Quiz Questions CCS303

all questions from weekly quizzes

In the process of scientific inquiry, an hypothesis is best defined as:

“best guess” that may explain how something works, but is as yet untested and unproven

Photosynthesis ____________.

releases oxygen into the atmosphere.

Which two gases make up a combined total of 99% of clean, dry air in the homosphere?

nitrogen and oxygen

What causes winter in the northern hemisphere?

our hemisphere tilts away from the sun during winter, but we are not further from the sun

An imaginary line that connects points along latitude of 23.5°N is called the _____________.

Tropic of Cancer

Energy (radiation) travels from the Sun to the Earth primarily by ___________.

transmission

The Stefan-Boltzman Law states that ___________.

the rate of radiation emitted by a body is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature

The Kelvin scale is preferred in some scientific applications because _________________.

0 K represents absolute zero, so the scale is based on the scientific definition of temperature

Locations on Earth which have the largest annual temperature change from summer to winter are ________________.

centers of continents

What is the Normal Lapse Rate in the Troposphere in units of °C/1000 m?

6.5

Where is the best location to place a thermometer for an accurate air temperature reading?

inside a shelter painted white

How many ozone molecules are destroyed by every CFC molecule?

100,000

Exposure to this primary pollutant is associated with damage to the nervous systems of young children?

lead

Smog is an example of a ________ pollutant?

Secondary

What is the abbreviation for the category of the modern replacements (which are often greenhouse gases) for the refrigerants originally created in the early 1930s (which were the original ozone-depleting gases)?

HFCs

When the dry and wet bulb temperatures measured by a psychrometer are equal, all but one of the following is true. Which one is FALSE?

A rise in temperature would cause condensation.

Which of the following processes requires the highest RELEASE of energy from the water molecules?

deposition

In which phase do water molecules have the lowest kinetic energy?

ice

Hot air holds more moisture than cold air.

True

A radiation fog requires which of the following in order to form?

high relative humidity and clear nighttime skies

If an unsaturated air parcel remains at the surface on its own accord, the atmosphere is ___________.

Absolutely stable

A cloud that forms liquid droplets has a relative humidity of 100% with respect to the liquid droplets. If ice crystals form in this cloud, they will experience the cloud environment as having a relative humidity of ________.

more than 100%

The process of cloud seeding is based on the theory that __________.

silver iodide crystals act as freezing nuclei

When density remains constant and the temperature is lowered, the pressure of a confined gas (i.e. in a sealed tank) will _______________.

decrease

Horizontal variations in air pressure cause a force which makes the wind blow. These pressure variations are caused by _______________.

uneven heating of earth’s surface

Weather reports of wind express only the horizontal motion of the air. The vertical component of the air motion is usually _______________.

much much slower

When air moves from the ocean onto land __________________________.

converging winds and ascending air result over the land.

Winds are usually named for

the direction or place from which they are blowing.

Air masses are identified by a pair of letters, one lowercase and one uppercase. The uppercase letter (A, P, T, or E) refers to ____________.

the general temperatures in the air mass source region.

With respect to rainfall patterns, areas of persistent high pressure tend to cause ___________. areas with heavy year-round precipitation very dry regions moderate rainfall pronounced wet and dry seasons

very dry regions

The large rainfall totals associated with the Indian monsoon occur when ____________.

the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) shifts to the north, near the Himalaya Mountains

Middle-latitude cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere ____________.

rotate counterclockwise

According to Russ Thomas, how difficult is it to accurately forecast the weather in western Montana?

challenging

A mature mid-latitude cyclone cloud pattern most closely resembles _________ when viewed from a satellite?

a comma

The more violent nature of weather produced by a cold front can be attributed to which two factors?

sleep slope and fast forward motion