Unit 3 Quiz: Layers of the Earth's Atmosphere
The hottest layer of the Earth's atmosphere is what layer?
Answer: the thermosphere
What are the boundary names that occur between the layers of the atmosphere?
tropopause - between troposphere and stratosphere stratopause - between stratosphere and mesosphere mesopause - between mesosphere and thermosphere
The prefix "tropo-" means what?
"Tropo-" means "changing" or "turning". This is appropriate because weather occurs in this layer and it is never constant - it's variable and always changing.
List the 4 layers of the atmosphere starting at Earth's surface.
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere
What layer contains "good" vs. "bad" ozone?
stratosphere = good ozone troposphere = bad ozone - ozone will react with chemicals released from vehicles and factories producing ozone which traps in heat in the troposphere (is toxic to animals and plants)
What word ending do all LAYERS of the atmosphere end with?
All atmospheric layers end with the word part "-sphere". examples: troposphere, stratosphere
True or False: Ozone molecules are only found in the ozone layer.
Answer: False Just like oxygen is not the only gas in the troposphere nor is it only found in the troposphere - ozone can be found in other layers too - it's just that the largest amount or highest concentration of ozone is found in the ozone layer (in stratosphere).
What is the difference between oxygen gas and ozone?
Oxygen gas is what we breathe in and is made up of 2 oxygen atoms whereas ozone is what absorbs UV rays from the Sun and is made up of 3 oxygen atoms.
What word ending do all boundaries end with?
The all end with "-pause". examples: tropoPAUSE, stratoPAUSE, mesoPAUSE
Therm- means what?
Answer: heat This makes sense because the thermosphere is the hottest layer in the atmosphere and temperature INCREASES with altitude.
The thermosphere is divided up into what two sub-layers?
Answer: ionosphere and exosphere
The coldest layer of the atmosphere is which layer?
Answer: mesosphere
What layer of the atmosphere did Felix Baumgartner jump from?
Answer: stratosphere - about 24 miles or 40 km above Earth's surface
What happens to the temperature as in the mesosphere?
Answer: temperature DECREASES with altitude
What happens to temperature in the stratosphere and why?
Answer: temperature INCREASES with altitude in the stratosphere because the ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the Sun which heats the atmosphere.
What layer protects the Earth from incoming space debris?
Answer: the mesosphere
What phenomena or objects does the stratosphere contain?
Answer: the ozone layer
What happens to the temperature at the boundaries between the atmospheric layers?
Answer: the temperature stays constant - it does not increase or decrease
The closest layer to Earths surface is called what?
Answer: the troposphere
Most of the atmosphere's mass is located within what layer of the atmosphere?
Answer: the troposphere About 90% of the atmosphere's mass - meaning the most gasses - are found in this layer.
The layers of the atmosphere are divided based on what?
Answer: they are separated based on temperature changes between the layers
What objects can you fin within the troposphere?
Answers may vary. It's where our weather occurs, no mountain is higher than the troposphere, weather balloons, sky dividing, commercial air flights.
What phenomena or what objects occur within the mesosphere?
Answers may vary. meteors/shooting stars and noticulent or night clouds (highest clouds in the atmosphere)
What phenomena occur or objects are located within the thermosphere?
Answers may vary. northern/southern or polar lights (aurora borealis and aurora australis), satellites, spacecraft
What happens to temperature in the troposphere? Does it decrease or increase?
As you increase in altitude, the temperature in the troposphere DECREASES.
True or False: How fast air pressure decreases as you increase in altitude happens at a constant rate.
Answer: False Air pressure decreases slowly at first and then decreases more rapidly/steeply as altitude is increased.
The layer in which the aurora borealis and aurora australis occur?
Answer: The ionosphere (which is part of the thermosphere).
What's the main cause of the decrease of ozone in the stratosphere?
Answer: chlorofluorocarbons or CFC's - they are made up of a fluorine, chlorine and carbon molecule. The chlorine will react with the ozone and take one of the oxygen atoms for ozone - giving off oxygen.
Air pressure ( increases / decreases) with increasing altitude.
Answer: decreases This is because as altitude increases, the air particles become more spread out - hence density and air pressure decrease.
True or False: There is a definite boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
Answer: false Earth's atmosphere just blends into space - there is no definite, dividing boundary.