Deck 4: Water in the Atmosphere

Question 1

As the atmosphere warms from anthropogenic climate change, scientists are certain that there will be more cloud cover.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Ice nuclei are required for the formation of snowflakes.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Evaporation of water into the atmosphere can saturate the air.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Cloud droplets remain suspended in the atmosphere because they are too light to fall to the ground.

Question 5

Polar air has a high relative humidity because the air is humid.

Question 6

Water weighs 1 kilogram per liter or 8.3 pounds per gallon.

Question 7

Clouds form only in environments of net evaporation.

Question 8

Rain shadows occur in moist coastal areas.

Question 9

Air temperature and relative humidity are inversely related.

Question 10

Water moves through Earth's physical systems in the carbon cycle.

Question 11

The dew-point temperature is the temperature at which the air becomes saturated.

Question 12

The latent heat of evaporation occurs in natural outdoor settings where the temperature of water is well below 100 degrees Celsius.

Question 13

Relative humidity indicates the actual water vapor content of the air.

Question 14

The average sea-level air pressure is 1,013.25 millibars.

Question 15

Radiation fog forms mainly over mountains.

Question 16

Evaporation cools the environment.Condensation warms the environment.

Question 17

Stratocumulus clouds bring rain.

Question 18

Condensation raises atmospheric humidity.

Question 19

The leeward side of a mountain range is often warmer and drier than the windward side.

Question 20

For most locations, specific humidity increases at night.

Question 21

Currently, clouds cause net cooling worldwide.

Question 22

The latent heat of melting is the energy that is used to evaporate liquid.

Question 23

Air with a high dew-point temperature has a lower specific humidity than air with a low dew-point temperature.

Question 24

Cirrus clouds can cause both positive and negative feedbacks in the climate system.

Question 25

Cirrus clouds are composed entirely of ice crystals.

Question 26

Over most of the oceans, evaporation exceeds precipitation.

Question 27

Adiabatic temperature changes occur inside a parcel of air.

Question 28

When an air parcel is cooler than the surrounding environment it is unstable.

Question 29

Cloud droplets form around condensation nuclei.

Question 30

Air with a high dew-point temperature has a higher vapor pressure than air with a low dew-point temperature.

Question 31

Cloud negative forcing causes cooling of the atmosphere.Cloud positive forcing causes warming of the atmosphere.

Question 32

Sensible heat changes the temperature of a substance.Latent heat does not.

Question 33

Ice is less dense than liquid water.

Question 34

Precipitation includes solid or liquid water that falls from clouds to the ground.

Question 35

Heavy rains are made by cumulonimbus.

Question 36

Only nimbostratus make hail.

Question 37

In a snow gauge, 10 centimeters of snow usually melts into about 5 centimeters of liquid water.

Question 38

Satellites can measure precipitation by taking direct samples.

Question 39

The moist adiabatic lapse rate is always greater (faster) than the dry adiabatic lapse rate.

Question 40

An air parcel is a body of air with uniform humidity and temperature.

Question 41

Hailstones start as graupel and grow larger the longer the hail is suspended in a cloud.

Question 42

Which will occur least when the relative humidity is 100 percent?

A)saturation
B)condensation
C)the release of latent heat
D)evaporation

Question 43

A jet contrail is a naturally forming cloud.

Question 44

Tropical air has a high relative humidity because the air is humid.

Question 45

Which U.S.state most likely has the highest specific humidity at any given time?

A)Nevada
B)North Dakota
C)Georgia
D)Maine

Question 46

Which does not occur as water changes phase from liquid to vapor?

A)evaporation
B)absorption of heat
C)a phase change
D)warming of the surrounding environment

Question 47

Vapor pressure expresses the water-vapor content of the air by how much pressure in millibars the water vapor exerts.

Question 48

The moist rate of adiabatic cooling varies depending on how much water vapor is condensing to liquid.

Question 49

Up to 600 calories per gram of water are absorbed from the environment during evaporation.

Question 50

Fog over the ocean is always advection fog.

Question 51

The more water vapor that condenses, the slower the rate of moist adiabatic cooling will occur.

Question 52

Fog is a type of alto cloud.

Question 53

Atoms of hydrogen and oxygen form attachments to make a water molecule through __________.

A)covalent bonding
B)hydrogen bonding
C)adhesive bonding
D)cohesive bonding

Question 54

How many calories are required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water from 30 degrees to 31 degrees Celsius?

A)1
B)100
C)541
D)800

Question 55

The dry adiabatic rate of temperature change for an unsaturated air parcel is __________.

A)3.5 degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters
B)6.5 degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters
C)10 degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters
D)12 degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters

Question 56

__________ clouds create a halo around the Sun or Moon.

A)Cirrus
B)Cirrostratus
C)Altostratus
D)Stratus

Question 57

What is the relative humidity for a parcel of air with 6 millibars vapor pressure and 30 millibars saturation vapor pressure?

A)20%
B)30%
C)40%
D)50%

Question 58

Ice has fewer hydrogen bonds than liquid.

Question 59

Clouds are made of water vapor.

Question 60

All clouds take three basic forms: stratiform, cumuliform, and cirriform.

Question 61

Which location typically has the highest specific humidity?

A)at high latitudes over water
B)at high latitudes over land
C)in the tropics over land
D)in the tropics over water

Question 62

Dew-point temperatures above __________ degrees Celsius are uncomfortable to people.

A)15
B)20
C)25
D)30

Question 63

Alto clouds form above __________ meters altitude.

A)2,000
B)3,000
C)7,000
D)10,000

Question 64

The largest official hailstone was the size of a __________.

A)golf ball
B)baseball
C)softball
D)bowling ball

Question 65

Atmospheric humidity is measured with a __________.

A)barometer
B)thermometer
C)hygrometer
D)altimeter

Question 66

A positive feedback system causes a system to become __________.

A)destabilized
B)stabilized
C)stronger
D)weaker

Question 67

Which sequence presents the process of collision and coalescence in the right order?

A)cloud droplets-collision and coalescence-condensation nuclei-raindrops
B)condensation nuclei-collision and coalescence-cloud droplets-raindrops
C)condensation nuclei-cloud droplets-collision and coalescence-raindrops
D)collision and coalescence-condensation nuclei-cloud droplets-raindrops

Question 68

Which is likely to occur when the dew-point temperature is below freezing?

A)saturation
B)dew
C)frost
D)evaporation

Question 69

__________ occurs when air moves over mountains.

A)Convective uplift
B)Orographic uplift
C)Frontal uplift
D)Convergent uplift

Question 70

When an air parcel rises it __________.

A)expands and cools
B)expands and warms
C)compresses and cools
D)compresses and warms

Question 71

Finish this sentence: On the surface of this glass of water __________.

A)there is net condensation
B)there is net evaporation
C)condensation and evaporation are equal
D)the relative humidity is below 100 percent

Question 72

Which directly results from the absorption of solar energy?

A)condensation
B)evaporation
C)precipitation
D)deposition

Question 73

The moist adiabatic rate of cooling is usually about __________ degrees Celsius per 1,000 meters.

A)3
B)6
C)9
D)12

Question 74

For Scenario 1, at 3,000 meters the air is __________.

A)stable
B)unstable
C)neither stable nor unstable
D)saturated

Question 75

When an air parcel sinks it __________.

A)expands and cools
B)expands and warms
C)compresses and cools
D)compresses and warms

Question 76

A conditionally unstable atmosphere mainly occurs when __________.

A)an air parcel temperature is lower than the surrounding air
B)an air parcel temperature is higher than the surrounding air
C)an air parcel is unsaturated near the ground and saturated higher up
D)an air parcel temperature is equal to the surrounding air near the ground

Question 77

Which cloud type is associated with severe weather?

A)cumulus
B)cumulonimbus
C)nimbostratus
D)cirrus

Question 78

__________ occurs when heated air parcels rise in the atmosphere.

A)Convective uplift
B)Orographic uplift
C)Frontal uplift
D)Convergent uplift

Question 79

Which statement is not true about the LCL (lifting condensation level)?

A)Below the LCL the air temperature is greater than the dew-point temperature.
B)The relative humidity is 100 percent at the LCL.
C)The vapor pressure is equal to the saturation vapor pressure above the LCL.
D)Evaporation exceeds condensation above the LCL.

Question 80

After the oceans, __________ is\are the most important source of water vapor to the atmosphere.

A)plants
B)snow
C)groundwater
D)streams