Air Pressure and Wind Review – Flashcards
1. Air Pressure – the weight of the gases in the atmosphere pushing on the surface of the Earth.
2. What is a Barometer? An instrument that measure air pressure
3. What is an Isobar? – lines that connect points of equal air pressure.
4. Why are isobars used to map pressure? to determine the location of pressure system and act as a
way to forecast weather.
5. Other than altitude, what causes differences in air pressure? Temperature & Humidity
6. Diagram a High showing the vertical & surface winds.
7. Diagram a Low
.
8. Pressure gradient – a change in pressure between two places. This creates a force that makes
wind move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.
9. The movement of air from High to Low pressure is called? wind
10. Which absorbs more heat, land or water? land
11. Which radiates more heat, land or water? land
12. Diagram of a Sea Breeze
13. Why is there lower pressure over the land surface during the day? Land heats up faster than
water making the air above the land warm and it rises
14. Diagram of a Land Breeze
15. Why is there higher pressure over the land surface during the night? The land cools off more
quickly than the ocean so the land is cooler than the ocean at night and cooler air has a higher
pressure.
16. Radiation –the transfer of energy through space in the form of light or other electromagnetic
waves
17. Conduction – the transfer of heat energy through collisions of atoms or molecules of a substance.
18. Convection – the transfer of heat energy in a liquid or gas through the motion of the fluid caused
by density differences.
19. What happens to molecules in a liquid or a gas when it is heated? The molecules spread out and
it becomes less dense.
20. How does density affect fluid movement? Warm, less dense fluids rise and cooler, more dense
fluids sink
21. Diagram illustrating convection currents.
22. Why is radiation the only method of heat transfer through outer space? Because space is a
vacuum; there are no particles/molecules between the sun and the earth. Convection and Conduction
need molecules to transfer heat.
23. Earth’s surface is heated by which heat transfer method? Radiation
24. The air above the surface is heated by which heat transfer method? Conduction
25. Which heat transfer method drives land & sea breezes? Convection