WX201 Final Exam Questions with 100%
Correct Answers.
The temperature of the tropopause ____.
is much colder than the temperature at Earth's surface.
Earth's atmosphere is a relatively thin, gaseous envelope that comprises mostly ____ and
____, with small amounts of other gases.
nitrogen, oxygen
The unit of pressure most commonly found on a surface weather map is ____.
millibars or hectopascals
Which weather element always decreases as we climb upward in the atmosphere?
pressure
In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally:
increases with increasing height.
Your altimeter reads 18,000 feet, your barometer reads 500 hPa, and your air temperature
reads -10C. The pressure is less at 18,000 feet than at the surface because
there are fewer molecules above you.
Most human-made impurities found in the atmosphere present a health and environmental
hazard. These are called ____.
pollutants
Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?
water vapor
The four thermal layers of the atmosphere from the surface up are:
troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere.
,The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on the vertical profile of:
air temperature.
The ability or capacity to do work on some form of matter is called ____.
energy
In most of the world, temperature is recorded in ____.
degrees Celsius
The three ways to transfer heat are:
convection, conduction, radiation
The greenhouse effect is gasses in the atmosphere:
trapping outgoing infrared radiation
The heat energy that is released when water vapor changes to liquid water is called the
latent heat
Heat is energy in the process of being transferred from:
hot objects to cold objects.
Earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at ____.
infrared wavelengths
Sunlight that bounces off a surface is said to be ____ from the surface.
reflected
The sun emits its greatest intensity of radiation in ____.
the visible portion of the spectrum.
The only transfer of energy that can take place in a vacuum (i.e., no intervening matter is
required) is known as
electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
, When would one expect the warmest weather in middle latitudes in the summer in the
Southern Hemisphere?
January 21
Which of the following helps to explain why even though northern latitudes experience 24
hours of sunlight on June 22, they are not warmer on that day than latitudes that are
further south?
A given amount of incoming solar energy is spread over a larger area in the northern latitudes
compared to more southern latitudes.
Which of the following locations would most likely experience the coolest summers?
A location on the West Coast of the North American continent near 40oN (e.g., northern
California).
On the June summer solstice, the highest position of the noonday Sun is located:
over the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N).
Because the temperature of the night air depends primarily on the length of the night, the
moisture content of the air, cloudiness, and wind, one would expect the LOWEST
temperatures to be found next to the ground on a:
clear, dry, calm night.
Assuming that the night will remain clear, calm, and unsaturated, the predicted minimum
temperature is 32o F. Suddenly the wind speed increases and remains gusty throughout the
night. The minimum temperature will most likely be:
higher than predicted due to mixing.
The Earth experiences seasons because
the Earth's axis is tilted and always points in the same direction as the Earth revolves around the
sun.
The most important reason why summers in the Southern Hemisphere are not warmer
than summers in the Northern Hemisphere is that:
Correct Answers.
The temperature of the tropopause ____.
is much colder than the temperature at Earth's surface.
Earth's atmosphere is a relatively thin, gaseous envelope that comprises mostly ____ and
____, with small amounts of other gases.
nitrogen, oxygen
The unit of pressure most commonly found on a surface weather map is ____.
millibars or hectopascals
Which weather element always decreases as we climb upward in the atmosphere?
pressure
In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally:
increases with increasing height.
Your altimeter reads 18,000 feet, your barometer reads 500 hPa, and your air temperature
reads -10C. The pressure is less at 18,000 feet than at the surface because
there are fewer molecules above you.
Most human-made impurities found in the atmosphere present a health and environmental
hazard. These are called ____.
pollutants
Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?
water vapor
The four thermal layers of the atmosphere from the surface up are:
troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere.
,The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on the vertical profile of:
air temperature.
The ability or capacity to do work on some form of matter is called ____.
energy
In most of the world, temperature is recorded in ____.
degrees Celsius
The three ways to transfer heat are:
convection, conduction, radiation
The greenhouse effect is gasses in the atmosphere:
trapping outgoing infrared radiation
The heat energy that is released when water vapor changes to liquid water is called the
latent heat
Heat is energy in the process of being transferred from:
hot objects to cold objects.
Earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at ____.
infrared wavelengths
Sunlight that bounces off a surface is said to be ____ from the surface.
reflected
The sun emits its greatest intensity of radiation in ____.
the visible portion of the spectrum.
The only transfer of energy that can take place in a vacuum (i.e., no intervening matter is
required) is known as
electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
, When would one expect the warmest weather in middle latitudes in the summer in the
Southern Hemisphere?
January 21
Which of the following helps to explain why even though northern latitudes experience 24
hours of sunlight on June 22, they are not warmer on that day than latitudes that are
further south?
A given amount of incoming solar energy is spread over a larger area in the northern latitudes
compared to more southern latitudes.
Which of the following locations would most likely experience the coolest summers?
A location on the West Coast of the North American continent near 40oN (e.g., northern
California).
On the June summer solstice, the highest position of the noonday Sun is located:
over the Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N).
Because the temperature of the night air depends primarily on the length of the night, the
moisture content of the air, cloudiness, and wind, one would expect the LOWEST
temperatures to be found next to the ground on a:
clear, dry, calm night.
Assuming that the night will remain clear, calm, and unsaturated, the predicted minimum
temperature is 32o F. Suddenly the wind speed increases and remains gusty throughout the
night. The minimum temperature will most likely be:
higher than predicted due to mixing.
The Earth experiences seasons because
the Earth's axis is tilted and always points in the same direction as the Earth revolves around the
sun.
The most important reason why summers in the Southern Hemisphere are not warmer
than summers in the Northern Hemisphere is that:
