AOS 100 Exam 3
hydrologic cycle - Answer-water's traveling through all it's stages
Temperature and Saturation - Answer-the number of water vapor molecules needed to reach saturation
in a given sample of air is greater in warm air than in cold air.
absolute humidity - Answer-measures the mass of water vapor in a given volume of air.
= (mass of water vapor)/(volume of sample)
- dependent on the volume of the air sample that contains the water vapor.
- AH can change even when there is no change in the actual water vapor content of the air.
specific humidity - Answer-mass of water vapor/mass of air sample
- doesn't reflect the change in water vapor itself because it also incorporates the change in the mass of
the sample
mixing ratio - Answer-= (mass of water vapor)/(mass of dry air containing it)
- does not change unless water vapor is added to or removed from the air parcel
- best measure of actual vapor content in the atmosphere
saturated mixing ratio - Answer-= (mass of water vapor)/(mass of dry air in saturated sample)
- limiting value of mixing ratio that a parcel can have at a given temperature and pressure
vapor pressure - Answer-partial pressure exerted by water vapor
, - depends upon both the number of water vapor molecules in the air and the temperature of the air.
saturated - Answer-the number of liquid water molecules evaporating from the liquid surface is equal to
the number of vapor molecules condensing back into liquid.
ideal gas law - Answer-P(vapor) = p(vapor)R(w)T
- R(w) is gas constant for water vapor.
saturation vapor pressure - Answer-in a saturated sample of air, _______ is only dependent only upon
the temperature of the air parcel
relative humidity - Answer-ratio of the actual amount of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount
of vapor that is possible at the given pressure and temperature.
= (mixing ratio)/(saturation mixing ratio) x 100%
= Vapor pressure/Saturation vapor pressure
- does not indicate the actual amount of water vapor that is in the air-only tells us how much vapor the
air contains relative to what it could contain at the given temp and pressure.
- can be changed by adding water vapor and changing the temperature of the air
dewpoint temperature - Answer-the temperature to which air must be cooled at constant pressure in
order to reach saturation.
- high --> high water vapor content
- low --> low water vapor content
- can never exceed the air temperature because when they are equal, the air is saturated.
Tdd = T - Td
- Tdd large --> RH low
- Tdd small --> RH high
hydrologic cycle - Answer-water's traveling through all it's stages
Temperature and Saturation - Answer-the number of water vapor molecules needed to reach saturation
in a given sample of air is greater in warm air than in cold air.
absolute humidity - Answer-measures the mass of water vapor in a given volume of air.
= (mass of water vapor)/(volume of sample)
- dependent on the volume of the air sample that contains the water vapor.
- AH can change even when there is no change in the actual water vapor content of the air.
specific humidity - Answer-mass of water vapor/mass of air sample
- doesn't reflect the change in water vapor itself because it also incorporates the change in the mass of
the sample
mixing ratio - Answer-= (mass of water vapor)/(mass of dry air containing it)
- does not change unless water vapor is added to or removed from the air parcel
- best measure of actual vapor content in the atmosphere
saturated mixing ratio - Answer-= (mass of water vapor)/(mass of dry air in saturated sample)
- limiting value of mixing ratio that a parcel can have at a given temperature and pressure
vapor pressure - Answer-partial pressure exerted by water vapor
, - depends upon both the number of water vapor molecules in the air and the temperature of the air.
saturated - Answer-the number of liquid water molecules evaporating from the liquid surface is equal to
the number of vapor molecules condensing back into liquid.
ideal gas law - Answer-P(vapor) = p(vapor)R(w)T
- R(w) is gas constant for water vapor.
saturation vapor pressure - Answer-in a saturated sample of air, _______ is only dependent only upon
the temperature of the air parcel
relative humidity - Answer-ratio of the actual amount of water vapor in the air to the maximum amount
of vapor that is possible at the given pressure and temperature.
= (mixing ratio)/(saturation mixing ratio) x 100%
= Vapor pressure/Saturation vapor pressure
- does not indicate the actual amount of water vapor that is in the air-only tells us how much vapor the
air contains relative to what it could contain at the given temp and pressure.
- can be changed by adding water vapor and changing the temperature of the air
dewpoint temperature - Answer-the temperature to which air must be cooled at constant pressure in
order to reach saturation.
- high --> high water vapor content
- low --> low water vapor content
- can never exceed the air temperature because when they are equal, the air is saturated.
Tdd = T - Td
- Tdd large --> RH low
- Tdd small --> RH high
