Module 3

Question 0

1c. define: barometer

Answer 0

an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure

Question 1

1a. define: Atmosphere

Answer 1

the mass of air surrounding a planet

Question 2

1b. define: atmospheric pressure

Answer 2

the pressure exerted by the atmosphere on all objects within it

Question 4

1e. define: heterosphere

Answer 4

the upper layer of earth’s atmosphere, which exists higher than 80 kilometers (50 miles) above sea level

Question 5

1g. define: stratosphere

Answer 5

the region of the atmosphere that spans altitudes of roughly 11 kilometers to 48 kilometers (30 miles)

Question 6

1h. define: mesosphere

Answer 6

the region of the atmosphere that spans altitudes of roughly 48 kilometers to 80 kilometers (50 miles)

Question 7

1i. define: jet streams

Answer 7

narrow bands of high speed winds that circle the earth, blowing from west to east

Question 8

1j. define: heat

Answer 8

energy that is transferred as a consequence of temp differences

Question 9

1l. define: thermosphere

Answer 9

the region of the atmosphere between altitudes of roughly 80 kilometers and 460 kilometers

Question 10

1k. define: temperature

Answer 10

a measure of the energy of random motion in a substance’s molecules

Question 11

1m. define: exosphere

Answer 11

the region of the atmosphere above an altitude of roughly 460 kilometers

Question 12

1n. define: ionosphere

Answer 12

the region of the atmosphere between the altitudes of roughly 65 kilometers and 330 kilometers, where the gases are ionized

Question 13

3. Two students make two different barometers. Although they are placed side by side so that they are both exposed to the same atmospheric pressure, the column of liquid in the first students barometer is significantly lower than the column of water in the second students barometer. Assuming both students made their barometers correctly, what explains the difference?

Answer 13

the students used different liquids

Question 14

2. Suppose the earth’s atmosphere contained twice the number of molecules it does today. Would atmospheric pressure be greater than, equal to, or less than it is now?

Answer 14

atmospheric pressure would be greater than it is now

Question 15

4. The average sea level value for atmospheric pressure is 14.7 pounds per square inch, which is the same as 29.9 inches of mecury. If the atmospheric pressure is 0.85 atms, which of the following values would correspond to atmospheric pressures reported in a weather report?
5. 1 inches of mercury-29.9 inches of mercury- 25.4 inches of mercury

Answer 15

an atmospheric pressure of 25.4 inches of mercury would be reported

Question 16

6. You are reading the data coming from a data-gathering balloon as it rises in the atmosphere. You have no idea what the altitude it is at, but the balloon is sending a signal from its thermometer, telling you the temperature of its surroundings. How will you know when it enters the stratosphere? How will you know when it enters the mesosphere?

Answer 16

The balloon enters the stratosphere when its temperature readings cease to decrease and begin increasing. The balloon enters the mesosphere when the temperature readings cease increasing and begin decreasing again.

Question 17

5. Two vials contain air samples taken at different altitudes. The first is composed of 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen, and 1 percent other. The second is 95 percent helium, 4 percent hydrogen, and 1 percent other. Which came from the homosphere?

Answer 17

the first one

Question 18

7. Name the three regions of the homosphere, from lowest to highest.

Answer 18

troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere

Question 19

8. Although the temp gradient changes form region to region in the homosphere, there is one gradient that stays the same. It continues to decrease as you increase in altitude, no matter where you are in the homosphere. To what gradient am I referring?

Answer 19

“amount gradient” or pressure gradient

Question 20

9. A plane is experiencing a lot of problems because of a storm in the area. Is the plane flying in the troposphere or the stratosphere?

Answer 20

troposphere

Question 21

10. A scientist has two vials of ammonia gas. She tells you that in the first vial, the gas molecules are traveling with an average sped of 1,000 miles per hour. In the second vial, they are traveling with an average speed of 1,300 miles per hour. Which vile contains the gas with the higher temperature?

Answer 21

the second gas

Question 22

11. As you are outside on a cold winter night, you begin to shiver from the cold. You companion says you are shivering from the heat. Is your companion correct? why or why not?

Answer 22

your companion is correct; heat is energy that is being transferred; the reason you are cold is that energy is being transferred from your body to the surrounding air

Question 23

12. Suppose there were a layer of carbondioxide gas in the mesosphere. What would happen to the temperature gradient in that region?

Answer 23

The temperature gradient would reverse, getting warmer near that region.

Question 24

13. Why will the ban of CFCs most likely not save or improve people’s lives?

Answer 24

A ban on CFCs will probably not save or improve peoples lives because CFCs cause a depletion of ozone only during a few months out of the year and mostly over Antarctica.

Question 25

14. Why will the ban on CFCs most likely result in the tragic loss of human life?

Answer 25

A ban on CFCs will most likey cost many lives because refridgeration, surgical sterilization and firefighting will all be less efficient, causing death by starvation, death by eating food-borne illness, death by surgical infection, and death by fire.

Question 26

15. Even though human civilization is responsible for less than 1 percent of all chlorine in the atmosphere, it is responsible for 80 percent of all ozone-destroying chlorine? Why?

Answer 26

Some kinds of human-made molecules that contain chlorine can survive the trip up to the ozone layer, while most naturally produced chlorine-containing molecules cannot.

Question 27

16. What makes it possible for CFCs to travel up to the ozone layer and begin destroying ozone?

Answer 27

the polar vortex lifts the CFCs into the ozone layer

Question 28

17. Where is the ionosphere, and what makes it useful to us?

Answer 28

The ionosphere is a strech of the atmosphere ranging from the upper mesosphere to the lower parts of the thermosphere. It is useful to us in radio communication as radio sugnals can bounce off of it to extend their range.

Question 29

1d. define: homosphere

Answer 29

the lower layer of earth’s atmosphere, which exists from ground lever to roughly 80 kilometers (50 miles) above sea level