Deck 4: Humidity, Condensation and Clouds

Question 1

As the difference between the air temperature and the dew point increases, the relative humidity ____.

A) increases
B) decreases
C) remains constant at a value less than 100%
D) remains constant and equal to 100%

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Dew is most likely to form on ____.

A) clear, calm nights
B) cloudy, calm nights
C) clear, windy nights
D) cloudy, windy nights

Answer 2

A

Question 3

As the air temperature increases, with no addition of water vapor to the air, the dew point will ____.

A) remain the same
B) increase
C) decrease
D) become equal to the air temperature

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Particles that serve as surfaces on which water vapor may condense are called ____.

A) hydrophobic nuclei
B) nacreous nuclei
C) condensation nuclei
D) scud

Question 5

As the air temperature increases, the air's capacity for water vapor ____.

A) increases
B) decreases
C) remains constant
D) can either increase or decrease because it is unrelated to air temperature

Question 6

Which instrument uses wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures to obtain relative humidity?

A) infrared hygrometer
B) sling psychrometer
C) hair hygrometer
D) electrical hygrometer

Question 7

The production of dew is mainly the result of ____.

A) conduction
B) radiational cooling
C) cooling due to the release of latent heat
D) advection

Question 8

What is a measure of how cool skin can become, i.e., the lowest temperature that can be reached by evaporating water into the air?

A) dew point temperature
B) wet-bulb temperature
C) dry-bulb temperature
D) heat index

Question 9

If water vapor comprises 3.5% of an air parcel whose total pressure is 1000 mb, the water vapor pressure would be ____.

A) 1035 mb
B) 35 mb
C) 350 mb
D) 965 mb

Question 10

Frost forms when ____.

A) conditions are cold, cloudy, and windy
B) the dew point is 32 ° F or below
C) the dew point is above 32 ° F
D) dew freezes

Question 11

The percentage of water vapor present in the air compared to that required for saturation is the ____.

A) mixing ratio
B) absolute humidity
C) dew point
D) relative humidity

Question 12

____ occupy or cover approximately 70% of the earth's surface.

A) Forests
B) Cities
C) Oceans
D) Clouds

Question 13

If very cold air is brought indoors and warmed with no change in its moisture content, the saturation vapor pressure of this air will ____ and the relative humidity of this air will ____.

A) increase; increase
B) decrease; decrease
C) increase; decrease
D) decrease; increase

Question 14

The total mass of water vapor stored in the atmosphere represents about one ____ supply of the world's precipitation.

A) day's
B) week's
C) month's
D) year's

Question 15

A baseball will travel slightly farther on a ____ day.

A) cool, clear
B) cool, cloudy
C) hot, dry
D) hot, humid

Question 16

When the air temperature increases, the saturation vapor pressure will ____.

A) increase
B) decrease
C) remain the same
D) vary over an increasingly broad range of values

Question 17

Polar air is often described as dry even though the relative humidity is high. This is because in polar regions, ____.

A) the dew point and air temperature are normally close together
B) there is a large separation between dew point and air temperature
C) the air has a high absolute humidity
D) there is a high dew point temperature

Question 18

Which of the following would cause relative humidity to decrease?

A) cooling the air
B) warming the air
C) increasing the actual water vapor pressure
D) decreasing the saturation water vapor pressure

Question 19

The Heat Index (HI) is based on the apparent temperature, which is a combination of air temperature and ____.

A) wind speed
B) relative humidity
C) solar intensity
D) cloud cover

Question 20

The temperature to which air must be cooled in order to become saturated is the ____.

A) minimum temperature
B) dew point temperature
C) wet-bulb temperature
D) freezing point

Question 21

Radiation fog forms when ____.

A) air pressure at the ground drops suddenly
B) air next to the ground is cooled
C) water vapor is added to air next to the ground
D) there is a increase in condensation nuclei in air at the ground

Question 22

There are two primary types of weather satellites in use for viewing clouds. The first are geostationary satellites and the second are ____ satellites.

A) equatorial
B) polar-orbiting
C) geosynchronous
D) visible cloud

Question 23

Light or moderate continuous precipitation is most often associated with ____ clouds.

A) nimbostratus
B) cirrostratus
C) cirrocumulus
D) cumulonimbus

Question 24

Thin, wispy clouds blown by high winds into long streamers, called mare's tails, are ____.

A) stratus
B) cirrocumulus
C) altostratus
D) cirrus

Question 25

A halo around the moon means that ____.

A) cirrostratus clouds are present
B) the clouds overhead are low clouds
C) rain is falling from the clouds overhead
D) the clouds are composed of water droplets

Question 26

A warm rain falling through a layer of cold, moist air can produce ____.

A) radiation fog
B) frontal fog
C) advection fog
D) upslope fog

Question 27

A low, lumpy cloud layer that appears in rows, patches or rounded masses would be classified ____.

A) nimbostratus
B) stratus
C) cumulus
D) stratocumulus

Question 28

An anvil-shaped top is most often associated with ____.

A) cumulonimbus
B) cumulus congestus
C) altocumulus
D) cumulus humilis

Question 29

Exhaled breath from your mouth in cold weather produces ____.

A) radiation fog
B) frontal fog
C) advection fog
D) evaporation (mixing) fog

Question 30

When viewed from the surface, high clouds that are small, rounded, white puffs occurring individually or in long rows are called ____.

A) stratocumulus
B) cirrostratus
C) cirrocumulus
D) cirrus

Question 31

Clouds that appear as bag-like sacks hanging from beneath a cloud are ____.

A) pileus clouds
B) lenticular clouds
C) mammatus
D) castellanus clouds

Question 32

When naming clouds, the term "stratus", or "strato", means ____.

A) thick clouds
B) storm clouds
C) low altitude clouds
D) layer clouds

Question 33

Which cloud is least likely to produce precipitation that reaches the ground?

A) stratus
B) nimbostratus
C) cumulonimbus
D) cirrocumulus

Question 34

A dim, watery sun visible through a gray sheet-like cloud layer is often a good indication of ____ clouds.

A) stratocumulus
B) cirrostratus
C) altostratus
D) nimbostratus

Question 35

Cirrus clouds are composed primarily of ____.

A) water droplets
B) water vapor
C) ice particles
D) salt aerosols

Question 36

Hail is usually associated with what cloud?

A) cumulus
B) stratocumulus
C) altocumulus
D) cumulonimbus

Question 37

The name given to a towering cloud that produces precipitation that is showery with frequent changes in intensity is ____.

A) cumulus humilis
B) cumulus congestus
C) cumulonimbus
D) altocumulus

Question 38

On a cold, winter morning the most likely place for radiation fog to form is ____.

A) at the top of a hill or mountain
B) in a valley
C) along the side of a hill
D) over a body of water

Question 39

Which type of cloud shows the greatest vertical growth?

A) cumulus congestus
B) cumulus humilis
C) cumulonimbus
D) cirrocumulus

Question 40

A good example of ____ is observed along the Pacific Coast during summer, when warm, moist air from the ocean is carried over colder coastal waters.

A) radiation fog
B) high fog
C) advection fog
D) evaporation fog

Question 41

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. A large wet-bulb depression measured with a sling psychrometer means that a LARGE | SMALL amount of water is evaporating from the wet-bulb thermometer into the air and that the relative humidity is low.

Question 42

What does it mean when air is saturated?

Question 43

Hot air with a low relative humidity may actually contain more water vapor than cool air with a high relative humidity.

Question 44

Transpiration from plants and evaporation from soil, lakes, and streams account for the majority of the water vapor added to the atmosphere each year.

Question 45

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Water departments in many cities in the desert southwest encourage their customers to water lawns early in the day. This is because the relative humidity is at its HIGHEST | LOWEST value in the morning and the rate of evaporation from wet soil will be relatively low.

Question 46

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. ADVECTION | RADIATION fog forms when the wind moves warm, moist air over a sufficiently colder surface and the moist air is cooled to its saturation point.

Question 47

What happens to actual vapor pressure, saturation vapor pressure, and relative humidity when moist air is warmed?

Question 48

Describe lenticular clouds. Where are they frequently formed?

Question 49

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. When air is saturated, the rate of evaporation is GREATER THAN | EQUAL TO the rate of condensation.

Question 50

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. The ten principle cloud forms are divided into four primary cloud groups. Each of the four groups is identified by the HEIGHT | APPEARANCE of the clouds.

Question 51

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Dew is more likely to form on nights that are CLEAR AND CALM | CLOUDY AND WINDY.

Question 52

The relative humidity is often near 100% in the polar regions.

Question 53

Frost occurs when dew freezes.

Question 54

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Halos are sometimes observed in thin, sheetlike, high clouds, composed of WATER | ICE particles.

Question 55

Clouds can be accurately identified strictly on the basis of elevation.

Question 56

Describe the process of deposition.

Question 57

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Humid air is slightly MORE | LESS dense than dry air with the same temperature.

Question 58

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. At polar latitudes, high and middle altitude clouds are generally CLOSER TO | FURTHER FROM the ground than at tropical latitudes.

Question 59

Instructions: Choose one answer from each pair of selections. Most of the visibility problems that occur at airports, which can suspend flights and even close airports, are caused by COLD | WARM fogs.

Question 60

Small particles of ordinary table salt are hygroscopic. What does hygroscopic mean and what is a likely natural source of salt particles?

Question 61

List the four major cloud groups. What differences might you expect to find in the clouds of each of these cloud categories?

Question 62

Why is it better to water your lawn in the early morning instead of the afternoon?

Question 63

What is saturation vapor pressure and why does it increase with increasing air temperature?

Question 64

A person describes his or her level of discomfort on a hot, muggy day as follows: "It's not so much the heat, it's the humidity." Explain the validity of this statement.

Question 65

What are the two main ways in which fog usually forms? List and briefly explain four primary types of fog, and give an example of where each could be found.