Chapter 17 Earth Science
What happens to solar radiation when it hits earths surface?
1. Some energy is absorbed by the object. 2. Substances such as water and air are transparent to certain wavelengths of radiation. 3. Some radiation may bounce off the object without being absorbed or transmitted. Seventy percent of the solar radiation that reaches earth is absorbed and 30% is reflected back into the atmosphere.
How does altitude affect temperatures?
Air temperature decreases as altitude increases.
What effect do clouds have on incoming solar radiation?
Clouds act as a blanket absorbing radiation? High albedo
Which mechanism is least important as a means of heat transfer in the atmosphere?
Conduction
The transfer of heat by circulation within a fluid or gas is known as
Convection
What determines whether something is going to be warmer of cooler?
Different land surfaces absorb varying amounts of incoming solar energy.
The energy transferred from a hotter object to a cooler object is
Heat
What is the difference between heat and temperature?
Heat is the transfer of energy from one object to another, and temperature is the measurement of that energy.
What controls temperature? 5 factors
Heating of land and water, altitude, geographic position to the equator, cloud cover, and ocean currents.
Isotherm
Isotherms are lines on a weather map that connect points where the temperature is the same
Compare heating of land and heating of water.
Land heats more rapidly than water and to higher temperatures than water. Land also cools more rapidly and to lower temperatures than water.
_______ makes up most of Earth's atmosphere.
Nitrogen
Does Radiation require direct contact? Does radiation require a medium?
No... No
What are the three mechanisms of energy transfer?
Radiation Convection Conduction
Describe the types of energy transfer that occur when you burn your bare feet when walking on hot sand.
Radiation heats the sand, but the direct contact transfer of this energy to the bare foot is conduction.
How energy is transferred?
Radiation, Conduction, Convection
Light bouncing off an object
Reflection
Why is the sky blue?
Scattering. light is scattered in all directions also the reason why the sky sometimes looks red at night. Blue light is scattered more than red light due to the wavelength scattering.
What general trend does a world isothermal map show?
The closer you get to the equator the warmer the temperature is.
If clouds covered most of the sky during both the day and night hours, what would be the most likely result compared to a clear day and night?
The daytime maximum temperature would be lower on the cloudy day.
Why does the southern hemisphere have smaller annual temperature variations than the northern hemisphere?
There is large difference in the land mass between the two hemispheres. This makes up for a lot of the temperature disparity. Water maintains its temperature longer than land so there is more differential heating in the northern hemisphere.
Does conduction require direct contact? Does conduction require a medium?
Yes..... Yes
Does convection require direct contact? Does convection require a medium?
Yes..... Yes
Mountains can affect temperatures by a acting like____
barriers
Which primary pollutant has the highest concentration by weight in the atmosphere?
carbon monoxide
Greenhouse Effect
he hearing of earths surface and the atmosphere from solar radiation being absorbed and emitted by the atmosphere, mainly by water vapor and carbon dioxide.
Reflection
occurs when light bounces off an object.
Scattering
produces a larger number of weaker rays that travel in different directions.
produces waves that travel in all directions
scattering
Albedo
the fraction of total radiation that is reflected by any surface.
Radiation
the transfer of energy (heat) through space by electromagnetic waves that travel out in all directions.
Convection
the transfer of heat by mass movement or circulation within a substance.
Conduction
the transfer of heat through matter by molecular activity.
