Will a rising parcel of air always expand? Does this expansion cause the air temperature to increase or decrease?
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: Rising air always expands, whereas sinking air always shrinks. The reason is that air pressure decreases as we move up into the atmosphere. Consequently, as air rises, it enters a region where the surrounding air pressure is lower. To equalize the pressure, air molecules inside a rising parcel push the parcel walls outward causing expansion.
Expansion causes a decrease in air temperature. Because there is no other energy source, air molecules inside the parcel use some of their own energy to expand the parcel. This energy loss shows up as slower molecular speeds, representing a lower parcel temperature.
You might also like to view...
The economically valuable mineral resource produced by intense chemical weathering that is found
only in laterite soils is called ____________________. Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
What are three ways in which scale may be represented on a map?
What will be an ideal response?
Explain the rock cycle. Include information on how the three major categories of rocks differ from each other
BRIC stands for Brazil, Russia, ________, China
A) Indonesia B) Iraq C) Tibet D) India