EAPS 105 Homework 7

In Wikipedia, look up "Albedo", and answer this question: What is albedo?

A measure of the capacity of a surface to reflect light.

In Wikipedia, look up "Aerosol", and answer this question: What is an aerosol?

A suspension of fine solid particles or liquid droplets in the air.

In Wikipedia, look up "Neptune", read the intro and then scroll down to "Atmosphere", and answer this question: Why is Neptune blue?

Absorption of red light by methane in the atmosphere.

In Wikipedia, look up "Atmospheric circulation" and answer this question: The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the large-scale structure of its circulation remains fairly constant — a banded or cell structure. Which of the following factors do not influence this circulation pattern?

Earth's magnetic field

In Wikipedia, look up "Escape velocity", read the intro and then scroll down to "List of escape velocities", and answer this question: Which objects have the greatest escape velocity?

Giant planets

In Wikipedia, look up "Season" and answer this question: What is the primary cause of Earth's seasons?

Its tilted orbit

In Wikipedia, look up "Great Oxidation Event" and answer this question: The Great Oxidation Event is a period in time on the Earth from 2.0-2.5 billion years ago when our atmosphere first experienced a significant rise in oxygen. What is inferred to have been the cause of this event?

The emergence of cyanobacteria (bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis)

In Wikipedia, look up "Atmosphere of Earth", read the intro and then scroll down to "stratosphere", and answer this question: Which of the following characterizes the stratosphere?

The rise in temperature in this region is caused by the absorption of ultraviolet radiation (UV) radiation from the Sun by the ozone layer.

In Wikipedia, look up "Martian polar ice caps" and answer this question: Which of the following statements is true about the polar caps on Mars?

They are composed primarily of water ice.

In Wikipedia, look up "Atmosphere of Earth", read the intro and then scroll down to "troposphere", and answer this question: Which of the following characterizes the troposphere?

This region contains ~80% of the mass of Earth's atmosphere and is where most of the Earth's clouds and weather takes place.

In Wikipedia, look up "Extraterrestrial diamonds" and answer this question: True or False: High pressure experiments suggest large amounts of diamonds are formed from methane on the ice giant planets Uranus and Neptune.

True

In Wikipedia, look up "Saturn's hexagon" and answer this question: Which of the following is true about Saturn's hexagon?

a. It is a persistent approximately hexagonal cloud pattern around the north pole of the planet. b. It rotates at a period of just over 10.5 hours c. It changes color d. **All the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Atmosphere of Venus" and answer this question: Which of the following describes characteristics of Venus' atmosphere?

a. It is composed primarily of carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than that of Earth.

In Wikipedia, look up "Great Red Spot" and answer this question: Which of the following about Jupiter's Great Red Spot is true?

a. It may have existed for over 350 years c. Its diameter is bigger than Earth's b. It is currently shrinking d. **All the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Atmosphere of Jupiter", read the intro and then scroll down to "Zones, belts and jets", and answer this question: The visible surface of Jupiter is divided into several bands parallel to the equator. There are two types of bands (clouds): lightly colored zones and relatively dark belts. What is the difference between the clouds that make up these bands?

a. Their altitude b. Their temperature c. Their ammonia concentration d. **All the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Martian dust devils" and answer this question: Which of the following statements about Martian dust devils is true?

a. They can be many times larger than dust devils found on Earth. b. They can be powerful enough to threaten rovers. c. They can help clean dust off of rovers. d. **All the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Mars", read the intro and then scroll down to "hydrology", and answer this question: What is the evidence that liquid water existed on Mars' surface in the past?

a. Thousands of features that appear similar to terrestrial gullies. b. Observed dendritic (having a branched form resembling a tree) valleys. c. Observed dry deltas and alluvial fans (where rivers emptied into bodies of water leaving significant sediment deposits). d. **All the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Primary Atmosphere" and answer this question: A primary atmosphere is an atmosphere of a planet that forms by accretion of hydrogen and helium from the solar nebula. The giant planets still have their primary atmospheres, but the terrestrial planets lost theirs. Which factors influenced why the terrestrial planets lost their primary atmospheres?

a. surface temperatures b. Mass of the atoms c. escape velocity d. **All of the above✅

In Wikipedia, look up "Mars", read the intro and then scroll down to "hydrology", and answer this question: In general, why can liquid water not exist on the surface of Mars today?

b. The atmospheric pressure is too low.

In Wikipedia, look up "Greenhouse gas", and answer this question: A greenhouse gas absorbs radiant energy within which part of the light spectrum?

infrared