Homework Questions for Chapter 1 - The Earth and its Atmosphere


 

SHOW ALL WORK , CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWER, PLEASE BE NEAT AND STAPLE YOUR HOMEWORK!

ALSO, PLEASE USE A SPREADSHEET FOR ALL GRAPHS

Follow the Problem solving steps discussed in class


1. Consider a column of air that is above a horizontal area of 1 square meter.  What is the mass of air in that column:

a.  above the earth's surface (assume that you are at sea level)

b.  above a height where the pressure is 500 hPa

 HINT:  Fg = mg where Fg is the force due to gravity, m is the mass of an object and g = 9.8 ms-2.

2.

a. The mean lapse rate of the troposphere is 6.5°C per km. If the surface temperature is 30°C, what is the

temperature at the top of Mt. Everest which is 9 km above the surface?

b. What is this temperature in °F?

3. Which exerts more pressure: a 4000 lb elephant standing on one leg with a foot size of 8" x 8" or a 120 lb woman standing on one leg in high-healed shoes with a heal size of 1"x1"?

4. What is the important, fundamental point with the material we discussed on this page: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/chapter1/var_gasses.html?

EXTRA CREDIT: Assuming an isothermal atmosphere, at what height above sea level would you be at a pressure of 100 mb?