Sed 111 T2a2

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SED 111 Activity Earth’s Atmosphere

Instruction:

Describe and explain whether the following statements are true or false.
Describe to make the statement correct and explain why it is true.

1. The air temperature at an elevation of 5000 feet is 61 oF. According to the


moist adiabatic lapse rate , the temperature of the same air, raised to 5000
feet should be 53o F.

• It is true. When you wanted to get the temperature of air when there is no
elevation, the temperature would be 71o F because the standard temperature
of elevation is 2.0 oF per 1000 ft. Therefore, you need to add it 5 times
because it elevated to 5000 ft (61 x 10 = 71). Moist adiabatic lapse rate varies
according to the amount of water vapor in the parcel and is usually between
2.0 and 5.0 degrees F per 1000 feet. With this range of numbers, when you
try 3.5 o F as the Saturated lapse rate, you have to multiply it by 5 and subtract
the answer to 71 oF that will result to 53.5 which is closer to the given which is
53 o F. Therefore, there is a possibility getting a 53o F temperature.

2. When the wet bulb thermometer reads the same as the dry bulb
thermometer, the relative humidity is 100 percent.

• It is true because if the humidity reaches 100% then the air is saturated and
no more evaporation will take place. So there will be no temperature drop
associated with 100% humidity.
3. The greater the temperature the lower the air’s capacity for holding water
vapor.

• It is false because if you warm the air, the collision speeds increase and small
clusters of water vapor molecules get smashed apart before they have a
chance to become very large. Thus the warm air can support a higher
concentration of water molecules.

Water molecules in the air like to stick together and form clumps that will grow
and grow into fog, dew, raindrops, and lakes if allowed to. The only thing that
keeps this from happening is that all of the molecules are jostling around, and
they physically bump into neighbors at odd angles and the chains and clumps
break apart. The higher the temperature, the more jostling. That’s what
temperature is — The average kinetic energy of the molecules.

In a gas, water vapor molecules and air molecules are traveling at high
enough speeds, and the water vapor molecules are infrequent enough, that
the rate that water molecules encounter each other and stick is lower than the
rate at which air molecules smash into the small groups and break them
apart.
4. If water condenses on the outside of the glass of water, the temperature of
water within the glass must be above the dew point of the air.
• It is true because the glass becomes cold from the ice in the drink. It reaches
a temperature where condensation happens at a higher rate than
evaporation. The movement of particles can explain this increase in
condensation rate. When the hot air comes in contact with the cold glass,
heat is transferred from the hot air to the cold glass. The loss of heat in the
surrounding air causes the water vapor by the glass to lose energy. Once
energy is lost, the water vapor condenses into liquid on the glass.

5. The absolute humidity of the air is expressed as percent.

• It is not true because when humidity is expressed in terms of percentage it is


called relative humidity. Absolute humidity is expressed as grams of moisture
per cubic meter of air (g/m3).
6. Cirrocomulus clouds give warning of approaching thunderstorms.

• False. Cirrocumulus are usually seen in the winter and indicate fair, but cold,
weather. In the tropics, they may indicate an approaching hurricane.
7. Fogs occur most frequently when the nights are cloudy?

• False because during cloudy nights, the cooling of the earth surface is much
reduced due to the absorption of the outgoing radiation by the clouds. As a
result, radiative cooling of the earth surface is reduced and hence it would be
more difficult for the temperature of the earth surface to fall to the dew point
temperature to cause saturation of the surface layer of air above. Hence,
formation of fog is retarded.
8. If all the water vapor were suddenly to condense all the major mountain
ranges would be under water.

• It is false. If all of the water in the atmosphere rained down at once, it would
only cover the globe to a depth of 2.5 centimeters, about 1 inch because one
estimate of the volume of water in the atmosphere at any one time is about
3,100 cubic miles (mi3) or 12,900 cubic kilometers (km3). That may sound like
a lot, but it is only about 0.001 percent of the total Earth's water volume of
about 332,500,000 mi3 (1,385,000,000 km3).
9. The rate of evaporation is increased by the movement of the air.
• It is true because it is one of the factors for evaporation to happen.
Evaporation increases with the increase in wind speed. Vapor particles move
away when the speed of wind increases. This leads to an increase in the
amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Now, if the wind is blowing and it
moves the most humid air (the air directly above the liquid water), and
replaces it with air that is less humid. Now the air will accept more water
vapor, allowing the water to evaporate easier.

10. Discuss the formation of frost dew and rain.


• Dew forms when the temperature becomes equal to the dewpoint. When
temperatures drop below freezing and the temperature reaches the dew or
frost point, the ice on the ground is termed frost or frozen dew.
• Tiny drops of water formed when condensation of water vapor occur at or
near the surface of the earth. It is a frozen condensation that occurs when air
at ground level is super cooled below the freezing point.
• Rain forms within a cloud, water droplets condense onto one another,
causing the droplets to grow. When these water droplets get too heavy
to stay suspended in the cloud, they fall to Earth as rain.

11. What is adiabatic change? Why do adiabatic changes occur in the


atmosphere but not in the oceans?

• Adiabatic processes are processes that take place without the exchange of
heat between the system (e.g. an air parcel) and its surroundings. In adiabatic
processes, compression always results in warming, and expansion results in
cooling.
• The second question is wrong because adiabatic changes also occurs in
oceans. The process of how this occurs works in the same way for
atmosphere, oceans, and earth’s mantle.
12. Compare and contrast the three major types of clouds.

• Cirrus: The Latin base for this word means "curl," which is why these clouds
often look like the horse tails or wispy strands.
• Stratus: Meaning layered, or stretched out. This refers to clouds stretched
across the sky in sheets.
• Cumulus: Means "heap," which is how these clouds appear in the sky: a
heaped pile of mashed potatoes or cotton balls haphazardly grouped
together.
13. What are the chief differences between radiation fogs, advection fogs and
upslope fogs?

• They differ in how the air becomes saturated.


• Upslope fog is formed by adiabatic cooling in rising air that is forced up
sloping terrain by the wind. Namely, it is formed the same way as clouds. As
already discussed in the Water Vapor chapter, air parcels must rise or be
lifted to their lifting condensation level (LCL) to form a cloud or upslope fog.
• Radiation fog and advection fog are formed by cooling of the air via
conduction from the cold ground. Radiation fog forms during clear, nearlycalm
nights when the ground cools by IR radiation to space. Advection fog forms
when initially-unsaturated air advects over a colder surface.
14. How do particles of sea salt enters the atmosphere?

 When the waves break on a windy day, they generate "whitecaps." The white
foam is filled with millions of tiny bubbles as a result of this. Little grains of salt
are launched into the air as these bubbles break. Salt aerosols are then
created.
15. Why are cloud droplets formed around the salt particles very likely to fall as
precipitation?
 For precipitation to happen, first tiny water droplets must condense on even
tinier dust, salt, or smoke particles, which act as a nucleus. Water droplets
may grow as a result of additional condensation of water vapor when the
particles collide. If enough collisions occur to produce a droplet with a fall
velocity which exceeds the cloud updraft speed, then it will fall out of the
cloud as precipitation.

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