Lecture 3

Question 0

What are the two types of circulations driven by energy from the sun?

Answer 0

Surface ocean circulation

Deep ocean circulation

Question 1

What drives motion in the ocean?

Answer 1

Earth’s motion

Energy from the sun

Question 2

Explain the steps of surface ocean circulation.

Answer 2

Energy from the sun drives temperature differentiation.
Circulation of the atmosphere= wind
Surface ocean circulation= wave, current.

Question 3

Explain the steps of deep ocean circulation.

Answer 3

Energy from the sun drives temperature difference in the water.
Warm surface water evaporates.
Salinity profile is created.
Difference in temp and salinity drives density changes; this drives deep ocean circulation.

Question 4

What is another name for deep ocean circulation?

Hint: think about what drives this circulation.

Answer 4

Thermohaline circulation

Question 5

What is downwelling?

Answer 5

The movement of water due to more dense water sinking.

Question 6

What is upwelling?

Answer 6

The movement of water due to less dense water rising.

Question 7

What is Newton’s First Law?

Answer 7

Things remain stationary or at a constant speed in one direction unless acted upon by a force.

Question 8

What is Newton’s Second Law?

Answer 8

Rate of change of momentum equals the sum of all forces (=mass * acceleration)
F = ma

Question 9

In what condition does the Newton’s Laws hold?

Answer 9

An inertial reference frame.

Question 10

In which direction does Earth rotate?

Answer 10

To the East.

Counter-clockwise from above the north pole.

Question 11

An airplane takes off from the equator toward the north pole.
Explain the velocity of the airplane in terms of vectors.

Answer 11

There are two component vectors:
1) vector pointing due north
2) vector pointing due east due to the rotation of the Earth.
Addition of these vectors results in a resulting vector pointing Northeast.

Question 12

What is Coriolis force?

Answer 12

An apparent force that gives rise to an apparent deflection of objects that are moving over the surface of the Earth without being frictionally bound to it.

Question 13

How does the Coriolis force change from the equator toward the poles?

Answer 13

The force is 0 at the equator and at a maximum at the poles.

Question 14

What is thermohaline circulation?

Answer 14

Density- driven deep circulation

Question 15

Where is the Coriolis force strongest?

Answer 15

At the poles.

Question 16

If an airplane takes off toward the N pole from the Equator, what will happen to the direction of its path in relation to the Earth?

Answer 16

The airplane will be deflected to the right (east).

Question 17

If a magical ball is thrown from the south pole toward the Equator, which way will the ball’s path be deflected?

Answer 17

To the left (west)

Question 18

In North hemisphere, which direction does the Coriolis force deflect moving objects?

Answer 18

To the right

Question 19

In South Hemisphere, which way does the Coriolis force deflect the path of a moving object?

Answer 19

To the left

Question 20

Which point on Earth travels at a faster velocity:
On the equator?
On the latitude 50°?

Answer 20

On the equator.
This is because the earth revolves as a whole, and the point on the equator has a longer distance to travel than the point closer to the pole.

Question 21

There is a moving object at the velocity of 100mph traveling toward the N pole from the Equator.
What happens to the velocity as it approaches the pole, keeping the mass of the object constant?

Answer 21

The object's velocity increases because of the conservation of angular momentum.
The distance (radius) b/w the object and the axis of the Earth decreases as the object approaches the pole; therefore, the velocity would increase!

Question 22

Which point on Earth has a greater angular (rotational) velocity:
On the equator?
On the 50°N latitude line?

Answer 22

Trick question: it’s the same!
Angular velocity is rad per unit of time. Because Earth is a solid sphere, every part of the planet rotates at the same angular velocity. It’s the actual velocity on each point that differs.