Geology 110: Earth and Space Science
Chapter 14 (The Atmosphere) Homework
SELF-REFLECTION AND COMPREHENSION SURVEYS
Checkpoint 14.1, p. 393
#1: Use the concept of heat capacity to explain why you can put out a candle by wetting your fingers and then quickly pinching out the flame. Why are you able to quench a flame that has a temperature of several hundred degrees?
Checkpoint 14.3, p. 394
#2: At extremely low temperatures the thin polyethylene fabric (0.002 inches thick) that made up the balloon carrying Joe Kittinger’s capsule would have become nearly brittle. Any small flaws in the fabric could have caused the balloon to spring a leak and deflate. At what location during the ascent would the risk of this potential danger have been most acute?
a) Lower troposphere b) Upper troposphere c) Middle stratosphere
Checkpoint 14.4, p. 394
#3: Soon after Joe Kittinger began his jump he was traveling at over 600 mph (982 km per hour). What characteristic of the atmosphere caused him to slow down as he descended (before opening his main chute)? Why did he not hear the sound of air whistling by him as he began to fall?
Checkpoint 14.5, p. 395
#4: The ozone hole over Antarctica actually represents a thinning of the ozone layer. What are the consequences of the loss of ozone?
Checkpoint 14.7, p. 397
#5: Explain how the temperature of Earth would vary from its present level if the atmosphere were: a) thicker; b) thinner; c) cloudier; or d) composed of twice as much carbon dioxide.
Checkpoint 14.9, p. 401
#6: Your body feels cooler when you step out of a warm shower because
a) water evaporates on your skin.
b) water condenses on your skin.
c) water evaporated from the surrounding air.
d) water condenses in the surrounding air.
Checkpoint 14.10, p. 402
#7: Measurements reveal that a cubic meter of air at 12 ºC actually holds 6 grams of water. What happens if the temperature of the air increases? Explain your answer.
a) Absolute and relative humidity both increase.
b) Absolute humidity increases and relative humidity remains constant.
c) Absolute and relative humidity both decrease.
d) Absolute humidity remains constant and relative humidity decreases.
Checkpoint 14.12, p. 403
#8: Explain why a person can see their breath on a cold winter’s day, in terms of water changing state and latent heat.
Checkpoint 14.13, p. 404
#9: Which of the following images best approximates the distribution of the two principal gases in Earth’s atmosphere?
Checkpoint 14.17, p. 409
#10: Classify the clouds in each of the following images.
a) b) c) d)
Checkpoint 14.18, p. 410
#11: I. On July 2, 1982, truck driver Larry Walters decided to attach 45 helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and go for a ride. Lawn Chair Larry rose to an altitude of nearly 5 km (16,000 feet). The high elevations and lack of oxygen made him dizzy, so he decided it was time to deploy his principal altitude control device, a pellet gun. He shot out several balloons and descended back to Earth. Which process was most significant in Lawn Chair Larry’s balloon ride? Explain your reasoning.
a) Density Lifting b) Orographic Lifting c) Convergence Lifting d) Frontal Lifting
Explain:
II. In the following landscape, how would the amount of rainfall change at location X if the mountain eroded down to the dashed line?
a) Rainfall would increase.
b) Rainfall would decrease.
c) Rainfall would stay the same.
Checkpoint 14.20, p. 411
#12: A parcel of warm air with an average temperature of 28 oC and 50 percent relative humidity is present at sea level. The surrounding air has a temperature of 25.5 oC. The parcel of air begins to rise due to density lifting. The relative humidity of the air mass is 100 percent when it reaches 1 kilometer elevation. Analyze how the temperature of the air mass would change as it rises, and determine at what elevation it would become stable. (This is a relatively tough question, please get help if you need it).
Checkpoint 14.22, p. 413
#13: Draw arrows indicating direction of winds for Figure 14.27 (below) based on pressure gradient alone. Where would the fastest winds be found?
Checkpoint 14.6, p. 396 (Optional, extra credit)
#14: All objects emit heat. The hotter an object, the faster its molecules move and the shorter the wavelength of radiation it emits. This relationship between the heat of a body and wavelength is expressed in Wien’s Law, which states that the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation can be determined by dividing 2,897 nm by the absolute temperature (T). T is expressed in Kelvins (K). The Kelvin temperature scale begins at absolute 0 (where all particle motion stops), with the freezing point of water (0 oC) equivalent to 273 K on this scale.
Maximum wavelength = (2897/Temperature in Kelvins)
For example, for the sun, T = 6,000 K. Substituting the temperature of the sun into the above equation illustrates that incoming solar radiation should have a wavelength of approximately 0.5 micrometer, which lies within the range of visible light.
Use Wein’s Law to determine the dominant wavelength emitted from (a) Earth and (b) Venus. To what types of radiation do these correspond?