Atmosphere Section B – Flashcards
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Unlock answersOrder these radiation tyes in order of increasing wavelength:
gamma, radio, visible. |
gamma, visible, radio. |
True or false: water vapor is a major greenhouse gas.
|
True. |
How are wavelength and frequency related? |
The shorter the wavelength the higher the frequency. |
The higher the energy the (longer/shorter) the wavelength |
Shorter. |
What absorbs more heat: black or white? |
| Black. Light colors reflect, dark colors absorb. |
How many nanometers are in one meter? |
One billion. |
"In what unit are waves measured in and why?"
One could argue this is a vague question...why? |
Waves have a few properties that can be measured, not just one property.
You could measure the frequency, the wavelength, or the energy of the wave. |
In what metric prefix are visible wavelengths usually reported in and why? |
Nanometers, because the numbers are in the 100's range, and are easily reported. |
What is a photon? |
A photon is a bundle of energy. |
Why does some of the Sun’s radiation not reach the Earth’s surface?
|
20% of the radiation is absorbed by clouds, dusts, and greenhouse gases, and never reaches the Earth's surface. |
| What % of the Sun's radiation is reflected directly back to space when it hits our atmosphere? |
31% of the radiation is reflected back into the space. |
What percent of radiation is absorbed by the surface of the Earth? |
49% |
A greater percentage of the Sun's radiation is
a. absorbed by the atmospheric gases. b. absorbed by the Earth's surface. |
| b. |
| What three human activities are most responsible for increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere? |
Deforestation, combustion of fossil fuels, and cement production.
|
| What is a common carbon source found on Earth? |
| Dead organisms |
What is a common carbon sink found on Earth? |
Forests
(although the Ocean is awfully significant as well!) |
| What is the Largest carbon sink on the Earth? |
| The Oceans. |
If sources produce more CO2 than sinks can remove, then CO2 in the atmosphere increases or decreases? |
| Increases. |
Has human population positively or negatively impacted sources and sinks and why? |
Negatively because we use machinery, fuels and transportation that produce CO2and we destroy many sinks, such as trees. |
| What is a release agent? |
| An activity that adds CO2 to the atmosphere. |
| The relationship between the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere and the burning of fossil fuels is (direct / indirect). |
Direct. |
| What formof radiation do CO2 and water vapor absorb, that contributes to global climate change? |
| IR radiation (aka heat). |
| What are the 3 most prevalent green house gases? |
| water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane. |
| The specific heat capacity of liquid water is relatively (high/low), and this means that liquid water heats up (slowly/quickly). |
High; slowly. |
Air has a specific heat capacity value equal to
1.0 Joule/gram.degree C.
This means that it takes 1.0 Joule of energy to...
|
| raise the temperature of 1 gram of air by 1 degreee C. |
| Calculate the energy necessary to heat a 3g sample of water from 8°C to 15°C |
q = mC?T
q = (3 g) (4.18 J/g°C) (7 °C)
q = 87.78 J
|
| If 750 J are absorbed by a 8 g sample of water, how much has the temperature changed? |
q = mC?T
750 J = (8 g) (4.18 J/g°C) (?T)
750 J = 33.44 J/°C (?T)
?T = 22.43 °C |
| What is the chemical composition of a cloud? |
| Water vapor/ice crystals. |
| The small percentage of UV radiation that enters our atmosphere is primarily absorbed by this atmospheric gas: _____ |
Ozone (O3). |
| Two important carbon sinks are |
| the Oceans and long-lived trees (forests). |
| The relationship between the rate of deforestation and atmospheric CO2 levels is (direct/inverse). |
| Direct. |
| UV - C radiation is used for sterilization because it has (high/low) frequency and (high/low) energy. |
| high; high |
