GEO 211 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 9 Lecture 1 August 20 What are the elements of Weather and Climate Temperature how cold or warm it is Air pressure force weight exerted by mass of air above a given point will throw off other variables if slightly changed cold air dense high pressure Humidity air s water vapor content more vapor in the air more humidity condenses and forms into very small droplets of water bunch together becomes clouds Clouds clusters of condensed fine droplets of water in the atmosphere doesn t predict rainfall hail certain process has to occur in clouds to create rain Precipitation water that falls as rain hail or snow Wind simply moving air moves at different mph What is weather Atmospheric conditions of a particular place and time Uses same data to find climate What is climate Weather of an area averaged over a long period of time 30 year period Takes average conditions and find the norm What is the composition of the atmosphere Permanent gases Nitrogen 78 Oxygen 21 Variable gases o Vary in proportion not a lot of Water vapor 0 to 4 Carbon dioxide 0 039 o Methane nitrous oxide ozone Lecture 2 August 22 What are the layers of the atmosphere based on temperature chemical composition and function Temperature o Troposphere Height varies in latitude about 11 miles high near the equator 6 miles near the poles temperatures decrease higher amounts at lapse rate of 3 5 F 1000 feet called the environmental or normal lapse rate has most of atmosphere s mass 90 o Stratosphere temperature increases upward temperature inversion layer with maximum ozone concentration less turbulent layer than troposphere o Mesosphere temperature decreases upward atmospheric pressure is very low few molecules thin air average temperature 130 F o Thermosphere extends to about 300 miles from mesosphere temperature increases upward Chemical composition o Homosphere layer below about 50 miles composition of air is fairly constant homogeneous o Heterosphere Upper atmosphere above 50 miles composition of air varies with height heterogeneous reveals 4 layers of gases arranged according to their atomic weight Lecture 3 August 25 Function o Ozonosphere important to plants and animals doesn t allow certain sun rays to hit Earth lower layer with ozone 03 gas max concentrations in stratosphere 03 also broken down by chlorofluorocarbons CFCs Synthetic breaks down in stratosphere and releases chlorine can be in the atmosphere for a year Released chlorine destroys ozone in a series of steps o Ionosphere upper Earth s atmosphere absorbing more high energy from the Sun more broken ionized electrified region because gases have been ionized Broken gases create a layer of fairly concentrated ions free electrons F layer low density E layer average density D layer high density What are Chlorofluorocarbons CFCs are refrigerants as propellants for the blowing of plastic foam insulation and as solvents for cleaning electronic microcircuits that have the potential of raising the global temperature in the atmosphere They also help in destroying the gas ozone in the stratosphere Contains chlorine fluorine and carbon What are ions An electrically charged atom molecule or particle that are arranged in 3 layers of varying density F layer low density E layer average density D layer high density Lecture 4 August 27 What is Energy The capacity to do work or move matter mass What is the source of energy that affects weather Solar radiation How does radiant energy differ from heat energy Heat energy is transferred from one object to another because of the temperature difference between them and is important for geologic changes while radiant energy is energy from the sun possessed by vibrating particles and is important for life What is chemical energy Energy that is stored in chemical compounds A substance also possesses potential energy if it can do work when a chemical change takes place What is kinetic energy The energy within a body that is a result of its motion What are the methods of heat transfer Conduction molecule to molecule transfer of heat energy as it diffuses within a substance Convection heat transfer that involves movement of molecules takes place in liquids and gases because they can move freely happens naturally in the atmosphere vertical exchange of heat Radiation transfer of heat in electromagnetic waves as from the Sun to the Earth can transfer through a medium vacuum What are the three temperature scales Kelvin scale K also called absolute scale contains no negative numbers Celsius scale C the number 0 on the scale is assigned to the temperature at which pure water freezes number 100 is when pure water boils Fahrenheit F number 32 is the temperature when water freezes 212 is the number when water boils Conversions C F F C X 1 8 32 F C C F 32 X 0 556 C K K C 273 What is absolute zero A temperature reading of 273 C 460 F or 0K The atoms and molecules would possess a minimum amount of energy and theoretically no thermal motion Lecture 5 August 29 How is it related to radiation Since there is no energy no object can emit any radiation What is the Law of conservation of energy or first law of thermodynamics Energy cannot be created nor can it be destroyed It changes from one form to another in any ordinary physical or chemical process What do we mean when we say energy is conserved It means all the energy you had before the reaction is equal to all the energy you have after the reaction How does the sun radiate energy By nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core What are all the types of the electromagnetic spectrum What are the percentages of the amount of energy the sun radiates in various regions of the spectrum 7 ultraviolet x ray gamma ray 44 visible light 37 near infrared 12 longer than 1 5 m Lecture 6 September 3 What is Stefan Boltzmann s law A law of radiation which states that the amount of radiant energy emitted from a unit surface area of an object ideally a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of the object s absolute temperature As the temperature of an object increases more total radiation is emitted each second What is Wien s law A law of radiation which states that the wavelength of maximum emitted radiation by an object ideally a blackbody is inversely proportional to the object s absolute temperature As the temperature of an object increases the wavelength at which maximum emission occurs is shifted towards shorter values Compare radiation of the Sun and