Energy & Water
Weather Dynamics
Science 10
Planet Water
• Earth’s surface is only 30% land (70% water)
and Clouds cover much of this land.
• For this reason most of the incoming solar
radiation that penetrates the atmosphere strikes
water.
• Due to this, the interactions between solar
energy and water have a major influence on
weather.
• Is it any wonder that people have said that
“Planet Earth” should be named “Planet Water”?
Interactions
• Earth interacts with solar radiation in two ways:
• Absorbing the radiation and heating the Earth
OR
• Reflecting the radiation back out into space and
having no direct effect on us and our planet.
Interactions
• The type of interaction that occurs between solar
radiation and water depends on the state of the
water:
• Fresh, white snow reflects up to 90% of
incoming radiation
• Ice reflects about 50% of incoming radiation
• Water reflects only 7% of this radiation (So water
absorbs 93% of the incoming solar radiation.
Interactions
• For this reason, if Earth was covered entirely
with water, after 25 years the water would have
absorbed enough solar radiation to boil the
world’s oceans and make life on Earth
impossible.
Water is the only
substance on Earth
that occurs in nature in
all three states – solid,
liquid, and gas.
• This is a scary thought, however Earth’s
temperature has remained fairly constant for
thousands of years. Why do you think this is?
Interactions
• The temperature of oceans and very
large lakes are relatively constant
because:
• Water has some very unique properties.
Dun Dun Dun!
How do you catch a unique bird?
You gotta unique up on it!
How do you catch a tame bird?
Tame way! Unique up on it!
Water Properties: Property 1
• Water has a large specific heat capacity.
• Specific heat capacity is defined as the amount
of heat that is required to raise the temperature
of one gram of a substance one degree Celsius.
• Specific heat capacity is measured in J/g∙˚C
• Scientists have measured specific heat
capacities (c) for many substances.
Specific Heat Capacities
Substance in
Nature
Pure water
Specific Heat
Capacity (J/g∙˚C)
Sea water
3.89
Dry air
1.00
Wet mud
2.51
Brick
0.84
Granite
0.79
Limestone
0.92
4.18
Specific Heat Capacities
Liquid
Specific Heat
Capacity (J/g∙˚C)
Water
4.18
Methanol
2.55
Ethanol
2.46
Hexane
2.26
Toluene
1.80
Specific Heat Capacity
• The amount of heat required to heat
1 gram of a substance 1 degree can
be calculated with a formula:
Q=mc∆T
Amount of heat = Q
Mass/amount of substance = m
Specific heat capacity = c
Change in temperature = ∆T
∆ means
“change in”
Problem: Compare the increase in the temperature of 1.0
g of water and 1.0 g of ethanol when they each absorb 10J
of thermal energy.
Ethanol:
Amount of heat absorbed (Q) = 10J
Mass of ethanol (m) = 1.0g
SHC of ethanol (c) = 2.46 J/g∙˚C
Q=mc∆T
10J = (1.0g)( 2.46 J )∆T
g  C
10 J
= ∆T

2.46 J / C
4.1˚C = ∆T
Problem: Compare the increase in the temperature of 1.0
g of water and 1.0 g of ethanol when they each absorb 10J
of thermal energy.
Water:
Amount of heat absorbed (Q) = 10J
Mass of ethanol (m) = 1.0g
SHC of ethanol (c) = 4.18 J/g∙˚C
Q=mc∆T
10J = (1.0g)( 4.18 J )∆T
g  C
10 J
= ∆T

4.18 J / C
2.4˚C = ∆T
Problem: Compare the increase in the temperature of 1.0
g of water and 1.0 g of ethanol when they each absorb 10J
of thermal energy.
• When 1.0g of water absorbs 10J of energy, the
temperature increases by 2.4˚C,
• But when 1.0g of ethanol absorbs 10J of energy,
the temperature increases by 4.1˚C (almost double).
• This is because water has a higher specific heat
capacity! 
• What does this mean? We can attribute more heat
to water than most other substances and it will not
warm up as fast.
Water Properties: Property 2
• Even though water requires more energy than
most to heat up, it still absorbs a lot of solar
radiation and therefore would, overtime,
gradually heat up.
• This doesn’t explain why Earth remains at a
constant temperature entirely.
• A second property of water which helps to
explain this is called Heat of Vaporization.
Heat of Vaporization
• Heat of vaporization is the amount of heat
required to change 1 gram of a substance from a
liquid to a gas.
•
If the gas condenses back into a liquid, the
same amount of energy is released as heat.
• When water absorbs solar energy, some of this
energy is used to evaporate water and becomes
unavailable to heat up our oceans and other
large water bodies.
• Evaporation keeps us cool !
Heat of Vaporization
Liquid
Water
Heat of
Vaporization (J/g)
2260
Methanol
1076
Ethanol
855
Hexane
335
Toluene
363
Heat of Vaporization
• As you can see, water uses a large amount of its
absorbed energy in evaporation, giving water
one more tool in allowing Earth to keep its
constant temperature
• Water has a HIGH heat of vaporization.
• The amount of energy (heat) required to
evaporate a substance can also be calculated
using the formula:
Q=m∆H˚vap
Amount of Energy = Q
Mass of substance = m
Heat of vaporization = ∆H˚vap
Problem: A large hole in your driveway collects 2.7kg of
water. How much energy is required to evaporate all of the
water?
• Mass of water = 2.7kg
• Heat of vaporization of water = 2260J/g
2.7kg to g  1kg = 1000g
Q=m∆H˚vap
Q = (2700g)(2260J/g)
Q = 6 102 000 J
= 2700g
One joule in everyday life is approximately:
• the energy required to lift a small apple one
metre straight up.
• the energy released when that same apple
falls one metre to the ground.
• the energy released as heat by a person at
rest, every hundredth of a second.
Water Properties: Property 3
• Although our two previous properties are giving
us some ideas as to how the Earth remains at a
constant temperature, we still haven’t received
the entire picture.
• A third unique property of water is its large Heat
of Fusion
Heat of Fusion
Very similar to our Heat of Vaporization,
• Heat of fusion is the amount of heat that is
required to melt 1.0g of a solid into a liquid.
• It is also the amount of energy released by a
liquid when 1.0g of liquid freezes to a solid.
• Water has a large heat of fusion as well, using
some of the energy it absorbs in order to turn ice
into liquid water.
Heat of Fusion
Substance
Water
Heat of Fusion
(J/g)
333
Methanol
100
Ethanol
109
Hexane
152
Toluene
72
Heat of Fusion
• Water’s high heat of fusion and vaporization
together help to use up absorbed solar radiation
preventing our oceans from boiling 
• Heat of fusion can also be calculated by the
formula:
Q=m∆H˚fus
Amount of Energy = Q
Mass of substance = m
Heat of fusion = ∆H˚fus
Problem: A snowplough has pushed 750kg of snow into a
huge pile at the school. How much energy is required to
melt the pile?
•Mass of water (solid) = 750kg
•Heat of fusion of water = 333J/g
750kg to g  1kg = 1000g = 750 000g
Q=m∆H˚fus
Q = (750 000g)(333J/g)
Q = 249 750 000 J
Water in the Air
• When there is as much water vapour in the air
as possible it is called saturated.
• If water cools, or if more water evaporates,
some of the water vapour in the air will
condense into water droplets.
Humidity
• Humidity is the amount of water vapour in the air
• Absolute humidity is the actual amount of water vapour
in the air, in grams.
• Relative humidity, which you would hear on a weather
network or news broadcast is the percentage of water
vapour in the air.
• Relative humidity would be calculated by taking the
amount of water vapour in the air (Absolute humidity) and
dividing it by the saturated amount (maximum amount of
water that can exist at that temperature).
The Water Cycle
• Evaporation and Condensation are occurring
throughout the world, at all times.
• About 23% of all incoming solar radiation
causes liquid water to evaporate into water
vapour.
• Most evaporation comes from oceans, although
other water bodies contribute.
• Another important source of evaporation are
plants. Plants draw water up from their roots
and the water evaporates out through their
leaves.
The Water Cycle
• Due to the constant warming and cooling of
water at different places on Earth, much of the
solar radiation that would boil this planet to a
crisp is used up in order to help sustain an
environment where temperature is able to
remain fairly constant.
• Even putting on your coat and going outside in
the winter causes this exchange of warm and
cold air.
Do You Understand?
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8.
How does the specific heat capacity of water influence
the temperature of a large lake?
Compare heat of vaporization with heat of fusion.
What type of energy change occurs when liquid water
freezes?
What happens when saturated air cools?
Explain what a weather reporter means by “ The relative
humidity is 62 percent.”
If steam condense on skin, it can cause a very serious
burn. Use the concept of heat of vaporization to explain
the cause of the burn.
Assume that a small fish pond contains 4000kg of water.
If it absorbs 6.15 x 10 J of solar energy in one day, and
none is lost to evaporation, how much will the
temperature of the water rise?
If the same amount of energy was used to evaporate
water, how much water would evaporate?