Physics · Geography

Atmospheric Physics and Humidity

935 Questions

Study the principles of atmospheric physics and humidity through these practice questions. Key subjects include the rate of evaporation, temperature inversions, and relative humidity measurements. These concepts are vital for geography and physics exams.

Evaporation and condensationRelative humidity conceptsAtmospheric pressure effectsTemperature inversion

Atmospheric Physics and Humidity Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following activities shows that air exerts pressure?

  1. Opening a soft drink bottle

  2. Burning of a candle

  3. Smoking of a cigarette

  4. Combustion of fuel
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Burning of a candle, fuel or a cigarette does not show that air exerts pressure. On the other hand, pressure exerted by air can be felt in riding a bicycle, flying a kite, rowing a boat and opening a soft drink bottle. 

Multiple choice

Increased wind speed is accompanied by

  1. reduced air pressure

  2. increased air pressure

  3. expansion of air

  4. contraction of air
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Wind always moves from a region of higher pressure to lower pressure. When it leaves a place of high pressure, a low pressure is created in that region. Therefore, an increased wind speed is always accompanied by reduced air pressure.

Multiple choice

Which of the following options is correct about the direction of flow of air?

  1. Hot air flows from a colder region to a hottter region

  2. Air flows from a region of higher pressure to lower pressure

  3. Air flows from a region of lower pressure to higher pressure

  4. Air flows from a hotter region to a colder region
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Gases always move or flow from a region of higher pressure to lower pressure. As air is also a mixture of gases, it also moves in the same direction.

Multiple choice

Why does a bicycle tube have more punctures in summer than in winter?

  1. Because high temperature expands air

  2. Because high temperature contracts air

  3. Because a tube contracts in summers

  4. Because a tube expands in winters
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Air expands on heating. The tube of a bicycle in summers expands due to the expansion of air inside it. This happens due to an increase in temperature in summers and hence, causes more punctures in a bicycle tube.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is true?

  1. Temperature decreases with increase in altitude

  2. Temperature increases with increase in altitude

  3. Temperature remains the same at every altitude

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Correct Answer: Temperature decreases with increase in altitude.

Multiple choice

In an oil lamp, the oil rises in the wick due to

  1. capillary action

  2. atmospheric pressure

  3. viscosity of oil

  4. change in temperature
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Capillary action is the ability of a liquid to flow in narrow spaces without external forces. The wick in an oil lamp contains very narrow pores, and the oil rises up through these tiny channels due to capillary action and surface tension, not atmospheric pressure or viscosity.

Multiple choice

A desert cooler cools better on a hot and dry day because the higher temperature on a hot day

  1. increases the diffusion of water

  2. decreases the humidity of air

  3. increases the humidity of air

  4. increases the rate of evaporation of water

  5. decreases the rate of evaporation of water
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option. A desert cooler cools better on a hot and dry day because the higher temperature on a hot day increases the rate of evaporation of water.

Multiple choice

Which of the following statements is/are false?

a. Water vapour comes into the air from the evaporation of water present in ponds, lakes, rivers and oceans. b. All the water on the earth does not get evaporated due to the high value of latent heat of vaporisation of water. c. On increasing the pressure on solid carbon dioxide, it gets converted directly into carbon dioxide gas.

  1. Only a

  2. Both a and b

  3. Only b

  4. Both b and c

  5. Only c
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option as this statement is false. On decreasing the pressure on solid carbon dioxide, it gets converted directly into carbon dioxide gas.

Multiple choice

Humidity refers to:

  1. Brackishness of water

  2. Latent heat

  3. Water vapour in the atmosphere

  4. Hydroscopic nuclei in the atmosphere
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the atmosphere. Brackishness refers to salty water, latent heat is energy absorbed/released during phase changes, and hydroscopic nuclei are particles that help water vapor condense.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

According to the author the present knowledge regarding heat and moisture transfer from the ocean to air as _____________.

RC Passage 2:

Disequilibrium at the interface of water and air is a factor on which the transfer of heat and water vapor from the ocean to the air depends. The air within about a millimeter of the water is almost saturated with water vapor and the temperature of the air is close to that of the surface water. Irrespective of how small these differences might be, they are crucial, and the disequilibrium is maintained by air near the surface mixing with air higher up, which is typically appreciably cooler and lower in water vapor content. The turbulence, which takes its energy from the wind mixes the air. As the speed of wind increases, so does the turbulence, and consequently the rate of heat and moisture transfer. We can arrive at a detailed understanding of this phenomenon after further study. The transfer of momentum from wind to water, which occurs when waves are formed is an interacting and complicated phenomenon. When waves are made by the wind, it transfers important amounts of energy, which is consequently not available for the production of turbulence.

  1. revolutionary

  2. inconsequential

  3. outdated

  4. derivative

  5. incomplete
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

 After explaining the process of transfer, the author writes ' We can arrive at a detailed understanding of this phenomenon after further study'. This suggests that the study is incomplete.

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following question on the basis of the given passage:

The wind over the ocean usually does which of the following according to the given passage? I. Leads to cool, dry air coming in proximity with the ocean surface. II. Maintains a steady rate of heat and moisture transfer between the ocean and the air. III. Results in frequent changes in the ocean surface temperature.

RC Passage 2:

Disequilibrium at the interface of water and air is a factor on which the transfer of heat and water vapor from the ocean to the air depends. The air within about a millimeter of the water is almost saturated with water vapor and the temperature of the air is close to that of the surface water. Irrespective of how small these differences might be, they are crucial, and the disequilibrium is maintained by air near the surface mixing with air higher up, which is typically appreciably cooler and lower in water vapor content. The turbulence, which takes its energy from the wind mixes the air. As the speed of wind increases, so does the turbulence, and consequently the rate of heat and moisture transfer. We can arrive at a detailed understanding of this phenomenon after further study. The transfer of momentum from wind to water, which occurs when waves are formed is an interacting and complicated phenomenon. When waves are made by the wind, it transfers important amounts of energy, which is consequently not available for the production of turbulence.

  1. I only

  2. II only

  3. I and II only

  4. II and III only

  5. I, II, and III
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

 Irrespective of how small these differences might be, they are crucial, and the disequilibrium is maintained by air near the surface mixing with air higher up, which is typically appreciably cooler and lower in water vapor content.