Science Chapter 18

Which gas is most important for understanding atmospheric processes? a. oxygen c. water vapor b. ozone d. carbon dioxide

Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are all examples of

Which of the following can change from one state of matter to another at the temperatures and pressures experienced at Earth's surface? a. nitrogen c. water b. oxygen d. carbon dioxide

Water vapor makes up what fraction of atmospheric gases?

Which term describes the conversion of a solid directly to a gas, without passing through the liquid state? a. evaporation c. condensation b. sublimation d. deposition

The process by which water vapor changes directly to a solid is called

The change of state from a gas to a liquid is called

The process of converting a liquid to a gas is known as

Which of the following refers to the energy that is stored or released during a change of state of water? a. caloric heat c. latent heat b. ultraviolet heat d. evaporation heat

Air that has reached its water-vapor capacity is said to be

What is true about warm, saturated air?

____ 12. The ratio of air's water-vapor content to its capacity to hold water vapor at that same temperature is the

What is true about relative humidity? a. It indicates how near the air is to saturation. b. It indicates the actual quantity of water vapor in the air. c. It is the general term used to describe the amount of water vapor in air.

Which of the following refers to the temperature to which air would have to be cooled to reach saturation? a. dew point c. adiabatic rate b. vapor d. relative point

When two temperatures read nearly the same on a psychrometer, you can conclude that

If the water-vapor content of air remains constant, lowering air temperature causes a(n)

What is the dry adiabatic rate?

When air expands or contracts, what type of temperature change does it experience?

The wet adiabatic rate of cooling is less than the dry rate because

Which of the following occurs when air is compressed? a. Air temperature rises. c. Air molecules move faster. b. Air temperature cools. d. both a and c

Weather-producing fronts are parts of storm systems called

Which of the following is NOT a process that lifts air? a. convergence c. divergence b. orographic lifting d. frontal wedging

Cool air acts as a barrier over which warmer, less dense air rises, in a process known as

Orographic lifting is associated with

Which of the following will NOT cause air to become unstable? a. intense solar heating that warms the air from below b. forceful lifting of air c. upward movement caused by general convergence d. subsidence of an air column

Which of the following would NOT be associated with stable atmospheric conditions? a. widespread fog c. temperature inversion b. afternoon thunderstorms d. buildup of pollutants

What is true about stable air?

Which of the following is NOT produced by condensation? a. dew c. fog b. smog d. clouds

Which of the following is an example of condensation nuclei? a. dust c. salt particles b. smoke d. all of the above

Which cloud type is best described as sheets or layers that cover much or all of the sky? a. cumulus c. stratus b. cirrus d. alto

Which cloud type consists of globular cloud masses with a cauliflower structure? a. cumulus c. stratus b. cirrus d. alto

Which term is used to describe clouds of middle height? a. cumulus c. stratus b. cirrus d. alto

A low cloud that blankets the sky and often generates precipitation is called a(n)

Which cloud type is confined to the middle height range?

Which term means "rainy cloud"?

Which clouds are often associated with thunder and lightning?

What conditions favor the formation of fog by radiation cooling?

Compared to clouds, fogs are

Most fogs are the result of which of the following? a. radiation cooling b. the movement of air over a cold surface c. orographic lifting d. both a and b

Which of the following is NOT a process that has been proposed to explain the formation of precipitation? a. the atmospheric subduction process b. the collision-coalescence process c. the Bergeron process d. none of the above

Which of the following processes can produce either rain or snow? a. the Bergeron process b. the collision-coalescence process c. both the Bergeron process and the collision-coalescence process

In which of the following processes do freezing nuclei play a role?

Which type of precipitation consists of small clear-to-translucent ice particles?

What type of cloud is associated with hail?

Which form of precipitation is likely to occur when a layer of air with temperatures above freezing overlies a subfreezing layer near the ground?

Water vapor is the source of all condensation and ____________________, which is any form of water that falls from a cloud.

The process of changing state requires that energy is transferred in the form of __________

Relative humidity is the ____________________ of air's actual water-vapor content compared with the amount of ____________________ air can hold at that temperature and pressure.

If the water-vapor content of air remains the same, raising air temperature causes a(n) ____________________ in relative humidity.

The rate of cooling or heating that applies only to unsaturated air is called the ____________________ rate.

Thermals are ____________________ parcels of warm air

A temperature inversion occurs when air temperature ____________________ with height

If there were no condensation nuclei in the lower atmosphere, a relative humidity much above ____________________ percent would be needed to produce clouds.

Clouds are classified based on ____________________ and ____________________

_______ is defined as a cloud with its base at or very near the ground

For precipitation to form, cloud droplets must grow in volume by roughly ____________________ times.

___________ describes the way air temperature changes with altitude.

Water vapor makes up what percentage of gases in the atmosphere?

Stored heat energy released by water molecules during condensation is called what?

What is humidity?

What is relative humidity?

How can the relative humidity of a parcel of air be changed?

What happens to air temperature when it is compressed or allowed to expand?

What four mechanisms cause air to rise?

What type of precipitation, if any, is associated with stable air?

What are condensation nuclei?

What factors distinguish fog from clouds?

When is water said to be supercooled?

The type of precipitation that reaches Earth's surface depends on what?