Heat and Temperature

Question 1

How is temperature commonly measured in?

Answer 1

• Reference to melting point of ice and boiling point of water.

Question 2

what is heat?

Answer 2

form of energy

Question 3

what is heat measured in?

Answer 3

joules

Question 4

what is specific heat capacity?

Answer 4

the ability to store heat.

Question 5

what is solar radiation?

Answer 5

solar radiaiton is radiation from the sun which comes in the form of short wave radiation;

Question 6

what is terrestrial radiation?

Answer 6

radiation given off by the earth

Question 7

what is the balance of incoming solar radiation vs outgoing terrestrial radiation

Answer 7

while solar energy can pass through air obstructed, terrestrial radiation is trapped by water vapour, droplets and carbon dioxide and other manmade pollutants.

Question 8

What is the effect of terrestrial radiation on air temperature?
Include what happens when the surface is warm, how higher layers of warm air occur, and the four different physical processes.

Answer 8

• If the surface is warm, it’ll cause the surrounding particles to warm it with conduction.
• When warmed they expand and rise and through convection, warm higher layers of air.
• Conduction, radiation, convection and advection.

Question 9

What is an inversion?

What is an isothermal layer?

Answer 9

• Due to weather phenomena, an increase in temperature may be increased with a gain in altitude.
• An isothermal layer is when temperature remains constant with height.

Question 10

What happens if there is no incoming solar radiation?

Answer 10

earth would cool as it transmits its own terrestrial radiation, and atmosphere would progressively become colder.

Question 11

what causes the difference in surface temperature in tropical regions compared to polar regions?

Answer 11

It is due to the difference in the angles at which the sun’s rays encounter the earth’s surface.

Question 12

what causes diurnal variation in temperature?

Answer 12

the sun only shines for about half a day, so sun can warm the atmosphere during the time its shining.

Question 13

what is the pattern for temperature?

Answer 13

temperature is greatest early afternoon where max solar energy is drawn, early in the morning temp is the coldest due to no incoming solar radiation for a long time.

Question 14

What is the effect of a snowy or high albedo surface on the temperature?

Answer 14

it will have a fairly constant temperature through 24 hours

Question 15

What is the effect of a surface that absorbs solar energy (Desert) on the temperature?

Answer 15

will have the largest diurnal variation in temperature( hot in day, cold at night)

Question 16

what is the effect of wind on diurnal temperature?

Answer 16

wind tends to mix the air and results in a more constant temp is experienced.

Question 17

What happens if theres no apparent wind on heating

Answer 17

cooling is confined to the ground and the heat of air in contact with it. there’s no exchange of air between the surface layer and layers above, no transfer of heat between layers of air and temperature differences will be marked.

Question 18

what is the effect of wind on heating?

include how much the temperature can rise and what causes it

Answer 18

with no wind the air next to the ground is heated just as it was cooled before, but the difference is that heated air mixes spontaneously without wind.
can rise 1-2 degrees with no wind due to instability.

Question 19

what is convection?

Answer 19

the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat.

Question 20

what is conduction?

Answer 20

the transfer of heat from one surface to another through touch.

Question 21

what is advection?

Answer 21

the transfer of heat or matter by the flow of a fluid, especially horizontally in the atmosphere or the sea.

Question 22

what causes the temperature lapse rate?

Answer 22

lower regions of the atmosphere are warmed by advection from the surface of the earth. As we move up and away from surface temp decreases.

Question 23

what is the average lapse rate

Answer 23

2degrees per 1000ft (1.98)