science

Maclear (crater)

Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater) rather than just read about it. In short: Maclear is a lava-flooded crater on the northwest part of the Mare Tranquillitatis, a lunar mare in the eastern half of the Moon. Its diameter is 20 km.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Maclear is a lava-flooded crater on the northwest part of the Mare Tranquillitatis, a lunar mare in the eastern half of the Moon. Its diameter is 20 km. The crater is located to the southwest of the slightly larger Ross. To the southwest of Maclear is Sosigenes, while farther to the south-southeast is Arago. This impact is dated to the Imbrian period of lunar geological history. With most of its interior submerged in deposits of basaltic lava, all that remains of this crater is a narrow rim projecting above the surrounding mare. The rim is not quite circular, having a flat outward bulge along the western side. But the rim is relatively uniform in width and is not significantly eroded. The crater rim lies at the southern terminus of a rille belonging to a system that runs along the western edges of Mare Tranquillitatis. The rille system to the north of the crater is designated Rimae Maclear, while the rilles to the south-southwest are named Rimae Sosigenes. The Rimae Maclear stretches for about 100 kilometers, reaching Al-Bakri to the north along the edge of the mare. It is named after Sir Thomas Maclear, Her Majesty's astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope (Cape Town, South Africa), from 1833 to 1870.

Satellite craters By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Maclear.

References

Sources

External links

Maclear at The Moon Wiki

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Maclear (crater)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater)

In research: Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater) 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: Maclear (crater) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Impact craters on the Moon, LQ12 quadrangle, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater) in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Maclear (crater) in simple terms?

Maclear is a lava-flooded crater on the northwest part of the Mare Tranquillitatis, a lunar mare in the eastern half of the Moon. Its diameter is 20 km.

Why does Maclear (crater) 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 Maclear (crater)?

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 Maclear (crater).