click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Weather part 1 vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Air Pressure | the measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface |
| Mesosphere | middle layer of atmosphere; 51-85 km; coldest layer; this is where meteors burn up |
| Altitude | elevation (height) above sea level |
| Troposphere | lowest layer of earths atmosphere; 0-17 km above earths surface, site of weathers, organisms, contains most atmospheric water vapor |
| Stratosphere | 2nd layer of the atmosphere; extends from 10 to 30 miles u; location of ozone layer; absorbs 95% of ultraviolet radiation; temperature increases with altitude increase |
| Thermosphere | the fourth layer of the atmosphere, in which temperature increases as altitude increases |
| Exosphere | the outer layer of the thermospher, extending outward into space |
| atmospheric gases | nitrogen makes up 78%, 21% oxygen and remaining 1% is carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases |
| Nitrogen (N2) | most abundant gas in the atmosphere (78%) |
| Oxygen (O2) | gas that makes up 21% of the air in earth's atmosphere. It passes into the bloodstream at the lungs and travels to all body cells |
| Carbon dioxide (CO2) | a greenhouse gas: a gas that absorbs and radiates heat |
| Trace Gases | gasses such as hydrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, and argon that exist in very small quantities in the atmosphere; gasses that make up less than 1% of earth's atmosphere |
| water vapor | water in the form of a gas |
| Fossil fuels | a natural substance formed from the buried remains of ancient organisms that can be used as a source of energy |
| greenhouse gasses | gasses in earth's atmosphere that trap heat near the surface |
| water cycles | the continuous process by which water moves from earth's surface to the atmosphere and back |
| Evaporation | the change of a substance from a liquid to a gas |
| Condensation | the change from a gas to a liquid |
| precipition | any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches earths surface (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist) |
| transpiration | evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant |
| crystallization | the process by which a substance becomes a solid sort of like freezing |
| surface run off | water that flows over land until it reaches lakes rivers or other areas |
| ground water flow | water that is flowing beneath earths surface |
| dew | water that has condensed on a cool surface overnight from water vapor in the air |
| frost | ice formed when water vapor changes directly into ice crystals |
| ozone (03) | part of earths upper atmosphere; it protects people by absorbing harmful rays from the sun |
| greenhouse affects | a warming of earth's surface and the air above it. It is caused by gasses in the air that trap energy from the sun |