The Sun Propels The Global Water Cycle Essay

Chapter 6 Questions

2. The sun propels the global water cycle because the IR radiation that the sun emits creates heat on earth’s surface therefore the heat is used to evaporate water from lakes, rivers and oceans mostly and evaporate deposits of snow and ice. The evaporated water goes into the atmosphere becoming water vapor. Further, vaporization produces clouds to form and following that precipitation occurs. Then the cycle starts over again. But without the evaporation process, earth would not have a water cycle.

5. When the mixing ratio is equal to the saturation mixing ratio the humidity is 100%. The water vapor and the water concentration has to measure out to the same to be 100% humidity. This means that the air parcel is saturated. …show more content…
When the air temperature is the lowest, the relative humidity is the highest and when the temperature is the highest, the relative humidity is the lowest. The relative humidity differs inversely with the air temperature. Because after sunrise the temperature rises therefore making the saturation vapor pressure increases.

8. The water starts to evaporate (which the liquid turns into a gaseous state) and the air starts to rise in an upward motion. The air cools and expands and the relative humidity has to be near 100% and the condensation process happens then cloud formations will begin to form.

9. On the windward slope (upward side) of a mountain, the air has a chance to cool and expand which the relative humidity will increase producing clouds and precipitation. Whereas the leeward slopes (downward side), they are more dry. The clouds will likely vaporize, decreasing the relative humidity causing no precipitation to be produced.

Critical Thinking 2. The soil moisture gives a cooling effect to the temperature through the evaporation process. The soil moisture is evaporated by the radiation that is being emitted by the sun. With the evaporation the moisture give off cooling affect therefore, it cools the troposphere. Where as is you lived in a desert, like I do, the soil has no moisture making the soil have no evaporating causing the suns radiation to heat the ground. The result is having a very hot

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