Chapter 7

Question 1

What is evaporation?

Answer 1

The phase change of a liquid to a gas

Question 2

Define transpiration.

Answer 2

The transfer of water into the air via leaf pores or stomata

Question 3

What does humidity measure?

Answer 3

The water vapor content of the air

Question 4

What is saturation?

Answer 4

Holding all the moisture it can

Question 5

What is specific humidity?

Answer 5

The weight of water vapor in the air per unit weight of air, which includes the weight of water vapor

Question 6

Define mixing ratio.

Answer 6

The weight of water vapor per unit weight of dry air

Question 7

What is vapor pressure?

Answer 7

The partial pressure created by water vapor

Question 8

What is saturation vapor pressure?

Answer 8

The pressure that water vapor creates when the air is fully saturated

Question 9

Define relative humidity.

Answer 9

The ratio of the amount of water vapor in the air to its saturation point

Question 10

What is condensation?

Answer 10

The phase change of water vapor into a liquid

Question 11

What are condensation nuclei?

Answer 11

Act as a platform for condensation to take place, increasing the size of a droplet and decreasing surface tension

Question 12

What is dew?

Answer 12

Small droplets of water that form as a result of condensation

Question 13

Define fog.

Answer 13

A cloud that forms near the ground

Question 14

What is radiation fog?

Answer 14

Forms during the evening under cloudless skies and with little to no wind

Question 15

What is steam fog?

Answer 15

Occurs when cool dry air settles over a warm, moist surface

Question 16

Define advection fog.

Answer 16

Forms when warm and moist air travels over a cool surface

Question 17

What is upslope fog?

Answer 17

Forms when moist air is forced up a slope

Question 18

What is frontal fog?

Answer 18

Associated with weather fronts, especially a warm front

Question 19

What is the saturated adiabatic rate?

Answer 19

If the air is saturated, the rate of temperature change is .6 C/100 meters

Question 20

What is the dry adiabatic rate?

Answer 20

If the air is dry, the rate of temperature change is 1 C/100 meters

Question 21

Define stable air.

Answer 21

Stable atmospheric conditions prevail when the environmental lapse rate is less than the saturated adiabatic rate

Question 22

What is unstable air?

Answer 22

Air is unstable when the environmental lapse rate is greater than the dry adiabatic rate

Question 23

Describe a cirrus cloud.

Answer 23

Appear as wispy thin veils or detached filaments composed mostly of ice

Question 24

What is a cirrostratus cloud?

Answer 24

A transparent, whitish veil of cloud that usually covers much of the sky

Question 25

Define altostratus.

Answer 25

Formless layer of grayish cloud that cover most if not all the sky

Question 26

What are stratus clouds?

Answer 26

Appear as a uniform dark-gray layer of clouds covering the entire sky

Question 27

Describe cumulus clouds.

Answer 27

Appear as small, cotton ball-like clouds that generally form by convection

Question 28

What is a nimbostratus cloud?

Answer 28

Dark-gray layer of clouds that cover the entire sky; the prefix 'nimbo' indicates that these clouds are precipitating

Question 29

Define cumulonimbus clouds.

Answer 29

Form during very unstable conditions

Question 30

What is a phase change?

Answer 30

The transition of a substance from one state of matter to another