Question | Answer |
Temperature | A measure of how hot or cold an object is compared to a reference point. |
Thermometer | An instrument used to measure temperature. |
Conduction | The direct transfer of thermal energy from one substance to another substance that it is touching. |
Convection | The transfer of thermal energy by the movement of a fluid (liquid or gas). |
Convection Currents | The circulation of a fluid as it alternately heats up and cools down. |
Jet Stream | Bands of high-speed winds about 10 kilometers above Earth’s surface. |
Relative humidity | The percentage of water vapor in the air compared to the maximum amount of water vapor that air can contain at a particular temperature. |
Psychrometer | An instrument used to measure relative humidity, consisting of a wet-bulb thermometer and a dry-bulb thermometer. |
Condensation | The process by which molecules of water vapor in the air become liquid water. |
Wind | The horizontal movement of air from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. |
Dew point | The temperature at which condensation begins. |
Anemometer | An instrument used to measure wind speed. |
Cirrus | Wispy, feathery clouds made mostly of ice crystals that form at high levels. |
Sea breeze | The flow of cooler air from over an ocean or lake toward land. |
Cumulus | Fluffy, white clouds, usually with flat bottoms, that look like rounded piles of cotton. |
Land breeze | The flow of air from land to a body of water. |
Stratus | Clouds that form in flat layers and often cover much of the sky. |
Precipitation | Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches Earth’s surface. |
Rain gauge | An instrument used to measure the amount of precipitation. |
Radiation | The direct transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves. |