V1003 Science & Society
Due Oct. 15, 2014 in class
Homework #3
As with all homework assignments, the work must be your own.
1. Using the Ideal Gas law, sketch the following relationships as X-Y plots:
a) Temperature (x) and Pressure (y) under constant Density.
b) Temperature (x) and Density (y) under constant Pressure. What does this mean for an air
parcel when it heats up?
c) Pressure (x) and Volume (y) under constant Temperature.
2. The surface temperature at the airport is 20°C, what is the outside temperature at your flight
elevation of 10 km? How did you estimate this?
b. What if you were flying in an atmosphere that was absolutely dry?
3. Seasons
a. why are there seasons?
b. How would seasons be different if the Earth orbital tilt increased from 23.5° to , say,
45°?
c. How would the northern and southern hemisphere seasons differ if the Earth was a
rotating cylinder instead of a sphere (with the same axial tilt as today)?
4. Coriolis Effect
a. In your own words, describe what the Coriolis effect is.
b. If the Earth rotated very slowly (say 1/10th of its present rate) discuss how you think the
northern subtropical trade winds would be altered in their sped and direction. Sketch
what they look like today, and then what they’d look like under this different scenario.
c. This is a pressure map of Australia. The lines are isobars with the pressure values labeled
(in millibars). Sketch the surface wind arrows for positions A, B and C.
A
B
C
5. General Atmospheric Circulation
a. In your own words, identify the two main factors that cause the atmosphere to circulate?
(2 sentences or less)
b. Heating and water vapor drive the Hadley circulation, how? (2 sentences or less)?
c. Discuss how general atmospheric circulation is responsible for the following:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Location of rainforests
Location of deserts
The seasonal north-south migration of the ITCZ
The Asian Monsoon rains in India/China
d. Why is this figure below important? (2-3 sentences)
e. Sketch how you think would this figure look if the Earth rotated only very slowly (say
1/10th its rotational rate today) but had its same axial tilt and orbital path around the sun.
Discuss.