Understanding Weather

Question 1

cloud

Answer 1

a collection of water droplets or ice crystals in the atmosphere

Question 2

evapotranspiration

Answer 2

the process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.

Question 3

precipitation

Answer 3

rain, snow, sleet, or hail that falls to the ground.

Question 4

condensation

Answer 4

the conversion of a vapor or gas to a liquid.

Question 5

evaporation

Answer 5

the process of turning from liquid into vapor.

Question 6

atmosphere

Answer 6

the layers of gases that surround a planet

Question 7

water cycle

Answer 7

the cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and land

Question 8

troposphere

Answer 8

the lowermost layer of Earth’s atmosphere in which most weather occurs

Question 9

phase change

Answer 9

a change from one state of matter (solid, liquid, gas) to another without a change in chemical composition

Question 10

stratus cloud

Answer 10

a low-lying cloud characterized by a thin, layered, sheet-like appearance

Question 11

saturation

Answer 11

the state at which a solution holds the maximum amount of solute it is capable of dissolving

Question 12

dew point

Answer 12

the temperature at which water vapor in the air condenses into water

Question 13

absolute humidity

Answer 13

a measure of the water content of air, expressed as the mass of water for a given volume of air

Question 14

relative humidity

Answer 14

the ratio of the amount of water in the air to the amount of water the air can hold

Question 15

adiabatic cooling

Answer 15

occurs when the temperature of an air mass decreases as a result of the expansion of the air mass as it rises

Question 16

advective cooling

Answer 16

occurs when the temperature of an air mass decreases as a result of the horizontal movement of the air mass over a cool surface

Question 17

stratosphere

Answer 17

the layer of Earth’s atmosphere located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere

Question 18

air mass

Answer 18

A large volume of air that has fairly uniform properties throughout, such as temperature and moisture content, at a given altitude.

Question 19

hurricane

Answer 19

tropical storms that form in the Atlantic Ocean with wind speeds of at least 119 kilometers

Question 20

blizzard

Answer 20

a severe snowstorm with high winds and low visibility.

Question 21

metorologist

Answer 21

an expert in or student of meteorology; a weather forecaster

Question 22

convection cell

Answer 22

a self-contained zone of warm air in the equator is pushed upward and is balanced by the downward motion of the cooler air coming in from the pole

Question 23

Coriolis effect

Answer 23

describes the pattern of deflection taken by objects not firmly connected to the ground as they travel long distances around Earth caused by its rotation