Exam 8: Air Pressure and Winds

Because water is 13.6 times less dense than mercury, an atmospheric pressure of 76 cm (30 in.)of mercury would be equivalent to 1034 cm (408 in.)of water. Therefore, a water barometer resting on the ground near sea level would have to be read from a ladder over ____ tall.

The ____ force is an apparent force created by Earth's rotation.

One atmosphere of pressure is equivalent to 760 torr of pressure.

Describe how the wind blows around highs and lows aloft and near the surface (a)in the Northern Hemisphere and (b)in the Southern Hemisphere.

A geostrophic wind is a wind that results from a balance between the ____ force and the ____ force.

A ridge on an upper-level isobaric chart indicates ____.

A rapid change in pressure over a relatively short distance is called a ____ pressure gradient .

Surface winds blow across isobars at an angle and the pressure gradient force is balanced by the ____ force and the Coriolis force.

The pressure gradient force has a direct effect on horizontal wind movements.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the average height of contour lines on an upper-level isobaric chart tends to decrease northward.

Looking at the wind flow around an upper-level low in the Northern Hemisphere, it at first appears as though the wind is defying the Coriolis force by bending to the left as it moves counterclockwise around the system. Explain why the wind blows in this manner.

The winds aloft in the middle latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere generally blow ____.

What is considered standard sea-level atmospheric pressure in millibars?

The Coriolis force is the force that causes the wind to blow.

Explain the differences between geostrophic and gradient winds.

Air pressure decreases with height more rapidly in warm air than in cold air.

The friction layer usually extends upward to an altitude near ____ above the surface.

Surface pressure is affected by the relationship between upper-level divergence and surface convergence.

The contour lines drawn on a 500 mb chart are lines of constant ____.

What do Newton's first and second laws of motion tell us?