it is winter; when it is tilted towards the sun, it is summer.
5) Also, the earth orbits in an ellipse (not a circle) around the sun, when the earth is the furthest away from the sun, it is colder in both hemispheres and it is warmer in both hemispheres when it is closest to the sun. This is why the seasons are more extreme in the southern hemisphere, since their summer is when we are closest to the sun and their winter is when we are furthest away from the sun.