PS Module 5

Question 1

Hydrosphere

Answer 1

The sum of all water on a planet

Question 2

Hydrologic cycle

Answer 2

The process by which water is continuously exchanged between earth’s various water sources

Question 3

Transpiration

Answer 3

Evaporation of water from plants into the atmosphere

Question 4

Condensation

Answer 4

The process by which a gas turns into a liquid

Question 5

Precipitation

Answer 5

Water falling from the atmosphere as rain, snow, sleet, or hail

Question 6

Distillation

Answer 6

Evaporation and condensation of a mixture to separate out the mixture’s individual components

Question 7

Residence time

Answer 7

The average time a given particle will stay in a given system

Question 8

Salinity

Answer 8

A measure of the mass of dissolved salt in a given mass of water

Question 9

Firn

Answer 9

A dense, icy pack of old snow

Question 10

Water table

Answer 10

The line between the water-saturated soil and the soil not saturated with water

Question 11

Percolation

Answer 11

The process by which water moves downward in the soil, toward the water table

Question 12

Adiabatic cooling

Answer 12

The cooling of a gas that happens when the gas expands with no way of getting more energy

Question 13

Cloud condensation nuclei

Answer 13

Small airborne particles that water vapor condenses on to form clouds

Question 14

The majority of the earth’s water supply

Answer 14

Saltwater (ie: Oceans)

Question 15

The majority of the earth’s freshwater supply

Answer 15

Frozen in glaciers and icebergs

Question 16

The largest source of liquid freshwater

Answer 16

Groundwater

Question 17

Ways water can enter the atmosphere in the hydrologic cycle

Answer 17

Evaporation & transpiration

Question 18

Four ways a raindrop can eventually end up in a river

Answer 18

1. Surface Runoff 2. Groundwater flow (underground) 3. Absorbed by a plant, then either transpired, condensed, or precipitated 4. Evaporation

Question 19

What hydrologic cycle process puts soil moisture into the atmosphere?

Answer 19

Transpiration

Question 20

Where would residence time be shorter: quickly-moving river or lake with no outlets?

Answer 20

The quickly-moving river

Question 21

What must a lake have in order for it to contain fresh water?

Answer 21

It must have a way to get rid of water other than just evaporation

Question 22

Why is the salinity of the ocean evidence that the earth is not billions of years old?

Answer 22

The oceans are not salty enough for the earth to be billions of years old

Question 23

Melted sea ice would taste how?

Answer 23

Salty

Question 24

Where do icebergs come from?

Answer 24

Glaciers that originate in the mountains

Question 25

Where do glaciers come from?

Answer 25

They start on mountains from snow that never completely melts in the summer

Question 26

Why would a ship captain still be worried about a collision after he steered clear of an iceberg?

Answer 26

Because 90% of the glacier is underwater and he can still hit the part underwater

Question 27

Comparing two pieces of land with the same kind of grass, and weather, but one with trees and one without, which one has a deeper water table?

Answer 27

The one with lots of trees

Question 28

If no energy is added to air, what happens to the temperature when the air expands?

Answer 28

The air will cool

Question 29

Will fog be thicker in a dusty area or one free of dust and dirt?

Answer 29

The dusty area

Question 30

What kind of cooling is responsible for most cloud formaiotn?

Answer 30

Adiabatic

Question 31

What kind of water pollution is the hardest to track back to its source?

Answer 31

Groundwater pollution because there is no accurate way to tell where the polluted groundwater came from