Download Physical Geography, Chapter 4 Learning Objectives and Study

Physical Geography, Chapter 4
Learning Objectives and Study Questions
1. Predict whether a given change of state for water (e.g., from vapor to liquid or solid to
liquid) will result in latent heat being absorbed or released.
2. Rank the following hydrologic reservoirs from largest to smallest: streams, glaciers and ice
caps, atmosphere, groundwater, and oceans.
3. Estimate the maximum specific humidity of a body of air if you know its temperature, and
calculate its relative humidity if you also know its actual specific humidity.
4. Use the adiabatic principle to predict whether a body of air will warm or cool as it moves
vertically, and explain briefly why such warming or cooling occurs.
5. Distinguish between orographic and convectional precipitation, and briefly outline the
conditions under which each of these processes occur.
1. Water releases latent heat as it undergoes all of the following transitions, except _____.
A. freezing
B. evaporation
C. condensation
D. deposition
E. all of these
2. The largest reservoir of fresh water on Earth is/are _____.
A. atmosphere
B. rivers and streams
C. groundwater
D. ice sheets and glaciers
E. soil moisture
3. About what fraction of the precipitation that falls on Earth’s continents “runs off” as surface
and groundwater flow?
A. one tenth
B. one third
C. one half
D. two thirds
E. three fourths
4. According to Figure 4.4 (p. 123) the maximum amount of water vapor that a parcel of air at
25°C can hold is about _____ g of water per kilogram of air.
A. 15
B. 20
C. 26
D. 30
E. indeterminate, cannot tell
5. The dew point temperature of a parcel of air that contains 10 g of water per kilogram of air
is about _____°C.
A. 8
B.
C.
D.
E.
10
13
15
indeterminate, cannot tell
6. The relative humidity of a body of air that is at 20°C and contains 12 g of water per kilogram
of air is _____ %.
A. 15
B. 20
C. 24
D. 60
E. 80
7. A parcel of air _____ as it rises, due to ______.
A. cools, compression
B. cools, expansion
C. warms, compression
D. warms, expansion
E. stays same temperature, stronger insolation
8. The rate at which air cools as it rises is less if condensation is occurring because of the
_____.
A. subtle change in atmospheric composition
B. release of latent heat
C. loss of condensation nuclei
D. insulating effects of clouds
E. effects of increased humidity
9. Clouds and fog consist of tiny water droplets suspended in the air except for the high
altitude _____ clouds, which consist of ice crystals.
A. cumulus
B. stratus
C. stratocumulus
D. altostratus
E. cirrus
10. Precipitation formed by water droplets freezing as they fall through a layer of cold air near
the ground is called _____.
A. rain
B. snow
C. sleet
D. hail
E. firn
11. Mount Shasta receives more rainfall than the surrounding countryside because of its high
elevation. This is an example of _____ precipitation.
A. orographic
B.
C.
D.
E.
convectional
cyclonic
convergent
seasonal
12. Unstable conditions, under which a convecting air mass can grow into a thunderstorm,
occur where the rising air is warm, _____, and has lapse rates (both dry and wet) that are
_____than/to that of the surrounding still air.
A. dry, higher
B. dry, lower
C. moist, higher
D. moist, lower
E. moist, similar
13. During a thunderstorm you are able to count slowly to seven between the time you see a
lightning flash and hear the accompanying thunder. About how far away did the lightning
strike occur?
A. 0.5 mi
B. 1.5 mi
C. 3.5 mi
D. 5 mi
E. 7 mi