CH 5 Flashcards
What is temperature
It is a measure of heat.
it is related to the amount of energy in a substance.
Heat flows from where to where
from higher temperatures to lower
List the factors that affect earth’s temperature’s patterns
- latitude
- altitude
- elevation
- cloud cover
- land water
What do they use to measure outdoor temperatures?
mercury and alcohol thermometers
What areas are colder
high up in the mountains or low near the water?
Up in the mountains is colder than low near the ocean
Land-water heating difference:
the physical difference between land and water, and how they absorb heat.
Land heats and cools faster than water
Since water is transparent, what difference does it have compared to land surface?
when energy hits the soil, it is only hot on the surface, but deeper down it gets cool again like the sand in a beach. But with water if energy hits its surface, it is going to penetrate quickly and make the whole body increase in temperature
Specific heat:
The heat capacity of something
how does evaporation cause more heat?
more evaporation causes more water vaper which is easy to absorb longwave radiation so that could cause heat too
How does evaporation cause lower temperatures?
more evaporation can also cause lower temperature by the water vapor forming clouds which reflect radiation
What is the marine effect?
moderating influences of the ocean and usually occurs in locations along coastlines or on islands.
What is the continental effect?
The greater range between maximum and minimum temperatures on both a daily and a yearly basis that occurs in areas that are inland from the ocean or distant from other large water bodies
Isotherm:
a line along which there is a constant value—that connects points of equal temperature to portray the temperature pattern
What is the difference between temperature and heat?
Temperature refers to the measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a substance while heat refers to the transfer of energy between substances due to a difference in temperature
What are the 3 scales that express temperature?
Celsius, Fahrenheit, and kelvin
List the physical characteristics of land and water that produce their different responses to heating from absorption of insolation. What is the specific effect of transparency in a medium?
Water has a higher specific heat capacity than land. It needs more energy to heat than land, and therefore takes longer to heat and cool than land.
What effect does sea-surface temperature have on air temperature? Describe the negative feedback mechanism created by higher sea-surface temperatures and evaporation rates?
Heat transfer, humidity levels, weather patterns. Some negative feedback mechanisms like Increased evaporation, increased cloud cover, latent heat release, and regulating temperature extremes
