science

Loch Ericht

Loch Ericht is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Loch Ericht rather than just read about it. In short: Loch Ericht (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Eireachd) is a freshwater loch on the border between the former Perthshire, now Perth and Kinross and the former Inverness-shire, now Highlands Council areas of Scotland. It has a north-east to south-west orientation.

Key takeaways

Loch Ericht belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Loch Ericht to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loch Ericht from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loch Ericht (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Eireachd) is a freshwater loch on the border between the former Perthshire, now Perth and Kinross and the former Inverness-shire, now Highlands Council areas of Scotland. It has a north-east to south-west orientation. The village of Dalwhinnie lies at the north east end of the loch. Loch Ericht is the tenth largest freshwater lake in Scotland and has a good reputation for its trout fishing and Ferox trout. Loch Ericht occupies a major glacial breach cut through the former main Grampian divide from Ben Nevis over Ben Alder to the Cairngorms. The breach exploits the Loch Ericht Fault, a major feature of the Caledonian Orogeny, parallel to the Great Glen Fault and other NE-SW faults. The preglacial col in the former divide at Beinn Bheoil - Stob an Aonaich Mhoir is estimated by Linton to have been at 650m asl. With the loch bed being at 200m asl, ice has excavated a trench at least 450 m deep. The glacier has carried erratic boulders of Rannoch granite far down the flanks of Strath Spey. A secondary breach was cut between The Fara (Am Faireamh) and Geal Charn (Drumochter) thus beheading the Pattack catchment. The present watershed has been displaced about ten miles north-east to Dalwhinnie. The loch is part of a hydro-electric scheme and is dammed at both ends. Water flows into the northern end via the Cuaich Aqueduct. The southern end is linked to a hydro-electric power station at Loch Rannoch by a pipeline abstracting most of the flow of the 4-mile (6.4 km) long River Ericht. The low northern barrage is located on the former natural watershed, raising the natural level of the loch slightly. The reservoir volume is 230 million m3 of water with a water length of 24.4 kilometres (15.2 mi). The Corrievarkie pumped-storage hydroelectricity project is planned to hold 22 million cubic metres of water in the hills above the lake. If built, it would have a power of 600 MW for 24 hours. Loch Ericht is surrounded by a number of Munros, including Ben Alder (1,148 metres; 3,766 ft), Geal-Chàrn (1,132 metres; 3,714 ft). and the Drumochter hills on the SE side. Traditional hunting areas border the loch. These are called forests; the chief of which is Ben Alder Forest.

Mapping Loch Ericht is covered by

Ordnance Survey Explorer map 393 (1:25000) Ben Alder, Loch Ericht and Loch Laggan (ISBN 9780319239186) and Ordnance Survey Landranger map 42 (1:50000) Glen Garry and Loch Rannoch (ISBN 9780319231296).

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loch Ericht

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loch Ericht claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Loch Ericht before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Loch Ericht ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Loch Ericht

In research: Loch Ericht appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Loch Ericht in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Loch Ericht is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Freshwater lochs of Scotland, Highland (council area) geography stubs, Lochs of Highland (council area), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loch Ericht outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Loch Ericht in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loch Ericht means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Loch Ericht out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loch Ericht in simple terms?

Why does Loch Ericht matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Loch Ericht?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Loch Ericht.