Deck 12: Moisture, Clouds, and Precipitation

Question 1

Examine the graph. Based on the relationship between temperature and relative humidity, at what time of day would an Earth scientist expect the highest relative humidity?

A)6 am
B)11am
C)5 pm
D)12 am (midnight)

Answer 1

A

Question 2

"Frost" build up inside a household freezer is an example of which process?

A)evaporation
B)condensation
C)sublimation
D)deposition

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Examine the map. It shows dew-point temperatures on a typical September day. Where in the 48 contiguous United States would a psychrometer have the largest discrepancy between the dry bulb thermometer and the wet bulb thermometer?

A)southern Florida
B)western Oregon
C)northern Maine
D)southeastern Utah

Answer 3

D

Question 4

A fire extinguisher containing compressed CO₂ is used to put out a fire. In spite of being close to the flames, the firefighter notices a white layer of "frost" forming on the exterior of the fire extinguisher can. What's going on?

A)The gas in the extinguisher is expanding when released, cooling adiabatically.
B)The gas in the extinguisher is cooling under higher pressure.
C)The exterior temperature must be dropping.
D)The fire is pulling heat from the surrounding air.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a physical mechanism that causes air to rise?

A)orographic lifting
B)frontal wedging
C)adiabatic cooling
D)convergence

Question 6

Examine the figure. Which process is illustrated?

A)orographic lifting
B)frontal wedging
C)adiabatic cooling
D)convergence

Question 7

Rising air is ________ air.

A)stable
B)unstable
C)warming
D)cloudy

Question 8

A temperature inversion occurs when ________.

A)higher, cooler air acts like a lid, keeping warmer, lower air in place
B)higher, warmer air acts like a lid, keeping cooler, lower air in place
C)a warm front collides with a cold front
D)localized convective lifting occurs

Question 9

How does the wet adiabatic cooling rate compare to the dry adiabatic cooling rate?

A)It's higher (more degrees of temperature change per unit of change in altitude).
B)It's the same.
C)It's lower (fewer degrees of temperature change per unit of change in altitude).
D)It happens when air is compressed into a smaller volume.

Question 10

A 1-kilogram parcel of air is at 35°C and contains 7 grams of water vapor. What is the relative humidity?

A)20%
B)40%
C)50%
D)70%

Question 11

Examine the figure. Which process is illustrated?

A)orographic lifting
B)frontal wedging
C)adiabatic cooling
D)convergence

Question 12

The most important process of cloud formation in the atmosphere is ________.

A)cooling by compression of air
B)radiation cooling
C)cooling by expansion of air
D)cooling by release of latent heat of vaporization

Question 13

The change of state from a gas to a liquid is called ________.

A)evaporation
B)sublimation
C)condensation
D)melting

Question 14

Adiabatic temperature changes occur ________.

A)when heat is added
B)when heat is subtracted
C)when heat is neither added nor subtracted
D)when water vapor is added

Question 15

The term ________ is used to describe the conversion of a solid directly to a gas, without passing through the liquid state.

A)evaporation
B)sublimation
C)condensation
D)melting

Question 16

Which of the following would NOT be associated with stable atmospheric conditions?

A)widespread fog
B)dreary overcast with light drizzle
C)temperature inversion
D)afternoon thunder storms

Question 17

How can condensation be triggered to form clouds or fog?

A)Add sufficient water vapor to the air so that it reaches saturation.
B)Cool the air to its dew point.
C)Either of the above will work.
D)Neither of the above will work.

Question 18

________ is an indication of how near the air is to saturation rather than the actual quantity of water vapor in the air.

A)Mixing ratio
B)Relative humidity
C)Dew-point temperature
D)Adiabatic cooling

Question 19

Examine the figure. This flask contains 1 kilogram of dry air mixed with 20 grams of water vapor. It is at 25°C temperature. What would happen if its temperature was increased to 35°C?

A)The relative humidity would decrease, triggering evaporation from the pool of liquid water at the bottom of the flask.
B)The relative humidity would decrease, triggering condensation, and raising the level of the pool of liquid water at the bottom of the flask.
C)The relative humidity would increase, triggering condensation, and raising the level of the pool of liquid water at the bottom of the flask.
D)The relative humidity would increase, triggering evaporation from the pool of liquid water at the bottom of the flask.

Question 20

After the proper wet bulb measuring procedure, the two thermometers on a sling psychrometer yield the same temperature. This indicates that ________.

A)the relative humidity is low
B)the relative humidity is moderate
C)the air is warming up
D)the air is saturated with water vapor

Question 21

Hail is associated with cumulus clouds.

Question 22

Why are hygroscopic nuclei important?

A)They encourage cooling of the atmosphere.
B)They facilitate warming of the atmosphere.
C)They aid in condensation, and therefore in cloud formation.
D)They aid in evaporation, and therefore in cloud dissipation.

Question 23

What unusual situation can occur in the absence of condensation nuclei?

A)adiabatic warming
B)a relative humidity of more than 100%
C)cumulonimbus clouds
D)cirrostratus clouds

Question 24

The opposite of melting is condensation.

Question 25

When air sinks, it compresses and warms.

Question 26

Glaze is a consequence of advective fog.

Question 27

What two kinds of fog are the result of adding moisture to a layer of air?

A)advection and radiation
B)radiation and upslope
C)upslope and steam
D)steam and frontal

Question 28

Which of the following is a cloud of vertical development?

A)cirrus
B)stratocumulus
C)nimbostratus
D)cumulonimbus

Question 29

On average, snow takes up about ten times as much volume than the same water falling as rain.

Question 30

Examine the figure. Now consider whether the following statement is true or false: "This is an example of a psychrometer."

Question 31

The opposite of sublimation is deposition.

Question 32

Relative humidity is usually expressed as a percent.

Question 33

Examine the photo. Now consider whether the following statement is true or false: "This is an example of glaze."

Question 34

A raindrop large enough to reach the ground without completely evaporating contains roughly 1 million times more water than a single cloud droplet.

Question 35

Cirrostratus clouds are associated with stormy weather.

Question 36

Radar is capable of measuring how much precipitation is falling in a given location from as much as several hundred kilometers' distance away.

Question 37

The Bergeron process operates only in warm clouds.

Question 38

Clouds consist of ________.

A)water droplets
B)ice particles
C)either water droplets or ice particles
D)white-colored gases

Question 39

When warm moist air moves over a cold surface, ________ fog may result.

A)advection
B)radiation
C)upslope
D)steam

Question 40

The collision-coalescence process generates big raindrops that sweep up smaller cloud droplets, thus growing bigger. Potentially, they grow so large that frictional drag from the surrounding air causes the raindrop to break apart into a larger number of smaller droplets.

Question 41

________ is a type of fog that forms in valleys at night.

Question 42

Mixing ratio, relative humidity, and dew-point temperature are all ways of measuring the amount of ________ in the air.

Question 43

Relative to lower temperatures, high temperatures require ________ (more / the same amount / less)moisture to fully saturate the air.

Question 44

________ occurs when warm air is forced up and over a mass of cooler air.

Question 45

Compare and contrast absolute stability with absolute instability and conditional instability.

Question 46

Examine the photo. These balloons are rising because the ________ air inside the balloon is less dense than the surrounding air.

Question 47

________ is a kind of precipitation consisting of drops of water that fall from a cloud and have a diameter of at least 0.5 millimeter (0.02 inch).

Question 48

Match the items in the first column with the correct descriptions in the second column.

A)The process of converting a liquid into a gas.
B)The process by which water vapor changes directly to a solid.
C)The general term for the amount of water vapor in air.
D)The results of a situation where the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate. This occurs when air near the ground is significantly warmer (less dense)than the air aloft.
E)This process results in the absorption of about 80 calories of latent heat per gram of water.
F)The process by which water vapor changes to a liquid.
G)The temperature at which saturation occurs.
H)The part of the total atmospheric pressure that can be attributed to the water-vapor content.
1)deposition
2)condensation
3)melting
4)evaporation
5)humidity
6)vapor pressure
7)dew point
8)absolute instability

Question 49

________ occurs when moist air has an environmental lapse rate between the dry and wet adiabatic rates. Simply, the air is stable for an unsaturated parcel or air, but becomes unstable if the parcel of air be forced high enough for it be become saturated.

Question 50

________ temperature changes are those which do not involve the addition or subtraction of heat.

Question 51

Air that resists vertical motion is described as being stable.

Question 52

Updrafts in cumulonimbus clouds may loft small particles of ice through the cloud, coating them and producing ________.

Question 53

The ________ is the temperature to which a parcel of air would need to be cooled in order to reach saturation.

Question 54

Identify and label each of the cloud types (indicated by letters)in the accompanying figure.

Question 55

Explain how perspiring cools the skin.

Question 56

________ clouds that form sheets or layers that cover much of the sky.

Question 57

A wintertime form of precipitation that consists of small transparent or translucent ice particles is called ________.

Question 58

Any open container having a consistent cross-sectional area throughout can be used as a(n)________.

Question 59

________ is a cloud with its base at or very near the ground.

Question 60

Atmospheric ________ is the ultimate cause of weather.

Question 61

Examine the photo. Do these hot-air balloons illustrate absolute stability, absolute instability, or conditional instability? Explain.

Question 62

Why is the vertical movement of air critical to the formation of clouds and precipitation? What role do adiabatic temperature changes play in these processes?

Question 63

Examine the photo. Explain how the relative humidity inside the house compares to the relative humidity outside the house on this particular day.

Question 64

On a warm summer day, you go outside and feel fat, cold raindrops splashing on your hands. On a winter day, you go outside and notice fat, fluffy snowflakes piling up on top of your mittens. Compare and contrast the mechanisms by which these two kinds of precipitation were produced.