The Atmosphere - Chapter 1: Mechanisms of Heat Transfer Flashcards
Why are all matter said to contain thermal energy?
They all are composed of atoms or molecules in constant motion
When a substance is heated, its atoms move _______
faster
Atoms moving faster leads to a ____ in thermal energy
increase
What are we literally sensing when we determine how hot or cold something is?
The average motion of the atoms of molecules
The measure of the average motion of the atoms of molecules in a substance?
Temperature
___ is the energy that flows because of temperature differences
Heat
(Heat/cold) is transferred from (warm/cold) to (warm/cold) objects
Heat
warmer
cooler
If two temperatures are in contact, the warmer object will be cooler and the cooler object warmer until ___
they reach the same temperature
Name three mechanisms of heat transfer
Conduction
Convection
Radiation
True or false: radiation can travel through the relative emptiness of space
True
The transfer of heat through matter by molecular activity (like a metal spoon left in hot pan)
Conduction
___ are usually good conductors
metals
What is an example of a poor conductor of heat?
air
Heat gained by the lowest layer of the atmosphere from radiation or conduction is most often transferred by ___
convection
What is convection?
The transfer of heat by the movement of a mass or substance from one place to another
True or false: convection can only take place in liquids
False; it can also take place in gasses
___ motions in the atmosphere are responsible for the redistribution of heat from equatorial regions to the poles and from the surface upward
Convection
Horizontal convective motions such as winds are often called ___
advection
(Advection/Convection) often used to describe vertical motions in the atmosphere
Convection
The type of energy that can cause sunburns and much more
radiation/electromagnetic radiation
True or false: radiation requires no material to transmit it
True
What is the most important difference between electromagnetic waves
Their wavelengths from one crest to the next
Which waves have the longest wavelengths
Radio
Which waves have the shortest wavelength?
Gamma rays
What is the only portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see?
visible light
Using a prism, we can divide white light into colors of the ___
rainbow
Which color has the shortest wavelength?
Violet
Which color has the longest wavelength?
red
What is located on the spectrum next to red that we cannot see but we can detect as heat?
infrared
What are the closest invisible waves on the short violet side?
Ultraviolet rays
When any form of radiant energy is absorbed by an object, the result is an increase in _______ which causes a corresponding increase in _______
molecular motion
temperature
All objects, at whatever temperature, ____
emit radiant energy
T/F: hotter objects radiate more total energy per unit than colder ones.
true
The hotter the radiating body, the ____ the wavelength of maximum radiation
shorter
Terrestrial radiation is often called ____
long wave radiation
Solar radiation is called _____
short wave radiation
Objects that are good at absorbing radiation are good at _____
emitting radiation
