Weather/Heat Flashcards
What is the difference between temperature and heat?
Temperature is a physical measurement that is related to the average kinetic energy of individual molecules, while heat refers to a transfer of energy from one object to another because of a difference in temperature.
What are the three types of rays that come from the sun?
Visible, ultraviolet, and infrared.
Define conduction
The transfer of heat through direct contact of particles of matter, usually through solids.
Define convection
The transfer of thermal energy by the movement of molecules from one part of the material to another, usually through liquids or gases (fluids).
Define radiation
The transfer of heat energy through empty space.
Define thermal energy
Thermal energy refers to the total energy of all the molecules in one object
What is relative humidity?
Relative humidity is the percentage of water vapour in the air compared to the vapour in the air if it was saturated.
What is humidity?
Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air.
What is meant by the term dew point?
The dew point is the temperature at which the air is saturated and cannot hold any more moisture than it already has in it. (condenses?)
Which can hold more water vapour, cool air or warm air?
Warm air
What are condensation nuclei?
Condensation nuclei are particles that stimulate droplet formation. Water droplets will form around tiny particles such as dust and salt in the air.
Which parts of the water cycle are exothermic?
Condensation because going from gas to liquid gives off energy makes it exothermic.
Which parts of the water cycle are endothermic?
Since these process require energy, evaporation and transpiration are endothermic processes.
Where does the energy for the water cycle come from?
The sun
What causes water vapor to condense into water droplets?
Movement of air into cooler regions, or the lowering of air temperature, causes water vapour to condense.
Explain why the temperature of dry land increases faster during the day and decreases faster during the night than the temperature of the water in lakes, rivers, and oceans.
Dry land changes its temperature faster than surrounding water because it has a
smaller specific heat capacity – this means that the same amount of heat will raise
the temperature of the land more than the water.
Also,
* Water is continually moving so water is continually being exchanged between
the surface and deeper.
* Water is transparent, so the radiation of the sunlight heats up deeper water as
well as the top layer.
With the land, it is only the top layer that experiences large changes in temperature
so most of the thermal energy is at the surface.
Explain what a sea breeze is. Include in your answer when and where it would occur
and the process that causes it.
A sea breeze occurs near the shore during the day time. During the day, the land heats up more quickly than the nearby water. This heats up the air directly above the land, causing it to rise. As this air rises, cooler air from above the water moves in to
replace it, resulting in a wind going from the water to the shore.
Explain the role of radiation, conduction and convection in the heating of air. Which one is most significant for heating air near the surface of the Earth?
1) Short wavelength radiation from the sun heats the air (a little) and the ground (a lot) when it is absorbed. The Earth’s surface then emits long wavelength infrared radiation which is absorbed by greenhouse gases in the air such as water vapor and carbon dioxide.
2) Conduction heats the air through collisions between molecules in the ground
and the air.
3) Convection heats the air when warm air from the ground rises, and is replaced by cooler air. The most significant contributor to the heating of the air is the long wave infrared radiation emitted by the ground.
What is the order of the atmosphere layers?
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere.
What is one feature about the troposphere?
All weather occurs here
What is one feature about the stratosphere?
Ozone layer thing
What is one feature about the mesosphere?
Meteors burn up here
What is one feature about the thermosphere?
oxygen molecules absorbing high radiation, thin air
How is the air primarily heated?
Through long infrared radiation.
