Term
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Definition
| The mositure content of air. |
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Term
| DEFINE: ABSOLUTE HUMIDITY |
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Definition
| The mass of water vapor contained in a certain volume of air. |
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Term
| DEFINE: RELATIVE HUMIDITY |
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Definition
| The ratio of the mass of water vapor in the air at a given temperature to the maximum mass of water vapor the air could hold at that temperature, express in a percentage. |
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Term
| DEFINE: GREENHOUSE EFFECT |
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Definition
| The process by which certain gases (principally water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane) trap heat that radiates from earth. |
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Term
| DEFINE: PARTS PER MILLION |
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Definition
| The number of molecules (or atoms) of a substance in a mixture for every 1 million molecules (or atoms) in that mixture. |
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Term
| Q: THE TEMPERATURE IS THE SAME AT 1 P.M. ON TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS. FOR A PERSON WHO IS OUTSIDE WORKING, HOWEVER, THE SECOND DAY FEELS COOLER THAN THE FIRST DAY. ON WHICH DAY WAS THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY HIGHER? |
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Definition
| A: The humidity is higher on the first day. Since the person felt cooler on the second day (despite the same temperature), his sweat must have evaporated more quickly than on the first day. Thus, the first day was more humid. |
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Term
| Q: A CHILD DECIDES TO KEEP HIS GOLDFISH OUTSIDE IN A SMALL BOWL. HE HAS TO ADD WATER EVERY DAY TO KEEP THE BOWL FULL. ON TWO CONSECUTIVE DAYS, THE TEMPERATURES ARE VERY SIMILAR, BUT ON THE FIRST DAY THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY IS 90%, WHILE ON THE SECOND DAY IT IS 60%. ON WHICH DAY WILL THE CHILD ADD MORE WATER TO THE GOLDFISH BOWL? |
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Definition
| A: The child will add more water on the second day. Since the humidity was lower on the second day, the water in the bowl will evaporate more quickly on that day. |
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Term
| Q: IF YOU PUT A FLASS OF WATER OUTSIDE WHEN THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY IS 100%, HOW QUICKLY WILL THE WATER EVAPORATE? |
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Definition
| A: The water will not evaporate. Since the relative humidity is 100%, the air cannot hold any more water vapor. As a result, no net evaporation will occur. |
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Term
| Q: WHY DOES SWEATING COLL PEOPLE DOWN? |
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Definition
| A: Sweat cools you down because when it evaporates, it take energy from your skin. When energy leaves your skin, it gets cooler. |
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Term
| Q: WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE OF NITROGEN IN DRY AIR? WHAT ABOUT OXYGEN? |
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Definition
| A: Dry air is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. |
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Term
| Q: WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCE OF REMOVING ALL THE CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE EARTH'S AIR SUPPLY? |
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Definition
| A: If the air had no carbon dioxide in it, the earth would be colder. Since Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas, the greenhouse effect would be weaker, leaving a cool earth. Also, plants would die of starvation as they need carbon dioxide to survive. |
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Term
| Q: WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCE OF REMOVING ALL THE OZONE IN THE EARTH'S AIR SUPPLY? |
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Definition
| A: If there were no ozone in the air, ultraviolet light would kill a lot of living things. |
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Term
| Q: WHAT WOULD BE THE CONSEQUENCE OF A SUDDEN INCREASE IN THE CONCENTRATION OF OXYGEN IN THE EARTH'S AIR SUPPLY? |
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Definition
| A: If more oxygen were in the air, living things would not be as healthy and forest fires would increase in frequency and ferocity. |
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Term
| Q: SUPPOSE ASTRONOMERS FOUND ANOTHER SOLAR SYSTEM IN WHICH THERE WAS A SUN JUST LIKE OUR SUN. SUPPOSE FURTHER THAT A PLANET IN THIS NEW SOLAR SYSTEM WAS JUST AS FAR FROM ITS SUN AS IS EARTH FROM OUR SUN. SINCE THE VAST MAJORITY OF ENERGY THAT PLANETS GET COMES FROM THEIR SUNS, IS IT REASONABLE TO ASSUME THAT THE NEW PLANET WOULD HAVE ROUGHTLY THE SAME AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AS THAT ON EARTH? WHY OR WHY NOT? |
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Definition
| A: There is no reason to expect the new planet will have the same temperature as earth. If it does not have essentially the same air, with all the same levels of the greenhouse gases, it will not have the same temperature! |
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Term
| Q: WHAT MAKES UP THE MAJORITY OF THE AIR WE EXHALE. |
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Definition
| A: Nitrogen makes up the majority of the air we exhale. |
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Term
| Q: DOE WE EXHALE MORE CARBON DIOXIDE OR MORE OXYGEN? |
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Definition
| A: We exhale more oxygen. |
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Term
| Q: DOE WE EXHALE MORE CARBON DIOXIDE OR MORE OXYGEN? |
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Definition
| A: We exhale more oxygen. |
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Term
| Q: DOE WE EXHALE MORE CARBON DIOXIDE OR MORE OXYGEN? |
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Definition
| A: We exhale more oxygen. |
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Term
| Q: DO THE DATA INDICATE ANY SIGNIFICANT GLOBAL WARMING? |
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Definition
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Term
| Q: THE CURRENT CONCENTRATION OF GROUND-LEVEL OZONE IN THE AIR IS ABOUT 0.110 PPM. WHAT IS THAT IN PERCENTAGE? |
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Definition
A: Remember we know the relationship between ppm and percentage. We can therefore just us the factor-label method to figure out the answer:
The concentration of 0.110 ppm is equal to 0.0000110% |
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Term
| Q: sUPPOSE YOU HAD A SAMPLE OF AIR IN WHICH THE CONCENTRATION FO NITROGEN OXIDES IS 0.023%. WHAT WOULD BE THE CONCENTRATION OF NITROGEN OXIDES BE IF YOU EXPRESSED IT IN PPM? |
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Definition
A: Remember, we know the relationship between percentage and ppm, so we can convert using the factor-label method.
The concentration of nitrogen oxides in this sample of air is 230 ppm. |
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Term
| Q: Is the aire cleaner today, or was it cleaner 30 years ago? |
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Definition
| A: The air is much cleaner today than 30 years ago. |
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Term
| Q: What is the cost/benefit analysis? |
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Definition
| A: A cost/benefit analysis attempts to determine whether or not to take an action by determining the benefits of that action as well as the costs. |
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Term
| Q: WHAT DOES A CATALYTIC CONVERTER DO IN A CAR? |
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Definition
| A: A catalytic converter converts carbon monoxide in the car's exhaust to carbon dioxide. |
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Term
| Q: What does a scrubber do in a smokestack? |
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Definition
| A: A scrubber traps sulfur oxides in a smoke stack and keeps them from being emitted into the air. |
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Term
| Q: IN THE UNITED STATES, MANY REGULATIONS ARE AIMED AT DECREASING THE AMOUNT OF GROUND-LEVEL OZONE IN THE AIR, BECAUSE GROUND-LEVEL IS CONSIDERED A POLLUTANT. AT THE SAME TIME, MANY REGULATIONS ARE AIMED AT INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF OZONE IN THE OZONE LAYER. DESPITE THE FACT THAT OZONE IN THE OZONE LAYER IS THE SAME AT GROUND-LEVEL OZONE, OZONE IN THE OZONE LAYER IS NOT CONSIDERED A POLLUTANT. INSTEAD, IT IS CONSIDERED AN ESSENTIAL SUBSTANCE. WHY? |
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Definition
| A: Ground-level ozone is a pollutant because it is a poison, and it is where we can breath it. Ozone in the ozone layer is nto a pollutant because no one breathes that high up in the air, so its poisonous properties are unimportant. It is necessary in the ozone layer in order to block the sun's ultraviolent rays. |
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