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54 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What are the four main layers in the atmosphere that change temperature?
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Mesophere (50 to 80 km), Thermosphere (Above 80 km), Statusphere (12 to 50 km), and Troposhpere (0 to 12 km.)
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What is the troposhpere and its characteristics?
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-It is the inner and lowest layer of Earths atmosphere.
-It is the layer where weather occurs (rain, snow, storms etc). - The depth varies from 16 km. to 9 km.-> most shallow layer - But contains the most mass -Temperature decreases when you go higher. - at the top of the troposphere it stops at -60 degrees C |
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What are the stratospheres characteristics?
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- it rises 50 km. above the earths surface.
- contains ozone layer and its the second layer - divided into the upper and lower parts (Lower is colder!) -strato means spread out -Its ozone layer gets energy from the sun and converts it to heat.-> warms Earth |
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What are the characteristics of the Mesosphere?
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- middle layer of all (third layer) - meso = middle
-go's up to 80 km. above earths surface -temperature go's to -90 degrees C - protects earth from being hit by meteoroids. |
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What are meteroids?
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chunks of stone and metal from space.
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What are the characteristics of the Thermosphere?
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- Outer layer
- from 80 km. to outer space - 1800 degrees C - burning! (thermo = heat) - because sunrays hit that layer first - thinnest layer, air very thin (not dense) - 2 layers: the ionosphere and exosphere. |
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What is the Ionosphere?
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- lower layer of thermosphere
- from 80 km. to 400 km. - electronically charged layer - charged by the energy from the sun - here is where Brilliant Light displays occur ("Northern Lights" or "Aurora Borealis") |
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What is the exosphere?
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- outer layer
- from 400km. to thousands of km. |
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What are pollutants?
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harmful substances in the water, air, or soil.
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What is Acid rain?
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Rain that contains a lot of acid.
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What is the division of the four layers of atmosphere based on?
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based on the changes of temperature of the air (which gets colder the further you go from earth)
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whys is the troposphere called troposphere? what does the name mean?
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tropo means change.
This is the layer where most change occurs. - this is where weather (rain,snow, storms, occur) |
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4 layers in order
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Around which layer did the 1st satellite orbits travel? (they were studying the weather)
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Stratosphere
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Does air has mass?
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Yes, because it is built with atoms and molecules that have mass.
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What are the properties of air?
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Density
Pressure |
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Whats density?
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The amount of mass in a given volume of air.
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How do you calculate the density of a substance?
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you divide its mass by its volume.
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What is pressure?
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the force pushing on an area or a surface.
ex: the atmosphere pushing on you |
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What is air pressure?
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the result of a column of air pushing down on an area.
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How much does an air column weigh?
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as much of a large school bus.
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Whats a barometer?
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a instrument used to measure air pressure.
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What are the two types of barometers?
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Mercury and Aneroid
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Whats a mercury barometer?
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IT consists of a glass tube open at the bottom end and a partially filled with mercury.
- the higher the mercury level on the tube, the greater the pressure (b/c air is pushing down) |
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What is a aneroid barometer?
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It has no liquid and has an air tight chamber.
- metal chamber that pushes out when pressure decreases and pushes in when pressure increases - as the shape changes, the needles move showing the pressure |
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What is altitude?
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The distance above sea level
= elevation. |
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How does increasing altitude affect air pressure and density?
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WHen altitude increases air pressure decreases so does density.
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Why doesn't the weight of the atmosphere crush you?
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b/c air is moving in all directions at all times, up, down, and in all sides
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what air exerts more pressure on someone (denser or non-dense)?
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denser air b/c it has more mass
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Mercury Barometer
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Aneroid Barometers
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How is Mercury Measured?
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- in millibars
- or in inches - 1 inch of mercury = 33.87 millibars |
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What is the relationship b/n altitude and air pressure?
and density? |
- an inverse relationship: as altitude increases, air pressure and density decrease
- low altitude, high air press, high density |
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where is air pressure the highest? why?
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at sea level, b/c it has the whole weight of the atmosphere on it
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Why is density lower as you go up in the atmosphere?
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b/c the atoms are more spread out the higher you go
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why you run out of breath at high altitudes
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b/c air is less dense at higher altitudes so there is less oxygen molecules per cubic meter - this is why you run out of breath at high altitudes
(but it's still 21% oxygen up or low- but molecules are more spread out) |
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What is weather?
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It is the condition of Earths atmosphere at a particular time and place.
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What is the atmosphere?
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the envelope of gases that surrounds the planet.
- a thin layer of gases |
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What is the composition of the earths atmosphere?
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it is made up of a mixture of atoms and molecules of different type.
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Whats an atom?
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it is the smallest unit of a chemical element that can exist by it self.
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What are molecules made up of?
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two or more atoms.
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What is the atmosphere made up of? (what gases)
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4 imp gases: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon,
water vapor, and many other gases, some liquids and solids |
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What is nitrogen?
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- it is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere.
- makes up a litttle more than 3/4 of the air we breathe. - 2 atoms in each molecule |
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What is oxygen?
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- makes up less then 1/4 volume of Earth - but 2nd most abundant
- Plants and animals take oxygen from the air -and use it to release energy from food. -needed for all fuel: to make a fir you need oxygen - reacts to steel and creates rust. - 2 atom per molecule |
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What is the Ozone?
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A from of oxygen with 3 atoms per molecule.
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Whats is carbon dioxide?
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- each molecule has 1 atom of carbon and 2 from oxygen.
- also essential to life (plants need it for food) |
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Whats do plants need to create food and survive?
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oxygen and carbon dioxide.
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What are in the " other gases" category?
- What % they make of Air? |
Argon and carbon dioxide - and some "trace gases"
- Make up 1% |
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What is water vapor?
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water from gas.
- it is invisible -each molecule contains 2 of hydrogen and 1 of oxygen. - Clouds from water vapor condenses air to form rain or snow. - amount of water vapor varies from place to place - imp role in weather |
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What does pure air contain?
Does it exist? |
only gases.
- it only exist in labs. - In reality, air has dust, smoke, salt, and other chemicals |
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Main role of Earth's Atmosphere? HOW does it do it?
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To make Earth suitable for living things
1)provides gasses living things need to survive 2)protects living things from dangerous sun radiation 3) traps energy from the sun - provides warmth 4)prevents Earth's surface from being hit by a meteorite |
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What does the atmosphere prevent?
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metroids or rocks from outer space.
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What 2 gases make up 99% of the gases in the dry air?
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Nitrogen and Oxygen
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Is water vapor the same as Steam?
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no. water vapor is gases
steam are tiny liquid drops |
