chapter 1 self notes

Question 1

Water vapor into liquid water is called

Answer 1

Condensation

Question 2

Liquid water into water vapor is called

Answer 2

Evaporation

Question 3

The falling of rain or snow

Answer 3

Precipitation

Question 4

What is greenhouse effect ?

Answer 4

Trapping of heat energy close to Earth’s surface.

Question 5

What is latent heat?

Answer 5

When water vapor changes to a liquid or ice. This heat release is an important source of energy for storm development.

Question 6

Is water vapor a greenhouse gas?

Answer 6

Yes, because it strongly absorbs a portion of Earth’s outgoing radiant energy.

Question 7

What is Carbon Dioxide?

Answer 7

A natural component of the atmosphere, occupies a small (but important) percent of a volume of air, about .04 percent.

Question 8

What is the Ozone(O3)?

Answer 8

97% of O3 is found in the upper atmosphere

O3 in upper atmosphere blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV)

O3 at the surface is the primary ingredient of photochemical smog

Question 9

What are aerosols?

Answer 9

Tiny solid or liquid particles of various composition, suspended in the air.

Question 10

What is weight?

Answer 10

the force acting on an object due to gravity.

Weight= Mass X Gravity

Question 11

How is density of air determined?

Answer 11

It is determined by the masses of atoms and molecules and the amount of space between them.

Density = Mass/Volume

Question 12

What holds the Earth’s atmosphere close to the surface?

Answer 12

Gravity

Question 13

True or False

Air density is greatest at the Earth’s surface than at higher levels.

Answer 13

True

Question 14

Does air density decrease as we move up into the atmosphere?

Answer 14

Yes, because air near the surface is compressed, air density normally decreases rapidly at first , then more slowly as we move farther away from the surface.

Question 15

What is pressure?

Answer 15

Pressure = Force/Area

Question 16

What is the normal Atmospheric Pressure near sea level?

Answer 16

14.7 Lbs.

Question 17

What is air pressure?

Answer 17

The amount of weight exerted over an area of surface

Question 18

What is the Troposphere?

Answer 18

Surface to ≈ 11 km (7 mi) (36,000 ft) ave.

Contains a vast majority of the weather

Decrease in temperature with height

Question 19

Tropopause?

Answer 19

Boundary separating troposphere from stratosphere

Average height around 11 km (36,000 ft)

Marked by the bottom of an isothermal (equal temperature) layer

Breaks in Tropopause indicate the position of jet stream

Question 20

Stratosphere?

Answer 20

Temperature increases in height above the lower isothermal layer (Temperature inversion)

The inversion tends to reduce the amount of vertical motion, hence the stratosphere is a stratified layer

Although temps are increasing with height, air temps are still cold; at 30 km (18.5 mi) less than -45˚C (-49˚F)

The temperature inversion within this layer results from the presence of ozone that absorbs UV radiation from the sun

Question 21

Stratopause

Answer 21

Separates the Stratosphere from Mesosphere

Air at this level is extremely thin
99.9% of atmosphere by mass is below this level

Located at ≈ 50 km (31 mi)

Question 22

Mesosphere

Answer 22

Located at ≈ 50 to 85 km (31 to 53 mi)

% N2 and O2 is same as sea level but air is extremely thin

Air temp decreases with height because very little ozone within this layer

Temps at 85 km (53 mi) average around -90˚C
(-130˚F); lowest atmospheric temperatures reached

Question 23

Mesopause

Answer 23

Located at ≈ 85 km (53 mi)

Separates the Mesosphere from the Thermosphere

Question 24

Thermosphere

Answer 24

Called the ‘hot layer’

O2 molecules absorb energetic solar rays
The small number of molecules allows a small absorption of energy to cause a large increase in temperature

Molecules can travel over 1 km before colliding with another molecule, compared to 1/millionth of a centimeter on surface

Question 25

Exosphere

Answer 25

Top of the atmosphere, 500 km (300 mi)

Molecules can move 10 km (6 mi) before colliding with another

Lighter faster moving molecules traveling in the right direction can escape the earth’s gravitational pull

Question 26

Latitude

Answer 26

North and South

Question 27

Longitude

Answer 27

West/ East