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Test 1 Flashcards

0
Q

What is science?

A

A body of knowledge about the natural world.

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1
Q

What questions does science answer?

A

How does nature work? How did nature get to be the way it is?

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2
Q

What are the steps of the scientific method?

A

1) Make observation 2) Formulate a hypothesis, 3) Perform an experiment 4) Collect data, 5) Draw conclusions

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3
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

An educated guess based on background knowledge of something. A logical explanation of an observation or a few observations. Is testable

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4
Q

What is a Theory?

A

A logical explanation of a series or many observations that have been extensively tested

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5
Q

A theory is much _____ in nature than a hypothesis.

A

broader

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6
Q

What is the Bergeron Process?

A

The process that generates much of the precipitation in the middle latitudes.

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7
Q

What two processes does the Bergeron Process rely on?

A

Supercooling and Supersaturation

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8
Q

How big must a cloud droplet grow for precipitation for form?

A

They must grow roughly one million times in volume

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9
Q

Water in the liquid state below 0*C is referred to as what?

A

Supercooled

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10
Q

How big are cloud droplets?

A

Under 20 micromillimeters

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11
Q

When cool air moves over warm water, this produces what?

A

Steam Fog

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12
Q

When front wedging occurs and lifts warm air containing rain, while the cold air below is near it’s dew point, this produces what?

A

Frontal Fog

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13
Q

When warm, moist air moves over a cold surface, this produces what?

A

Advection fog

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14
Q

On cool, clear, calm nights, when earth’s surface cools rapidly by radiation, _____ forms.

A

Radiation Fog

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15
Q

What is fog defined as?

A

a cloud with it’s base at or very near the ground.

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16
Q

What 3 types of clouds are found above 6000 meters?

A

Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus

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17
Q

What are the two types of middle clouds?

A

Altocumulus and Altostratus

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18
Q

What types of clouds are considered “low clouds” below 2000 meters?

A

Stratocumulus, Stratus, and Nimbostratus

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19
Q

What are the two types of clouds of vertical development?

A

Cumulus and Cumulonimbus

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20
Q

What type of cloud is described as “thin, delicate, fibrous, ice crystal clouds”?

A

Cirrus

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21
Q

What type of cloud is described as “Thin, white, ice-crystal clouds in the form of ripples, waves, or globular masses all in a row?”

A

Cirrocumulus

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22
Q

What type of clouds are described as “Thin sheet of white, ice-crystal clouds that may give the sky a milky look”

A

Cirrostratus

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23
Q

What type of cloud is described as “white to gray clouds often composed of separate globules”

A

Altocumulus

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24
What type of cloud is described as "stratified veil of clouds that are generally thin and may produce very light precipitation"?
Alsostratus
25
What type of clouds are described as "Soft, gray clouds in globular patches or rolls. Rolls may join together to make a continuous cloud"
Statocumulus
26
What type of cloud is described as "Low Uniform layer resembling fog but not resting on the ground. May produce drizzle"
Stratus
27
What type of cloud is described as an "amorphous layer of dark gray clouds. One of the chief precipitation-producing clouds"
Nimbostratus
29
What is described as "Dense, billowy clouds often characterized by flat bases"
Cumulus
30
What is described as "Towering cloud sometimes spreading out on top to form an "anvil head"?
Cumulonimbus
31
What is an object that makes a very good condensation nuclei because it absorbs water?
Hygroscopic nuclei
32
On a dreary, drizzly day, what kind of air has been forced aloft?
stable
33
Unstable air generates what kind of weather?
Thunderstorms
34
When the temperature in a layer of air actually increases with altitude, this is called a _____-
Temperature inversion
35
What are the 4 mechanisms that force air to rise?
Orographic lifting, Frontal wedging, Convergence, Localized convective lifting
36
What happens in Orographic lifting?
Air is forced to rise over a mountainous barrier
37
When air is allowed to expand, it _____
cools
38
When air is compressed, it _____
warms
39
When heat is neither added nor subtracted, but temperature changes, this is called _____
an adiabatic temperature change
40
When small cloud droplets are suspended in air, and collide with other droplets and grow, increasing in velocity, flattens into a donut, and break into smaller drops as rain, this is called what?
The collision-coalescence process
41
Raindrops can grow to a maximum size of ____
5 mm
42
What is a scientific law?
A simple description/statement or equation that describes a behavior in nature
43
A scientific law is not tested, but _____
measured or observed repeatedly
44
What are the 4 earth sciences?
Meteorology, Geology, Astronomy, Oceanography
45
What is the atmosphere?
A thin envelope of gases around the earth, held to the surface by gravity
46
What are the 3 big gases in the atmosphere?
Nitrogen, oxygen, argon
47
What makes up 99% of the atmosphere?
Nitrogen and oxygen
48
All other gases make up what percentage of the atmosphere?
.1%
49
What are the permanent gases? (meaning the concentration doesn't change over time)
The big 3, and the noble gases
50
What are the noble gases?
neon, helium, hydrogen, xenon
51
What are the variable gases in the atmosphere?
H2O vapor, CO2, CH4, N2O, O3, CFCs
52
What is the #1 greenhouse gas?
Water vapor
53
What are the 4 thermal layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere
54
What are the two phenomena of the troposphere?
Weather and greenhouse effect
55
What is the phenomena of the stratosphere?
Ozone layer
56
What is the phenomenon of the mesosphere?
meteors burn up
57
What is the phenomenon of the thermosphere?
the auroras
58
What is a pause in the atmosphere?
Where the temperature change stabilizes before switching directions
59
What are the two non-thermal layers of the atmosphere?
Exosphere and Ionosphere
60
Where is the exosphere located?
Top of the thermosphere
61
Where is the ionosphere located?
Top of the mesosphere and the thermosphere
62
What is energy?
the ability to do work
63
What are the two types of energy?
Potential energy and kinetic energy
64
What is the sun composed of?
H2 and He
65
What is the surface temperature of the sun?
10,000* F
66
The sun uses nuclear fusion. What is it?
H+H -->He+energy+neutrons
67
When the sun consumes all it's hydrogen, it will begin consuming what?
Helium

Earth Science (4 decks)

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