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?