Download CORIOLIS FORCE AND AIR

CORIOLIS FORCE AND AIR
BACKGROUND
THE EARTH ROTATES AT 1600 Km/hr, COUNTER CLOCKWISE. IF AN OBJECT STARTS AT THE NORTH
POLE AND MOVES TOWARD THE EQUATOR IN A STRAIGHT LINE, THE OBJECT WILL APPEAR TO
DEFLECT TO THE RIGHT OF ITS INTENDED PATH BECAUSE THE EARTH IS ROTATING UNDER IT AS IT
MOVES. THIS IS CALLED THE CORIOLIS FORCE.
IF THE EARTH DID NOT ROTATE, AN OBJECT WOULD CONTINUE ON A STRAIGHT LINE PATH WITHOUT
APPEARING TO DEFLECT. THE DEFLECTION IS GREATEST AT THE POLES AND DECREASES TO ZERO
AT THE EQUATOR.
THE CORIOLIS FORCE CAN BE SEEN IN THE CIRCULATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE WINDS TO
THE NORTH OF 0° DEFLECT TO THE RIGHT OF THEIR INTENDED PATH. THE CORIOLIS FORCE DOES
NOT EFFECT THE WIND SPEED, ONLY THE WIND DIRECTION.
THE CORIOLIS FORCE IMPACTS OBJECTS ON A LARGE SCALE AND DOES NOT GENERALLY HAVE AN
INFLUENCE ON SMALL SCALE OBJECTS. HURRICANES NEED THE CORIOLIS FORCE TO HELP
DEVELOP THE CIRCULAR MOTION OF THEIR CIRCULATIONS. TORNADOES ARE NOT EFFECTED BY
THE CORIOLIS FORCE BECAUSE THEY ARE SMALL IN SCALE AND SHORT IN DURATION. THE
DIRECTION WATER GOES DOWN THE DRAIN IS ALSO NOT INFLUENCE BY THE CORIOLIS FORCE.
CLIMATE IS THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, PRESSURE, AND PRECIPITATION IN A LOCATION OVER A
LONG TIME PERIOD. CLIMATE FROM THE GREEK KLIMAT MEANING LATITUDE.
THE DEFINITION OF LATITUDE IS THE ANGULAR DISTANCE NORTH OR SOUTH FROM THE EQUATOR MEASURED
THROUGH 90°. PLACING A PROTRACTOR ON THE AXIS OF THE EARTH MARKS THE POINTS FOR THE LATITUDE
LINES. LINES OF LATITUDE FORM CIRCLES AROUND THE EARTH, WITH 0° LATITUDE BEING AT THE EQUATOR
AND 90° LATITUDE BEING AT THE POLES. FOR EXAMPLE, ORMAND BEACH, FLORIDA, IS LOCATED AT ~ 29°
NORTH LATITUDE WHILE DAYTON, OHIO IS LOCATED AT ~ 40° NORTH LATITUDE.
OTHER FACTORS THAT EFFECT THE CLIMATE IN AN AREA ARE TERRAIN, LOCATION RELATIVE TO MOUNTAINS
AND OCEANS, AND HEIGHT ABOVE AND BELOW SEA LEVEL. LATITUDE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN
DETERMINING WHAT TYPE OF CLIMATE A LOCATION WILL HAVE. FOR EXAMPLE, ORMAND BEACH’S CLIMATE IS
MUCH WARMER THAN THAT OF DAYTON SINCE IT IS AT A LOWER LATITUDE AND IS LOCATED CLOSER TO THE
EQUATOR. LOCATIONS AT LOWER LATITUDES RECEIVE MORE DIRECT SUN ENERGY THAN LOCATIONS NEAR
THE POLES. ENERGY FROM THE SUN IS THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
THE EARTH'S AXIS OF ROTATION IS TILTED ~ 23.4° COMPARED TO THE PLANE OF THE EARTH'S ORBIT AROUND
THE SUN. THE EARTH’S TILT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEASONS.
AIR HAS WEIGHT. THE AIR IN IS KEPT CLOSE TO THE EARTH BY THE PULL OF GRAVITY. GRAVITY IS THE FORCE OF ATTRACTION
BETWEEN OBJECTS. THE MORE MASS AN OBJECT HAS, THE MORE GRAVITY IT HAS. GRAVITY GIVES WEIGHT TO HUMANS AND TO AIR.
AIR HAS WEIGHT:
BOTH EMPTY BALLOONS HAVE EQUAL WEIGHT
BALLOON FILLED WITH AIR WEIGHS MORE
ANSWER QUESTIONS
1. DESCRIBE WIND.
10. DESCRIBE CORIOLIS FORCE.
2. DESCRIBE AIR PRESSURE.
11. DESCRIBE WIND VANE.
3. DESCRIBE AIR.
12. DESCRIBE ANEMOMETER.
4. HOW ARE WINDS ARE NAMED?
13. LIST AND DESCRIBE 4 TYPES OF GLOBAL WINDS.
5. DESCRIBE GLOBAL WIND.
6. WHY IS THE EQUATOR WARM?
7. WHAT DOES THE WARM AIR FROM THE EQUATOR DO?
8. WHY ARE THE POLES COLD?
9. WHAT DOES THE COLD AIR FROM THE POLES DO?