EVR 1001 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Carbon Fixation, Chemical Energy, Heterotroph
1 Mar 2020
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Document Summary
System - a network of interdependent components and processes with materials and energy flowing from one component of a system to the other. State variables (aka compartments) which store resources such as energy, matter, or water. Flows, or the pathways by which resources move from one state variable to another. Open systems are those that receive inputs from their surroundings and produce outputs that leave the system. Closed systems are those that exchanges no energy/matter with its surroundings. Throughput is a term used to describe matter and energy that flow into, through, and out of a system. Households vary in throughput of energy + material. Ideally, systems tend to be stable over time. When a system is in stable balance, we call it equilibrium. Systems can change, sometimes suddenly; often there are thresholds or tipping points where rapid changes suddenly occur if you pass certain limits.
