Wind
Local and Global Winds
Humidity
Air Pressure
Pressure Maps
100
Define wind
What is air in motion or moving air
100
What does the name of the wind tell you?
What is the direction/location where the wind if blowing from.
100
What is humidity?
What is the amount of water vapor/moisture in the air.
100
What is the formula for pressure?
What is pressure = force / area
100
Which way does air pressure move?
What is from high to low.
200
What causes wind? (be detailed)
What is the unequal/uneven heating of the Earth's surface and atmosphere which leads to differences in air pressure.
200
Define global winds.
What is a pattern of air circulation that moves across the Earth on a large scale (global) and in a specific direction.
200
What is the formula used to calculate relative humidity?
What is the amount of water vapor present divided by the max amount (saturation point) times 100.
200
Why does warm air have low pressure?
What is warm air has a low pressure because the molecules are spread farther apart in other words they cover a larger area. Therefore the force they are exerting is spread out.
200
What is the purpose of the isobars on the pressure map?
What is to show the air pressure in a specific area. The isobars connect areas where the air pressure is the same.
300
What determines how slow or fast wind is?
What is the difference in air pressure.
300
What is the name of the wind belts found in both Northern and Southern hemispheres between 30 and 60 degrees latitude that flow towards the poles.
What is the Westerlies.
300
If the air contains 12 grams of water vapor and the humidity is 75%, how much water vapor would need to be in the air to have a relative humidity of 100%?
What is 12/3 = 4 (4 grams per 25%) 4 x 4 = 16 grams of water vapor for a 100% R.H. or 12 + 4 = 16 grams of water vapor
300
What happens to gas molecules when you put pressure on them?
What is they compress and move closer together.
300
What do the numbers on a pressure map tell you? What units are used to express this?
What is the atmospheric pressure in millibars.
400
In general which way does wind blow on Earth?
What is from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure (poles to equator)
400
Why does a land breeze occur at night?
What is because the land cools down faster that the air (remember the Heating the Earth lab), creating an air of high pressure, that then moves towards the low pressure air over the water.
400
What happens to the humidity if the amount of water vapor in the air stays the same but the temperature decreases. Explain.
What is if the water vapor in the air stays the same and the temperature decreases then the humidity goes up. (think back to the video with the teacher and the beakers...as the beakers got smaller less and less of the water could fit into it)
400
If I poke Mrs. Fote on her shoulder with my finger, and then I push her on her shoulder with the palm of my hand using the same amount of force as I did when I poked her, which will cause her to feel more pressure? Why?
What is poking her with my finger will cause her to feel more pressure because my finger covers less area than my palm. If something has a small area, the pressure will be larger.
400
What does the distance between isobars tell you?
What is how fast the pressure is changing. This will also tell you how fast the wind is blowing.
500
Wind moves in complex patterns producing pressure belts at about every 30 degrees latitude. What causes these pressure belts?
What is the rising and sinking of air (convection cells)
500
How do the Westerlies flow in the Northern hemisphere? How does the Coriolis effect impact these winds?
What is from the west to the east towards the poles. The Coriolis effect causes these winds to curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere.
500
People who wear glasses often see condensation on their lenses when they walk from a cold, outdoor environment to a warm house. Why does this happen?
What is the water vapor in the air inside the warm houses comes in contact with the cold lenses and the temperature of that air drops, when it gets to dew point (completely saturated or 100% relative humidity) the water vapor condenses on the lens.
500
In Torricelli's barometer, what happens to the liquid in the tube when there is a higher atmospheric pressure? Why?
What is the greater the air pressure the more force pushing on the liquid, which pushes liquid up into the tube, causing the level to rise.
500
Using a pressure map, which way is the wind blowing, from Minneapolis to Boston or from Boston to Minneapolis? Why?
What is from Minneapolis to Boston. The air pressure in Minneapolis is 1028 mb and in Boston it is 1012 mb. The air pressure is higher in Minneapolis and therefore moves towards Boston.
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