science

Loch of Tankerness

Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness rather than just read about it. In short: Loch of Tankerness is a large, lowland, freshwater loch on the Orkney mainland in Scotland. The loch is roughly triangular in shape and is shallow with a flat bottom that gradually deepens from west to east.

Key takeaways

Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Loch of Tankerness from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Loch of Tankerness is a large, lowland, freshwater loch on the Orkney mainland in Scotland. The loch is roughly triangular in shape and is shallow with a flat bottom that gradually deepens from west to east. It lies approximately 4 mi (6.4 km) southeast of Kirkwall.

Archaeology and history The remains of a broch stand on a short promontory on the southwest shore. It is thought that the broch is the Howie of the Manse. At the edge of the loch, on the eastern shore, is a burnt mound. Beside the mound is a Bronze Age structure that is presumed to be a house. It is in the form of erect slabs and a slab floor, forming an oval plan. When the loch's water level dropped during the drought of 1980, the house was further exposed and recorded. At that time archaeological artefacts were retrieved from the loch including the point of an early plough. On the eastern shore is a filter room and pump house. It was originally built in the late 19th century and powered by an oil engine. The engine was replaced in the 1940s with a windpump.

Wildlife The Greenland white-fronted goose is occasionally seen on the loch. In 1960s 50-100 geese were regularly found there in the winter but there has been a sharp decline in numbers since 1974/75 probably as a result of reclamation of moorland and an increase in shooting in the area. The decline at this site matches an increase in the size of the wintering flock on Stronsay.

Survey The loch was surveyed in 1903 by R.C. Marshall and later charted as part of the Sir John Murray's Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland 1897-1909.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Loch of Tankerness

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness

In research: Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Brochs in Orkney, Freshwater lochs of Scotland, Lakes of Orkney, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Loch of Tankerness in simple terms?

Why does Loch of Tankerness 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 of Tankerness?

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 of Tankerness.