Chapter 24 Practice Test/Review

Water in the Atmosphere

1. The process by which a solid changes directly into a gas is called:

a. evaporation b. condensation c. sublimation d. precipitation
2. ost water enters the atmosphere by the process of:
a. evaporation b. sublimation c. condensation
3 Energy stored in molecules is called:
a. latent heat b. humidity c. saturated

d. precipitation

d. psychrometer

4 The amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is known as:

a. humidity
b. psychrometer
c. wet bulb d. dry bulb
5 A comparison of the mass of water vapor in the air with the mass of water
vapor that the air can hold when it is saturated is:
a. humidity
b. relative humidity
c. condensation d. evaporation
6 The instrument used to measure relative humidity:
a. thermometer b. wind vane c. barometer

d. psychrometer

7-8 Using the relative humidity chart (pg 481), answer the following questions about the
use of a psychrometer.
7. If the dry bulb temperature is 20 degrees C and the wet bulb temperature is 14
degrees C, what is the relative humidity?
a. 34% b. 51% c. 62% d. 78%
8. If the dry bulb temperature is 20 degrees C and the relative humidity is 66%,
what should the wet bulb temperature be?
a. 14 b. 16 c. 18 d. 22
9. The temperature in each of two rooms is 30 degrees C. The relative humidity in the
first room is 80% and the relative humidity in the second room is 70%. The air
conditioning is turned on in each of the rooms and the temperature begins to
cool at an equal rate in both rooms. Which room should show condensation on its
walls first?
a. room one b. room two c. they should show condensation at the same time
d. condensation will never occur in either room

11. Which is the correct sequence showing the changes in phases of water from
cold to hot?
a. ice water vapor steam rain
b. ice water vapor snow rain
c. ice water water vapor
d. gas liquid solid
12. If the dew point is above freezing, you would expect to get________ but if the
dew point is below freezing, you would expect to get__________.
a. rain; drizzle
b. rain; snow
c. hail; sleet d. ice; rain
13. In order for a cloud to form, which of the following conditions do NOT
have to occur?
a. condensation nuclei must be present
b. air must be saturated
c. dew point temperature must be met
d. the relative humidity must be below 90%
14. Which of the following is NOT a basic type of cloud?
a. cirrus b. stratus c. cumulus d. thunderhead
15. Which of the following are types of precipitation (Mark all that apply)
a. rain b. drizzle c. snow d. sleet e. hail
16. Coalescence and super-cooling are two processes that cause precipitation.
Coalescence is:
a. cooling of water vapor below freezing
b. burning of coal to produce rain
c. merging of small water droplets to form larger rain drops
d. none of these
17. Which method would produce artificial rain?
a. rain dance b. cloud seeding
c. rain canons

d. balloons

18. The temperature at which air reaches saturation is called:

a. specific humidity b. condensation point c. dew point

d. wet bulb

19. Condensation forming on surfaces below the freezing point is called:

a. dew b. frost c. snow
d. hail
20. What is the principal source of water vapor in the atmosphere of the earth?
a. volcanoes b. rivers c. lakes d. oceans
21. This provides the necessary surfaces for cloud-forming condensation:
a. dust b. salt c. ice d. condensation nuclei
e. all of these

22. The lowering of the temperature of a mass or air due to its rising and
expanding is called:
a. convective cooling
b. conductive cooling c. condensation cooling
23. Forceful lifting of air up a mountain side can cause air to cool forming clouds.
a. true
b. false
24. Stratus clouds are mostly:
a. sheet-like or layered

b. piled or heaped

c. wispy or feathery

25. Cumulus clouds are mostly:

a. sheet-like or layered

b. piled or heaped

c. wispy or feathery

26. Cirrus clouds are mostly:

a. sheet-like or layered

b. piled or heaped

c. wispy or feathery

27. What is the chief difference between fog and clouds?

a. fog forms near the earths surface
b. fog is only white
c. fog is wet
d. fog is fog
28. On a hot and humid summer day, you notice enormous, billowy clouds with
broad, flat bases. What can you predict about the weather?
a. it will soon clear up
b. there will be a full moon tonight
c. it might thunderstorm
d. sunny days are ahead
matching:
29. drizzle C
30. sleet D
31. glaze ice B
32. hail E
33. snow A

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

most common form of solid precipitation; consists of ice particles

rain that freezes after it strikes a surface near the ground
drops that are smaller than 0.5mm
rain that freezes as it falls through a cold layer of air
solid precipitation in the form of lumps of ice

34. In what part of the world are raindrops commonly formed by the process of
coalescence?
a. artic regions b. desert regions c. ocean areas d. tropical regions
35. To express the actual amount of moisture in the air, meteorologists use:
a. latent heat b. relative humidity c. specific humidity d. dew point

36. When air temperature drops, its capacity for holding water is:
a. slightly higher
b. much higher c. about the same d. lower
37. Clouds form when the water vapor in air condenses as:
a. the air is heated
b. the air is cooled
c. snow falls
d. the air is superheated
38. The term nimbo- or nimbus added to the name of any form of cloud means
a. high b. billowy c. rain d. layered
39. Clouds in which the water droplets remain liquid below 0oC are said to be:
a. saturated b. supersaturated
c. superheated d. super-cooled
40. The fog that results from the nightly cooling of the earth is called:
a. steam fog b. upslope fog c. radiation fog d. advection fog
41. When using a psychrometer and the two temperatures read nearly the same,
you can conclude that:
a. your instrument reading is very accurate
b. a change in temperature is likely
c. the dew point temperature is very low
d. the air has a high relative humidity
42. Air becomes saturated when its temperature equals its:
a. condensation level
b. dew point
c. specific humidity
d. adiabatic temperature
43. A dark gray cloud that blankets the sky and often generates precipitation is
called:
a. cirrostratus b. cumulonimbus c. altostratus d. nimbostratus
Short answer
44. What is the relative humidity when there are 7 g/m3 of water vapor in the air with
a saturation point of 14 g/m3? Remember that relative humidity is a ratio
comparing the mass of water vapor in the air (presently) with the mass of water
vapor that the air can hold at its saturation point.
(7/14) x 100

45. How does a change in temperature affect relative humidity?

As the temp drops, the relative humidity increases because cold air cannot hold as much
moisture
46. Explain how a hailstone forms and why youd see layering if you cut it in half.
Liquid water drops are swept up to high elevations within a cumulonimbus cloud and freeze
there. They then fall and accumulate more moisture and then can be swept up again
freezing another layer

47. You are camping in a valley on a calm, clear night. You awake and notice a thick fog.
What type of fog is it and how did it form?
It formed radiation fog. The temperature dropped in the night reaching the dew point and
the moisture in the air condensed near the ground forming fog

Measuring Humidity
48.
(Use the capacity graph pg.480) How many grams of water vapor
can the air hold at:
30C: ____30_____ g

2C: ____6_____ g

13C: ______11___ g

As temperature increases, the capacity to hold water vapor

________________.
49.

Relative Humidity = _____present humidity_______ / ____moisture

when saturated________
As temperature decreases, capacity ____decrezses________, and relative
humidity _______increases_______.
50.
Use the capacity graph to help calculate relative humidity for the
following:
a. Temp = 0C, Spec. Hum. =3g 3/5 X 100
b. Temp = 30C, Spec. Hum. = 22.5g 22.5/30 X100

51.

Describe the role that each ingredient plays in CLOUD FORMATION

a. Water Vapor air must be saturated
b. Condensation Nuclei have something to condense on
c. Decreased Temperature

Causes condensation to occur

52.

Explain why the leeward side of a mountain is drier than the windward side

Forceful lifting causes cloud formation and precipitation