PS Module 7a

Question 1

Aphelion

Answer 1

The point at which the earth is farthest from the sun

Question 2

Perihelion

Answer 2

The point at which the earth is closest to the sun

Question 3

Lines of longitude

Answer 3

Imaginary lines that run north and south across the earth

Question 4

Lines of latitude

Answer 4

Imaginary lines that run east and west across the earth

Question 5

Coriolis effect

Answer 5

The way in which the rotation of the earth bends the path of winds, sea currents, and objects that fly through different latitudes

Question 6

Air mass

Answer 6

A large body of air with relatively uniform pressure, temperature, and humidity

Question 7

Weather front

Answer 7

A boundary between two air masses

Question 8

Weather

Answer 8

The condition of the earth’s atmosphere (mostly the troposphere) at any particular time.

Question 9

Climate

Answer 9

A steady weather condition that prevails day in and day out in a particular region of creation.

Question 10

Thermal energy

Answer 10

Energy in the form of heat. Caused by the movement of particles (Kinetic). Most of the earth’s thermal energy comes from the sun.

Question 11

Uneven distribution of thermal energy

Answer 11

the idea that thermal energy is unevenly distributed due to factors that affect the thermal energy that the earth receives.

Question 12

Water vapor in the atmosphere

Answer 12

Humidity or clouds

Question 13

Cumulus clouds

Answer 13

Clouds that look like fluffy, rounded piles of cotton.

Question 14

Cumulonimbus Clouds

Answer 14

Large cumulus clouds that are usually dark at the bottom and whiter at the top.

Question 15

Cirrus clouds

Answer 15

Clouds in the troposphere which are maded of tiny ice crystals. They have a feathery appearance.

Question 16

Stratus clounds

Answer 16

Formed when a mass of warm air is lifted slowly upward, and the vapor condenses to form clouds when it reaches the higher, cooler air. This forms a flat layer of clouds relatively close to the ground.

Question 17

Nimbostratus clouds

Answer 17

Stratus clouds that turn into dark, rain producing clouds.

Question 18

Lenticular clouds

Answer 18

Clouds formed in mountainous regions where there are pockets of low pressure in the sky. These clouds usually form an oval.

Question 19

Cirrocumulus clouds

Answer 19

Clouds that have the feathery appearance of cirrus clouds because they are made of ice crystals, but they are not blown apart by the wind.

Question 20

Stratocumulus clouds

Answer 20

Stratus clouds that do not dorm a flat layer, but instead form puffs that look very similar to cumulus clouds.

Question 21

Cirrostratus clouds

Answer 21

Clouds that have the feathery appearance of cirrus clouds, but form flat layers like the stratus clouds.

Question 22

Insolation

Answer 22

Light that comes to the earth. An abbreviation for “INcoming SOLar radiATION”

Question 23

Axial tilt

Answer 23

The angle that a planet’s axis is tilted from vertical

Question 24

Distance from the sun

Answer 24

The distance of the earth’s orbit from the sun.

Question 25

Summer solstice

Answer 25

The time when the earth’s path around the sun has forced the Northern Hemisphere to start pointing directly at the sun. June 21 or 22.

Question 26

Winter solstice

Answer 26

The time when the earth’s path around the sun has forced the Southern Hemisphere to start pointing directly at the sun. December 21 or 22.

Question 27

Spring equinox

Answer 27

March 20th - The equator points directly at the sun - 12 hours of sunlight in both hemispheres.

Question 28

Autumnal equinox

Answer 28

September 22 or 23 - The equator points directly at the sun -12 hours of sunlight in both hemispheres.

Question 29

Equator

Answer 29

The imaginary line that runs directly between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of the earth.

Question 30

Prime meridian

Answer 30

An imaginary line passing through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, which marks the 0° line of longitude. This line determines east/west positions on the earth.

Question 31

Polar easterlies

Answer 31

Air currents near the North Pole.

Question 32

Sea breeze

Answer 32

Movement of air from sea to land during the day when cooler air from above the water moves over the land, forcing the heated, less dense air above the land to rise.

Question 33

Changing air temperature

Answer 33

An effect in which a loop of winds travel continuously from the pole to a latitude of about 60 degrees N and back again.

Question 34

Local winds

Answer 34

Winds that blow over short distances caused by unequal heating of Earth’s surface within a small area.

Question 35

Land breeze

Answer 35

Movement of air from land to sea at night, created when cooler, denser air from the land forces up warmer air over the sea

Question 36

Meteorologist

Answer 36

A scientist who studies weather

Question 37

Arctic air masses

Answer 37

Air masses low in humidity and cold.

Question 38

Polar air masses

Answer 38

Cold air masses that are not as cold as arctic air masses.

Question 39

Tropical air masses

Answer 39

Air masses that are warm.

Question 40

Maritime air masses

Answer 40

Air masses formed over the ocean.

Question 41

Continental air masses

Answer 41

Air masses formed over a continent.

Question 42

Maritime tropical air masses

Answer 42

Abbreviated as mT, these are warm and moist air masses that form over the ocean.

Question 43

Maritime polar air masses

Answer 43

Abbreviated as mP, air masses that are cold and moist and formed over the ocean.

Question 44

Continental tropical air masses

Answer 44

Abbreviated as cT, air masses formed over continents that are warm and dry.

Question 45

Continental polar air masses

Answer 45

Abbreviated as cP, air masses formed over continents that are cold and dry.

Question 46

Cold front

Answer 46

A front where cold air moves in under a warm air mass and lifts it up off the ground, pushing it up and away.

Question 47

Warm front

Answer 47

When a warm air mass moves into a region occupied by colder air. The warm front usually moves over a cold front, flattening the cold front.

Question 48

Stationary front

Answer 48

The result of two air masses collide and neither moves.

Question 49

Occluded front

Answer 49

The result of two air masses traveling in the same direction collide. Since cold air masses travel faster than warm air masses, it is possible for cold air masses to overtake and collide with warm air masses.