Chapter 6: Air Pressure and Winds
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
3) Neglecting friction, the speed and direction of the horizontal wind are determined by
A) only gravity
B) viscosity and turbulence
C) pressure gradient and Coriolis
D) temperature and humidity
E) gravity and humidity
4) Instead of the air flowing straight out of a high pressure system, it spirals out in a clockwise direction. The cause of the clockwise spiraling motion is
A) pressure gradient force
B) inertia
C) Coriolis force
D) turbulence
E) centripetal force
7) The force that generates wind is:
A) Coriolis force
B) centrifugal force
C) gravity
D) friction
E) none of these
8) Winds reported by a weather station are caused by
A) horizontal variations in pressure
B) decrease in air pressure with height
C) pressure changes over time
D) Earth rotation
E) both (a) and (d)

9) When air moves from the ocean onto land:
A) the winds tend to increase their speed
B) converging winds and ascending air result over the land
C) curved flow is initiated
D) divergence and subsidence occur over the land
E) any or all of these things may occur
10) If the Earth were not rotating:
A) air would move directly from higher to lower pressure
B) friction would be eliminated
C) the Earth would lose its atmosphere
D) all air would move in one direction only
11) The Coriolis effect occurs because of this characteristic of the Earth:
A) its dense core
B) its rotation
C) its atmosphere
D) its magnetic field
E) none of these
13) Which of the following has the smallest impact on winds?
A) friction
B) Coriolis effect
C) pressure gradient force
D) humidity
E) none of these affect wind
14) The Coriolis effect influences the wind by
A) decreasing the wind speed B) increasing the wind speed
C) starting the air motion D) changing the direction of the wind
16) The primary force which causes all winds is
A) inertia force
B) Coriolis effect
C) pressure gradient force
D) geostrophic force
E) centrifugal force

19) High air pressure zones are usually associated with:
A) diverging winds
B) clear weather
C) descending currents
D) relatively dry conditions
E) all of these
21) If "fair" weather is approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be:
A) rising
B) falling
C) steady
D) pressure tendency has nothing to do with forecasting good or bad weather
E) none of these
22) The geostrophic wind describes a situation where the air moves
A) upward
B) very fast
C) very slowly
D) parallel to the isobars
E) from pole to equator
24) The best explanation for the cause of atmospheric pressure is
A) air compression
B) air density
C) wind force
D) weight of the air above
E) air temperature
25) Horizontal variations in air pressure cause a force which makes the wind blow.
These pressure variations are caused by
A) uneven heating of the Earth's surface
B) warm temperatures in the stratosphere
C) greenhouse effect
D) non-circular shape of Earth
E) Earth's rotation

26) Circulations in the Earth's atmosphere are fundamentally caused by
A) ocean currents
B) temperature contrasts between different locations
C) frontal storm systems
D) gravity
E) heating of the ozone layer
27) Which of these factors influence the magnitude of the Coriolis force?
A) wind speed
B) latitude
C) wind direction
D) all of these (a, b, and c)
E) both a and b
29) The wind speed normally increases with height in the layer of air next to the ground.
This illustrates the fact that
A) temperature decreases with height
B) the lowest part of the atmosphere is turbulent
C) friction is present only close to the ground
D) density decreases with height
E) pressure decreases with height
34) The geostrophic wind concept is most like the real atmospheric winds
A) in an anticyclone
B) in a cyclone
C) near the equator
D) near the surface
E) at high altitudes
35) If the Earth were not rotating
A) atmospheric pressure would decrease
B) all winds would cease
C) Earth would lose its atmosphere
D) air would move directly from high to low pressure

38) A steep pressure gradient:
A) would be depicted by widely spaced isobars
B) produces light winds
C) produces strong winds
D) is only possible in the tropics
E) none of these
41) The pressure gradient force is directed from higher to lower pressure
A) only at the equator
B) everywhere
C) everywhere except the equator
D) both b) and c)
E) only in the Northern Hemisphere