Homework Questions for Chapter 1 - The Earth and its Atmosphere
Questions 1 and 2 will be turned in for a grade. Questions 3-8 will be discussed by the discussion groups in class so please look them over before the discussion session.
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
c. between pressure levels of 700 hPa and 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. Assuming that a sample of air is comprised of only nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, what is the mean molecular weight of this sample of air? Assume that the molecular weights of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are 28.01, 32.00, and 39.95, respectively.
3. If you were given today's vertical temperature profile of the atmosphere up to an elevation near 20 km, how would you be able to locate the tropopause?
4. Which of the following statements relate more to weather and which relate more to climate?
a. the summers here are warm and humid
b. cumulus clouds presently cover the entire sky
c. our lowest temperature last winter was -29°C
d. the air temperature outside is 22°C
e. December is our foggiest month
f. the highest temperature ever recorded in Phoenixville, PA was 44°C on July 10, 1936.
g. snow is falling at the rate of 5 cm per hour
h. the average temperature for the month of January in Chicago, IL is -3°C.
5. If there were no ozone layer, sketch the vertical distribution of temperature from 0-120 km.
6.
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?
c. If the surface temperature is 30°C and the temperature at the top of Mt. Everest is -30°C, what is the mean
tropospheric lapse rate?
7. 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"?
8. Using the real-time weather information, how does the tropospheric depth change as you move north from Texas to Canada? Explain your observations.
9. Commercial aircraft typically fly at 30,000 ft. If the cabin was not pressurized, would you expect your stomach to expand or contract? Explain.
EXTRA CREDIT: Assuming an isothermal atmosphere, at what height above sea level would you be at a pressure of 100 mb?
last updated: 08/16/04