Here is a copy of the Study Guide for the upcoming test covering Chapter 11 'The Atmosphere.' Your child has a hard copy. Thank you! Mrs. Stafford
Chapter 11 Study Guide
What is weather?
Answer: Weather is the condition of Earth’s atmosphere at a particular time and place.
What is the Earth’s atmosphere?
Answer: The Earth’s atmosphere is the envelope of gases that surrounds the planet.
What does the Earth’s atmosphere consist of?
1) Nitrogen
2) Oxygen
3) Carbon Dioxide
4) Water Vapor
5) Other Gases (plus particles of liquids and solids)
What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere, and how much of the air we breathe is this gas?
Answer: Nitrogen is the most abundant gas. It makes up a little more than ¾ of the air we breathe.
True or False???
Nitrogen occurs in all living things. TRUE!!!
True or False???
Nitrogen makes up 3% of the weight of the human body. TRUE!!!
What is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere, and how much of the air we breathe is this gas?
Answer: Oxygen is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere. It makes up only about 21% of the volume.
How do plants and animals use oxygen?
Answer: Plants and animals take oxygen directly from the air and use it to release energy from their food.
Is carbon dioxide essential for life?
Answer: Yes, it is!
Why is carbon dioxide essential for life?
Answer: Plants must have carbon dioxide to produce food, and the cells of animals break down food and give off carbon dioxide as a waste product.
How much of the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide?
Answer: Less than 1% of the atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide.
What is argon?
Answer: Argon is the remaining gases (trace gases) that make up the 1% of the atmosphere’s dry air. Oxygen and nitrogen make up the other 99%.
Is air dry?
Answer: No, air contains water vapor—water in the form of a gas.
How is the atmosphere a system?
Answer: The atmosphere interacts with other Earth systems, such as the ocean. The atmosphere has many different parts. Some of the parts can be seen-like clouds. Other parts cannot be seen-like air, wind, and energy.
True or False???
Energy from the sun drives the motions in the atmosphere. TRUE!!!
Does air have mass?
Answer: Yes! It consists of atoms and molecules which have mass.
What properties, other than mass, does air have?
Answer: Air has density and air pressure.
Why doesn’t air pressure crush us?
Answer: The molecules in air push in all directions---down, up, and sideways.
What instruments measure air pressure?
Answer:
1) A barometer is an instrument that measures air pressure.
The two types of barometers are:
a) Mercury Barometer—It consists of a long glass tube that is closed at one end and open at the other. The open end rests in a dish of mercury. The closed end of the tube is almost a vacuum---the space above the mercury contains very little air. Air pressing down on the surface of the mercury in the dish is equal to the pressure exerted by the weight of the column of mercury in the tube. When the air pressure increases, it presses down more on the surface of the mercury. Greater air pressure forces the column of mercury higher. So, the level of the mercury in the tube shows you the pressure of the air that day.
b) Aneroid Barometer---It is an airtight metal chamber sensitive to changes in air pressure. When air pressure increases, the thin walls of the chamber are pushed in. When air pressure decreases, the thin walls bulge out.
True or False???
Most weather reports for the general public use inches of mercury. TRUE!!!
BUT----the National Weather Service maps indicate air pressure in millibars.
The pressure of the atmosphere is equal to one bar.
One inch of mercury is equal to about 33.86 millibars.
What is altitude?
Answer: Altitude is elevation, or the distance above sea level.
True or False???
Air pressure decreases as altitude increases. As air pressure decreases, so does density. TRUE!!!
True or False???
Since the air is less dense at a high altitude, each cubic meter of air you breathe has fewer oxygen molecules than at sea level. So, you would become short of breath more quickly at a high altitude. TRUE!!!
What are the four main layers of the atmosphere?
Answer: 1) the troposphere
2) the stratosphere
3) the mesosphere
4) the thermosphere
What two layers make up the thermosphere?
Answer: The ionosphere and the exosphere are the two layers of the thermosphere.
What does ‘tropo’ mean?
Answer: ‘Tropo’ means turning or changing.
What occurs in the troposphere?
Answer: Weather occurs in the troposphere.
What is the altitude of the troposphere?
Answer: The altitude is 0-12 km.
What does ‘strato’ mean?
Answer: ‘Strato’ means layer or spread out.
What is contained in the stratosphere?
Answer: The ozone layer is contained in the stratosphere.
What is the ozone layer?
Answer: The ozone layer is a form of oxygen that has three atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two. When ozone absorbs energy from the sun, the energy is converted into heat, warming the air. The ozone layer protects living things from ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
What is the altitude of the stratosphere?
Answer: The altitude is 12-50 km.
What does ‘meso’ mean?
Answer: ‘Meso’ means middle, so the mesosphere is the middle layer of the atmosphere.
What is the altitude of the mesosphere?
Answer: The altitude is 50-80 km.
What occurs in the mesosphere?
Answer: Meteoroids are burned up in the mesosphere, thus the Earth’s surface is protected.
What is the thermosphere?
Answer: The thermosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth’s atmosphere.
What occurs in the thermosphere?
Answer: Auroras happen here. Even though the temperature is up to 1800 degrees Celsius, it doesn’t feel warm because molecules are far apart.
What does visible light include?
Answer: Visible light includes all of the colors that you see in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
What colors have the longest wavelengths?
Answer: Red and orange light have the longest wavelengths.
What colors have the shortest wavelengths?
Answer: Blue and violet light have the shortest wavelengths.
Is infrared radiation visible by humans?
Answer: No, it is not visible by humans, but can be felt as heat.
True or False????
Clouds act as mirrors, reflecting sunlight back into space. TRUE!!!
What is scattering?
Answer: Dust-size particles and gases in the atmosphere disperse light in all directions.
What percentage of the energy that reaches Earth’s surface is absorbed by land and water and changed into heat?
Answer: 50%
What is the greenhouse effect?
Answer: The sun’s energy reaches Earth. Earth’s surface is heated. Some heat is radiated into space. Some radiated heat is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere. The greenhouse effect keeps Earth’s atmosphere at a temperature that is comfortable for most living things.
What is temperature?
Answer: Temperature is the average amount of energy of motion of each particle of a substance.
What unit is temperature measured in?
Answer: Temperature is measured in degrees.
What are the two scales used to measure temperature?
Answer: Celsius and Fahrenheit are the two scales used to measure temperature.
What is the freezing point of Celcius?
Answer: 0 degrees C
What is the boiling point of Celcius?
Answer: 100 degrees C
What is the freezing point of Fahrenheit?
Answer: 32 degrees F
What is the boiling point of Fahrenheit?
Answer: 212 degrees F
Name three ways heat is transferred from a hotter object to a cooler one.
Answer: 1) convection 2) conduction 3) radiation
What is convection?
Answer: Convection is the transfer of heat by the movement of a fluid.
What is conduction?
Answer: Conduction is the transfer of heat between two substances that are in direct contact.
What is radiation?
Answer: Radiation is the direct transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves. Most of the heat you feel from the sun travels to you as infrared radiation. You can’t see it, but you can feel it.
True or False?????
Radiation, conduction, and convection work together to heat the troposphere. TRUE!!!
Heat is transferred mostly by what within the atmosphere?
Answer: Heat is transferred mostly by convection currents within the atmosphere.
What are convection currents?
Answer: The upward movement of warm air and the downward movement of cool air form convection currents.
What is wind?
Answer: Wind is the movement of air parallel to Earth’s surface.
What causes the air to move?
Answer: Differences in air pressure cause movement in the air.
What causes most differences in air pressure?
Answer: Most differences in air pressure are caused by unequal heating of the atmosphere.
How is wind speed measured?
Answer: Wind speed is measured with a tool called an anemometer.
What is an anemometer?
Answer: An anemometer has three or four cups mounted at the ends of spokes that spin on an axle. The force of the wind against the cups turns the axle. A meter connected to the axle shows the wind speed.
What is the windchill factor?
Answer: The increased cooling that a wind can cause is called the windchill factor.
What are local winds?
Answer: Winds that blow over short distances are called local winds.
True or False?????
The unequal heating of Earth’s surface within a small area causes local winds. TRUE!!!!!
What are two types of local winds?
Answer: A sea breeze and a land breeze are two types of local winds.
What is a sea breeze?
Answer: A sea breeze or a lake breeze is a local wind that blows from an ocean or lake.
What is a land breeze?
Answer: The flow of air from land to a body of water forms a land breeze.
What are global winds?
Answer: Global winds are winds that blow steadily from specific directions over long distances.
What is the Coriolis Effect?
Answer: The way the Earth’s rotation makes winds curve is called the Coriolis Effect.
Name the global wind belts.
1) Doldrums-a calm area where warm air rises (occurring at the equator).
2) Horse Latitudes-two calm areas of sinking air. At about 30 degrees north and south latitudes, the air stops moving towards the poles and sinks.
3) Trade Winds-blow from the horse latitudes toward the equator.
4) Prevailing Westerlies-blow from west to east, away from the horse latitudes.
5) Polar Easterlies-blow cold air away from the poles.
