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91 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
condensation
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gas becomes liquid
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sublimation
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gas becomes solid or solid becomes a gas (skips the liquid stage)
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dew point
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when humidity is 100%
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adiabatic cooling
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cooling resulting from expansion
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condensation nuclei
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tiny suspended
particles, either solid or liquid, upon which water vapour condenses and forms precipitation |
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frost
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frozen dew
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coalescence
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the merging of two things (two droplets become one)
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acid rain
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precipitation containing relatively high concentrations of acid-forming chemicals (sulfur dioxide) resulting from pollutants that have been released into the atmosphere and combined with water vapor: harmful to the environment.
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front
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boundary of air mass
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orographic lift
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when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it expands and cools adiabatically. This cooler air cannot hold the moisture as well as warm air can, which effectively raises the relative humidity to 100%, creating clouds and frequent precipitation.
When air is confronted by mountains, it cannot simply go through them, As the air ascends the mountain, the air cools as it rises and if it cools to its saturation point, the water vapor condenses and a cloud forms. |
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hail
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? formed from adiabatic cooling and orographic lifting
precipitation falls, lifts, coalesces (droplets merge) and gets bigger |
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frontal wedging
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The lifting of air resulting when cool air acts as a barrier over which warmer, lighter air will rise.
When warm and cold air collide at the surface, we call it a front, or frontal zone. Since the warmer air is less dense, it rises over the cold air. The rising warm air is capable of holding lots of water vapor, which fuels buoyancy and triggers stormy weather. Cloudy, stormy weather is common along a front. Frontal wedging is common in our winter, when cold air from the polar zones sweeps down to lower latitudes. |
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condensation
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gas becomes liquid
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sublimation
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gas becomes solid or solid becomes a gas (skips the liquid stage)
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dew point
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when humidity is 100%
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adiabatic cooling
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cooling resulting from expansion
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frost
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frozen dew
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coalescence
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the merging of two things (two droplets become one)
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prevailing winds
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?
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front
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boundary of air mass
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frontal wedging
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The lifting of air resulting when cool air acts as a barrier over which warmer, lighter air will rise.
When warm and cold air collide at the surface, we call it a front, or frontal zone. Since the warmer air is less dense, it rises over the cold air. The rising warm air is capable of holding lots of water vapor, which fuels buoyancy and triggers stormy weather. Cloudy, stormy weather is common along a front. Frontal wedging is common in our winter, when cold air from the polar zones sweeps down to lower latitudes. |
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convergence
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?
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global winds
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?
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atmosphere
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a mixture of different gases 78% nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 1% other
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oxygen
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gas necessary for breathing, relatively heavy, diatomic mass 32
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how does nitrogen contribute to the air
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It dilutes oxygen and it makes air light.
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troposphere
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weather layer, contains moisture, 5-8 miles high
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stratosphere
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layer above troposphere 31 miles from end of troposphere, gets warmer with greater altitude, has jet streams
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jet streams
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Strong air currents 11 kilometers high. There are usually four distinct jet streams, two each in the Northern and Southern hemisphere. They are caused by significant differences in the temperatures of adjacent air masses. These differences occur where cold, polar air meets warmer, equatorial air, especially in the latitudes of the westerlies.
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ozone layer
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in stratosphere, absorbs UV rays 99%, protects us from radiation
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magnetosphere
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causes solar winds and northern and southern lights light happens when atoms are stimulated
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greenhouse effect
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The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because certain gases in the atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, for example) trap energy from the sun. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and Earth’s average temperature would be about 60ºF colder. Because of how they warm our world, these gases are referred to as greenhouse gases.
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air mass
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glob of air
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source region
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where a region comes from
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monsoon
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? 1. A wind from the southwest or south (travels over the Indian ocean) that brings very heavy rainfall to southern Asia in the summer.
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sea breeze
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A cool breeze blowing from the cooler sea toward the warmer land.
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specific heat
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measure of the difficulty of raising the temperature or lowering the temperature of a substance
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trade winds
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Winds that blow steadily from east to west and toward the equator. The trade winds are caused by hot air rising at the equator, with cool air moving in to take its place from the north and from the south. The winds are deflected westward because of the Earth's west-to-east rotation.
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polar easterlies
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The polar easterlies are the prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the polar highs at the north and south poles towards the low-pressure areas of the polar fronts at around 60 degrees latitude (north and south). Cold air subsides at the pole creating the high pressure, forcing a southerly (northward in the southern hemisphere) outflow of air towards the equator; that outflow is then deflected eastward by the Coriolis effect. Unlike the westerlies in the middle latitudes, the polar easterlies are often weak and irregular. These prevailing winds blow from the east to the west.
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doldrums
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a belt of no wind and light baffling winds north of the equator or 0 degrees; between the northern and southern trade winds in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, near the equator
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subpolar low-pressure belt
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around 60 degrees latitude near the poles
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polar low
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low pressure system creating a cyclone in the polar region, with arctic winds
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is Oxygen inert, and what does it mean to be inert
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no, it is not inert. Nitrogen in the air makes the air less inert, meaning it reacts less easily
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describe the relationship (direct, or inverse) between altitude and temp
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Inverse, as altitude goes up, temp goes down
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describe the relationship (direct, or inverse) between latitude and temp
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inverse, latitude up, temp goes down
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describe the relationship (direct, or inverse) between humidity and pressure
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inverse, greater the humidity, the lesser the pressure (water vapor is like the cheerleader vs. air molecules are like football players).
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describe the relationship (direct, or inverse) between pressure difference and wind
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direct, the greater the difference in air pressure between two areas, the greater the wind will be.
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How does humidity affect cloud height
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?
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name the steps in convection
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liquid or gas (such as air) is heated, expands, rises, cooler air sinks, heats, expands, rises, etc.
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why is the sky blue?
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?
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describe this cloud: cirrus
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high level cloud,generally quite thin with a hair like or filament appearance. Another name for cirrus is mares tails.
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describe this cloud: stratus
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Often the lowest of clouds, often appears as an over cast deck with little or no structure evident. thin layers of clouds
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describe this cloud: cumulus
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Usually puffy (think popcorn or cotton wool) with distinct edges & signs of vertical development. Vertical development can be further enhanced by thermal convection to push cumulus clouds into the multi layer category (see below), to form Towering Cumulus or even Cumulonimbus clouds
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cumulonimbus
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puffy rain clouds, great height (vertical development, not altitude).
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how does the air move at the equator?
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air is rising from the surface, causing winds to come towards the equator?
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do ocean currents affect the weather?
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yes
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What is room temperature in Celsius, ferenheit, and kelvin?
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20 c, 70 F, 293 K
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What is freezing temperature at Celsius, Ferenheit, and Kelvin
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0 C, 32 F, 273 K
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What is boiling temp in C, F, and K?
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100 C, 212 F, 373 K
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What is absolute zero?
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0 Kelvin, when all atomic movent completely ceases
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Does warm air hold more or less moisture
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more
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updraft
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a rising current of air
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which is heavier, dry or moist air?
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dry air, remember, water vapor are the cheerleaders
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what is thunder
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air expanding faster than the speed of sound, causing sonic booms
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what is the speed of sound:
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about 340 miles/second (345 miles/second)
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describe and name this air mass: CT
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Continental Tropical: warm dry
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homosphere
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the bottom layer of the earth's atmosphere, the top being the heterosphere. The homosphere is about the first 100 km from the earth's surface, and its composition is remains much the same (homo)
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heterosphere
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the top layer of the atmosphere, above the homosphere, starting at about 100 km. The composition of the atmosphere varies (hetero)
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vacuum
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absence of atoms
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weather
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the climactic conditions at a certain time and place
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pressure
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weight of gases
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is evaporation a cooling process?
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yes
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solid state
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rigid - particles locked into place
not easily compressible little free space between particles does not flow easily rigid - particles cannot move/slide past one another |
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gaseous state
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particles can move past one another
compressible lots of free space between particles flows easily particles can move past one another |
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liquid state
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particles can move/slide past one another
little free space between particles particles move/slide past one another (flows easily) |
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describe this air mass: CP
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Continental Polar, cold, dry
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describe this air mass: MP
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Maritime Polar, cold, moist
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describe this air mass: MT
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maritime tropical warm, moist
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lapse rate
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rate of temp drop for 5 degrees per 1000 feet
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humidity
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amount of water vapor in the air
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relative humidity
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how much water is in the air compared to how much it could be
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define winward
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the side the wind hits,
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what are the prevailing winds here, and what is our latitude?
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South west, 44 degrees
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What are various names for a hurricane, based on the region
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Indian ocean- cyclone, West pacific/philippines- typhoon, hurricane- Atlantic (here)
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where do hurricanes develop
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over warm oceans, they stop when they get to the land.
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define winward
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the side the wind hits,
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due to the rotation of the earth, the winds move which direction in each hemisphere
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Northern hemisphere they move right, in the southern hemisphere they move left.
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What are the three different ways for heat transfer to occur?
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conduction, convection, radiation
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describe conduction
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In heat conduction, energy is transferred from molecule to molecule by objects directly touching; the molecules themselves do not necessarily change position, but simply vibrate more or less quickly against each other. Conduction occurs primarily through solids
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describe radiation
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Radiation transfers heat through electromagnetic waves; occurs even in a vacuum (empty space).
Radiation transfers heat in all directions—even down. Convection currents always rise. Radiation requires no contact— convection and conduction require touching. Radiation can go through transparent materials (barriers) like glass. |
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define these terms:
continental maritime polar tropical |
continental- land, maritime-water, polar- from the poles/very cold, tropical- warm
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