Science
ademola
Nov23_review_midterm2.pptxFirst, Assignment 11b
Will only be 22 points, anything on Q3 can be extra credit
60
50
40
L
Isotherms on Q3
Summary of lectures/topics
October 19- Introduction to the sky. Celestial Sphere. Why do stars look different in different places?
October 26. Stars and Planets. Distances in the solar system and the galaxy.
How do stars vary. Why is our sun ordinary
What is a solar system- what objects are in it. How do other solar systems (exoplanets) differ?
October 28. Details of our solar system. How is earth unique. Geology of different planets.
This unit had very little new vocabulary. It was applying what we learned to other planets.
November 2. Reasons for Seasons. Orbital period. Obliquity. Our weird moon.
November 4 Lunar phases and eclipses. Know the phase names and locations.
November 4 Tides- effects on earth, connection to lunar phases. Tides elsewhere in the solar system
Summary of lectures/topics, page 2
Nov 9 Atmospheric variables (temp, pressure, humidity, density, wind).
How and why do they vary in our atmosphere. Layers of the atmosphere. Convection
Nov 18th Climate: Difference from weather. Different climates around the world. Climate change.
Nov 16th Weather, part 2, cold and warm fronts. Relation to mid-latitude cyclones
Nov 16th Radiation, heating and cooling. Impact on weather and climate (from Assignment 11a)
Nov 11th Role of horizontal wind in weather. Coriolis Effect. High and low pressures
Introduction to the sky. Celestial Sphere
Star charts do account for:
Your latitude
Your time of day (earth’s rotation)
Your time of year (earth’s orbit)
But *not* distances to stars
Latitude and stars you see
North celestial pole (NCP) is over the
North geographic pole. Stars over the
NCP will be easier to see at north polar
Latitudes. The horizon is the celestial
Equator.
At 40N, the North celestial pole (NCP) at
an angle. Up “zenith” is at an angle
Now, the horizon covers a wide range of
celestial latitudes. Star charts are designed
for a specific latitude.
Circumpolar constellations are in
This part of the sky never set
Two distance units we covered
Astronomical Unit what is it good for?
Light Year what is it good for?
Distances in the solar system: planets to suns
Distances in the galaxy: from star to star
What scale of distance best describes the light year?
a. millions of miles
b. trillions of milles
c. thousands of miles
d. billions of miles
Answer: b- trillions of miles, 1 light year is 6 trillion miles
Stars and Solar Systems
Our sun is ordinary
Right in the middle of luminosity and temperature
Is our solar system ordinary?
It divides into two groups of size and distance. Other solar systems
(i.e. exoplanets) might have other categories
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto (?)
0.38709893048128347 0.7232620320855615 1 1.5236631016042781 5.2027406417112303 9.5548128342245988 19.191109625668449 30.108957219251337 39.528877005347589 0.38256506741925367 0.94888679836939482 1 0.53261210410787085 11.209156475384132 9.4493571652555666 4.007369081216682 3.883035434305425 0.18030730636563186
relative distance from Sun
relative diameter
More in depth on variations in planets
| Earth | Mars | Moon | |
| Igneous | Y | Y | Y |
| Sedimentary | Y | Y | N |
| Metamorphic | Y | N | N |
Planetary Geology.
Features common to terrestrial planets (what do craters tell us?)
Uniqueness of Earth.
Weirdness of the moon
Why is there no metamorphic rock on Mars?
Some questions
_____ 1. Which of the following lists is correctly arranged in order of smallest to biggest object?
a. Stars, Moon, terrestrial planet, Jovian planet
b. terrestrial planet, Moon, Jovian planet, stars
c. Moon, stars, terrestrial planet, Jovian planet
d. Moon, terrestrial planet, Jovian planet, stars
_____2. Which landforms are likely unique to Earth?
Craters
Polar ice
Folds
volcanoes
Answers: 1d
2c anything to do with plate tectonics will be unique to Earth
Earth’s orbit, axis tilt, curved surface Seasons
Most direct in NH
Most direct in SH
Polar summer
Moon’s orbit: phases, tides, possible eclipses
This diagram is looking down at the Earth’s
North Pole and the moon’s orbit
Note: if you at #5, you are a full moon. But if you are on the moon, you’d have a “new Earth” (opposite)
Some orbit questions
____ 3. At equinox
Day and night are equal everywhere around the globe
Both poles experience 24 hours of darkness
Both poles experience 24 hours of sunlight
One pole experiences 24 hours of sunlight and the other, 24 hours of darkness
______ 1. For a solar eclipse to occur, the moon must be at which phase?
(a) Full
(b) New
(c) First quarter
(d) Last quarter
1b New. And note, if you’re on the moon, you’d see a full Earth. Several students missed this on the homework
3a. Equinox Equal
Tides, phases of the moon and earth’s rotation
What lunar phase is this?
3rd quarter
Highest of the high
(or lowest of the low)
2nd highest of the high
2nd lowest of the low
Tides, phases of the moon and earth’s rotation
Earth
A
B
D
E
F
Questions:
1. What letter(s) have the strongest tides. What phases are they?
2. What letter(s) have the weakest tides. What phases are they?
3. How long does it take for the moon to go from C F ??
4. If the little smiley face is at F at 6 AM. What time of day will he be
when he faces A?
Answers:
A&D (new, full), - Spring Tides, water comes up the highest and goes down the lowest
C&F (1st & last quarter), Neap tides, a smaller change during the day because sun and moon are not lined up
3. 2 weeks,
4. noon (i.e. 6 hour = ¼ day) SUGGESTION: write down the noon, midnite, 6 am and 6 pm locations on the Earth
C
Answer: 2d
From a recent quiz/finals
____ 2. It’s a 1st quarter moon. Which is true?
a. Expect a spring tide with high tide near noon
b. Expect a neap tide with high tide near midnight
c. Expect a spring tide with high tide near 6 pm
d. Expect a neap tide with high tide near 6 pm
Atmosphere: How do temperature, pressure and
winds vary as you go up in altitude?
Other variables include composition and
related to that is the idea of
humidity
Questions:
_____ 1. Outer Space officially begins when you reach the
a. thermosphere
b. mesosphere
c. stratosphere
d. troposphere
Answer: 1a. thermosphere, about 62 miles (100 km) altitude- where the temperature begins getting hot
____2. When the amount of water in the air reaches a maximum at a given temperature:
a. clouds may form
b. water will readily evaporate
c. the air is dry
d. the weather is hot
Answer: 2a. Clouds may form due to condensation which can occur when the air is saturated
What is happening here?
Convection from heated ground heating the air. Warm air rises and cools which means can support
less water vapor saturation condensation can produce thunderstorms
_____3. Which weather variable would most likely decrease ahead of an approaching storm system?
a. wind speed b. air pressure c. cloud cover d. relative humidity
_____ 4. Southerly winds are associated with
a. wet weather b. dry weather c. warm weather d. cold weather
Answers:
3 b. Decreasing pressure means a low is coming. And low pressure systems are associated with bad weather
4 c. (a lot of people got this wrong on Assignment 11b)
| Vertical Motion | |||
| Rising air (low pressure) | Sinking air (high pressure) | ||
| Horizontal Motion | Southerly | Warm and cloudy/rain | Warm and dry/sunny |
| Northerly | Cold and cloudy/rain/snow | Cold and dry |
From the Nov 16, slide set: 4 Combinations. Which air motions do what?
Knowing which of these 4 combinations is coming lets us make forecasts
Layout of mid-latitude cyclone- should have been used as guide for 11b
Global average wind circulation
Note, alternating regions of
Ascending and descending air as you
Move from equator to pole.
What is the red line?
Ans: the polar front where mid-latitude
cyclones and cold and warm fronts
are found.
____ 5. On average, air at the north and south poles is typically
a. descending and moist
b. rising and moist
c. rising and dry
d. descending and dry
_____ 6 . In the Northern Hemisphere, planetary winds blowing from north to south are deflected, or curved, toward the west. This deflection is caused by the
a. unequal heating of land and water surfaces
b. movement of low-pressure weather systems
c. rotation of the earth about its axis
d. orbiting of Earth around the Sun
Answer 4d, 5c
From the book:
#52, Ch 25. condensation and Saturation. All else being equal: are they more likely on a cold day or warm day? Why?
Requires you to know that warm air holds more water vapor than cold.
Condensation occurs when air is cooled. Relative humidity goes down when temperature increases.
(this is why the relative humidity in summer can be low even tho it feels humid; the
air can hold so much moisture that 50% humidity is still pretty humid. In winter its not)
Other good questions from Section 25.1 are: 46, 47, 51, 52, 56 (we didn’t explicitly cover the rest)
For clouds to form, air must be lifted. The principal lifting mechanisms are
(a) convectional, frontal and orographic lifting
(b) continental, orogenic and occluded lifting
(c) stationary, occluded and contact lifting
(d) convectional, occluded and congenital lifting
Ans: a, the other 3 have joke phrases. This is Ready Assur. Test #7 at the end of Ch. 25. Other good questions here are
#1, #2, #3, #8, #9 (we didn’t explicitly cover the others)
More from the book- Section 25.4
81. Upslope winds go up a mountain side. Downslope, the opposite. Which will be more
likely to give you rain?
82. What is the difference between rainfall accompanying cold vs. warm fronts.
Ans: # 81- upslope (air gets cooled condensation more likely)
downslope: air dries out
Ans: #82- cold fronts, more violent weather as warm air is pushed up suddenly
warm fronts, lighter rain, all day drizzle as warm air tries to push cold air away
And #83 is good as well.
See also #95 and #98 in section 25.6
Processes which control our Climate
Tilt of Earth’s axis. Obliquity.
Brightness of the sun
Continental Drift
4. Magnitude of the greenhouse effect. How does it
change? What are effective vs. ineffective greenhouse gases?
Summary of contour analysis studied in class
| Name | Technical name | Some Uses |
| Lines of Constant Elevation | -- | Which way does water flow? Steep gradient more erosion Shallow gradient more deposition |
| Lines of constant temperature (both ocean and air) | Isotherms | Steep gradient possible frontal boundary Can map out currents like the Gulf Stream |
| Lines of constant pressure | Isobars | Winds follow the isobars. Steep gradient faster wind, stronger cyclone |
Note: the answer to text book question # 98 for Section 25.6 is in this table.
