Atmosphere Intro - Great Lakes Rocks Teacher Education Course (2016-17
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Great Lakes Rocks teacher education course at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago. Day 4, Atmosphere Day. Introduction to the atmosphere with focus on matter, pressure, density, altitude effects, and composition.
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Atmosphere Intro - Great Lakes Rocks Teacher Education Course (2016-17
- 1. Atmosphere Intro Great Lakes Rocks Teacher Education Course School Year 2016-17
- 3. “It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it not stirring to understand how the world actually works — that white light is made of colors, that color is the way we perceive the wavelengths of light, that transparent air reflects light, that in so doing it discriminates among the waves, and that the sky is blue for the same reason that the sunset is red? It does no harm to the romance of the sunset to know a little bit about it.” ― Carl Sagan,
- 4. The atmosphere is matter that has mass (inertia)…
- 5. …and exerts pressure due to the pull of gravity (weight). gravity The atmosphere is matter that has mass…
- 6. 760 mm = 30 inches of mercury Units of Pressure Useful for Weather 1 atm 1013 millibars 760 mm of Hg 30 inches of Hg 14.7 lb/in 2
- 7. With less air above… as altitude increases, pressure decreases Because air can move around… air pressure pushes equally in all directions at a given location
- 9. Air is compressible Highest Pressure Most Dense Lowest Pressure Least Dense
- 10. Concept Check: could we use suction cups to replace solar panels on the space station like we replace phone screens?
- 12. Global mean total precipitable water Air makes up nearly all of the atmosphere but the small percentage of water vapor plays an important role in earth’s systems…
- 13. Compared to water vapor, there is an even smaller amount of solid particles in the atmosphere called aerosols… Aerosols can affect cloud formation and precipitation (as well as affect air quality)
- 14. Summary – What is the atmosphere? The atmosphere is made of matter that has mass and exerts pressure due to gravity, which holds our atmosphere to the earth. That pressure due to gravity is equal in all directions (up, down, sideways) at a given height but generally decreases as height increases. The atmosphere’s density also generally decreases as height increases. The matter that makes up the atmosphere is mostly air (gases like nitrogen, oxygen, argon) with a relatively small but important amount of water vapor (gas) and clouds (liquid and solid). The even smaller amount of solid particles called aerosols come from both natural and man made sources.
- 15. Inquiry Question for the Day How does energy flow and matter cycle in the atmosphere? •T-H-C Organizer •What do you think? •How can we find out? •What do we conclude?
Editor's Notes
- What’s the tallest straw we could use on earth? https://youtu.be/HUmZrtiXDik
- Space Station views of earth: https://youtu.be/ANjy2RcEeGs
- Challenges of studying the atmosphere… https://scied.ucar.edu/docs/history-discovery-atmosphere The discovery of air… https://vimeo.com/135974043
- Pressure is a measure of how much force is applied per unit of area. The most common unit that we measure pressure in would be pounds per square inch or psi. When you inflate your car tires to 30 psi that means there is 30 pounds of force pressing out against every square inch of the tire. That outwards pressure is what keeps the tires inflated even with the force of the car’s weight trying to collapse the tire (think of what a flat tire looks like). One was of thinking about air pressure in the atmosphere is that you have a very tall column of air that is above you. That air has mass and is pulled down by gravity thus it has weight. That weight then rests upon any object under it and we could talk about that in terms of force but that would require we knew the size of the object. For instance, the weight of air due to a column above a penny is less than the weight of air due to a column above a book. Imagine that skinny column above the penny compared to the much bigger column above a book. But if we think of placing pennies over the surface of the book and add up all of the weight of all of their air columns, it would start to equal out. So instead of thinking of the weight of the air, we instead think about pressure (which is how much weight per area). The air above you exerts a force of 14.7 pounds for every square inch of your body (or any object for that matter) when you are at sea level. If you go higher into the air, there is less above you and the pressure decreases. In addition, the air gets less dense which further reduces pressure.
- GoPro - Redbull Stratos jump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYw4meRWGd4 After flying to an altitude of 39,045 meters (128,100 feet) in a helium-filled balloon, Felix Baumgartner completed a record breaking jump for the ages from the edge of space, exactly 65 years after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier flying in an experimental rocket-powered airplane. Felix reached a maximum of speed of 1,357.6 km/h or 843.6 mph(Mach 1.25) through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4:20 minute long freefall. The 43-year-old Austrian skydiving expert also broke two other world records (highest freefall, highest manned balloon flight), leaving the one for the longest freefall to project mentor Col. Joe Kittinger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOoHArAzdug
- Because air is compressible, it is much more dense close to the earth and becomes very “thin” (very low density) as you move about 10 miles above the earth. 50% of the atmosphere’s mass exists below 5.5 km with over 90% below 18 km.
- Because air is compressible, it is much more dense close to the earth and becomes very “thin” (very low density) as you move about 10 miles above the earth. 50% of the atmosphere’s mass exists below 5.5 km with over 90% below 18 km.
- The International Space Station orbits about 250 miles above the earth, beyond any substantial atmosphere. Essentially, it orbits the earth in a vacuum which prevents air resistance from slowing it down. A suction cup requires air pressure to work and without air, there cannot be air pressure. A suction cup will not work in a vacuum and thus will not work in space on the outside of the ISS. However, since air exists inside the space station and is pressurized by pumps, a suction cup will work inside the space station.
- Most of the water vapor and clouds exist within the lowest level of the atmosphere. How much water is in the atmosphere varies widely with latitude as seen in this image. A consistent figure is that considering the entire atmosphere, on average, water accounts for about 4% at most.
- Although aerosols make up only trace amounts of the atmosphere, they can have all sorts of implications for weather, climate and air quality. The distribution of aerosols varies widely across the earth and can fluctuate with seasons, atmospheric conditions, and human activities.