Name: __________________________________________________ Period: ____ Date: _______________
Chapter 11 Notes-The Earth’s Atmosphere
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Section 2: Properties of the Atmosphere
_______________ is a measurement of how rapidly or slowly _______________ move around.
__________ is the transfer of energy that occurs because of __________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Heat is the transfer of energy that ________________________________________, while
temperature is used to ____________________ and ______________________ that energy.
Temperature can be measured in degrees ______________________ (°F), in degrees
____________________ (°C), or in _______________________ (K), the
SI unit of temperature.
The ________________________ scale measures the number of kelvins above _______________
__________, a point where molecular motion theoretically stops.
Air Pressure and Density
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The _______________________________________ between Earth and atmospheric gases causes
particles of gas to be pulled toward the __________ of Earth.
Air pressure _________________ as you near the bottom of the atmosphere because of the greater
_____ of the atmosphere above you.
Atmospheric pressure _______________ with height because there are fewer and fewer gas particles
exerting pressure.
The density of air is proportional to the ___________________________________________________.
Temperature, pressure, and density are related.
In the atmosphere, temperature is directly proportional to ____________________.
If an air mass maintains a certain density, as ____________________ increases or decreases, pressure does, too.
The relationship between temperature and density is ____________________ proportional.
If an air mass maintains a certain pressure, as ____________________ increases, _______________ decreases,
and as temperature decreases, density increases.
In most atmospheric interactions, however, neither density nor pressure remains unchanged.
Temperature varies with changes in both _____________________ and _________________________.
Temperature is proportional to the ratio of ___________________to __________________, which decreases
with increasing _______________.
A ___________________ ___________________ is an increase in temperature with _______________ in an
atmospheric layer.
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This can happen when the lower layers of the atmosphere__________ __________ to Earth’s surface and
become __________ than the air above them.
A temperature inversion can act like ________________________________________________under the
inversion layer.
In all cases, the presence or absence of inversions can have a profound effect on_________________________
___________________________.
Air moves in response to ___________________ ________________________ created by the ______________
heating and cooling of Earth’s surface.
These imbalances, in turn, create areas of __________ and __________ pressure.
__________ can be thought of as air moving from an area of __________ pressure to an area of _____ pressure.
Wind speed generally increases with ________________ in the atmosphere because there is less ____________.
Air in the lower portion of the atmosphere always contains at least some __________ __________.
____________________ is the amount of water vapor in air.
____________ _______________ is the ratio of water vapor in a volume of air compared to how much water
vapor that volume of air is capable of holding.
Relative humidity varies with temperature because _________________________________________________
If the temperature of an air parcel increases and no additional water vapor is added, its relative humidity
_______________.
If more water vapor is added to the parcel, its relative humidity _______________.
Relative humidity is expressed as a _____________.
If a certain volume of air is holding as much water vapor as it possibly can, then its relative humidity is _____%.
If that same volume of air is holding half as much water vapor as it can, its relative humidity is _____ %, and so
on.
The __________ __________ is the temperature to which air must be cooled at constant pressure to reach
_______________.
____________________ is the point at which the air holds as much water vapor as it possibly can.
Condensation cannot occur until air is _________________.
____________________ occurs when matter changes state from a _____ to a _____________.
The temperature of the lower atmosphere _______________ with increasing distance from Earth’s surface.
An air mass that does not exchange heat with its surroundings will cool off by about _____°C for every
__________ increase in altitude.
The __________ ____________ __________ __________ is the rate at which unsaturated air, to which no heat
is added or removed, will __________.
If the air is able to continue rising, eventually it will cool to its ____________________ temperature.
The __________ ____________________ __________, or LCL, is the height at which condensation occurs.
The __________ _______________ __________ __________ rate is the rate at which saturated air cools and
ranges from about _____°C/1000 m in very warm air to almost ______°C/1000 m in very cold air.