Earth and Space science test 2

The main difference between weather and climate is that ________.

weather is the daily variations that actually occur at a location and climate is the general pattern of weather over time

The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the ________.

troposphere

Where is the top of the atmosphere?

There is no defined upper limit to the atmosphere

As you go up in elevation, the atmospheric pressure ________.

decreases

The fall equinox in the Southern Hemisphere occurs on this date.

March 21

Which one of the following statements is true about the equinoxes?

Days and nights are equal in length everywhere

The differences in summer and winter temperatures are greatest for locations

near the Poles

Air may best be described as ________.

a mixture

Heat flows ________.

from hot to cold

Which mechanism for heat transfer can operate in a vacuum?

radiation

Which one of the below is like conduction?

the hand on the metal handle because conduction is heat transfer between molecules within a substance

Which one of the following are the three most abundant gases in the dry atmosphere?

nitrogen, oxygen, argon

The atmosphere acquires most of its energy from ________.

the Earth's surface

If the maximum temperature for a particular day is 26°C and the minimum temperature is 14°C, the daily mean would be ________.

20°C

The variations in temperature are less extreme in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere because ________.

there is more water in the Southern Hemisphere

Which of these has the shortest wavelength?

gamma rays

Ozone filters out most of the ________ radiation in sunlight.

ultraviolet

The closest invisible wavelengths to violet on the electromagnetic spectrum are called ________ and are responsible for sunburns.

ultraviolet

The fraction of the total radiation encountered that is reflected by a surface is called its ________.

albedo

Water is unique because ________.

it exists in three different states at normal conditions in the earth's atmosphere

Relative humidity is a measure of ________.

the ratio of the water vapor in the air to the amount of water vapor that it would take to saturate the air

The dew point is the temperature at which ________.

water vapor condenses to a liquid

H2O vapor content:

14 grams

H2O vapor capacity:

20 grams at 25 degrees Celsius

​	14 grams at 20°C

​	10 grams at 15°C

What is the relative humidity for the above conditions at 25°C?

70%

H2O vapor content:

14 grams

H2O vapor capacity:

20 grams at 25 degrees Celsius

​	14 grams at 20°C

​	10 grams at 15°C

What is the dew point for the conditions listed above?

20°C

When a mass of cold air collides with a mass of warm air, what happens?

The warm air rises above the cold air

Why does the Florida peninsula experience the greatest frequency of midafternoon thunderstorms of any place in the United States?

It gets winds blowing from the oceans on both sides and they collide in the middle of Florida and rise to generate thunderstorms

The latent heat of melting is 80 calories for 1 gram of ice. If 1 gram of ice absorbs 60 calories what do I get?

a mixture of ice and water at a temperature of 0°C

The classification of air as stable or unstable is based on ________.

likelihood to rise

Clouds are classified on the basis of their ________.

form and height

Which of the following cloud types is most commonly associated with precipitation?

nimbostratus

This term is used to describe clouds found in the middle height range.

alto

A dark gray cloud that blankets the sky and often generates precipitation is called ________.

nimbostratus

The latent heat of vaporization has the effect of cooling a liquid because ________.

the gas molecules that form and leave the liquid are the higher temperature molecules in the liquid, so the temperature of the liquid is reduced

A super cooled liquid needs to ________ to turn into a solid.

collide with an object

Under what circumstances could the relative humidity exceed 100% without producing condensation in the air?

when there are no condensation nuclei

A wintertime form of precipitation that consists of small ice particles is called ________.

sleet

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.

nimbostratus

The process by which water vapor changes directly to a solid is referred to as ________

deposition

Standard sea level pressure in inches of mercury is ________.

29.92 inches

Isobars are lines on a weather map representing what?

lines of equal air pressure

Closely spaced isobars indicate ________.

high pressure gradient and high winds

A weather system is moving from west to east. You look at a weather map and see that you are in an area of closely spaced isobars with the center just to your east, but the spacing of the isobars increases away from you. What would you forecast for wind conditions?

Winds will decrease

Low air pressure systems are usually associated with ________.

converging air, precipitation, and high pressure aloft

If "fair" weather were approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be ________.

rising

High air pressure systems are usually associated with ________.

all of these

A Santa Ana (or Chinook or Foehn) wind is a ________.

very dry, warm wind flowing down a mountain slope

An altimeter is an adaptation of the ________.

aneroid barometer

A land breeze usually originates during the ________.

evening and flows toward the water

When Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 hurricane at its peak strength, the air pressure in the eye of the storm was 902mb. Near the earth's surface, the air pressure falls off at roughly 100mb per kilometer. So if you had an uncorrected altimeter in the eye of Katrina at sea level (not a good place to be), what altitude would it have read?

1020 m

The force that generates wind is ________.

pressure gradient force