Atmospheric pressure and Types of Winds — Flashcards

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Atmospheric pressure is the weight of the air column exerted on a unit area of the Earth's surface. It is caused by the gravitational pull of the Earth on the air molecules in the atmosphere. For exam…

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Atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude. This happens because air becomes less dense at higher elevations—there are fewer air molecules above to exert pressure. For every 110 meters of…

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When air is heated, it expands and becomes less dense, so it rises and creates low pressure. When air cools, it becomes denser and sinks, creating high pressure. For example, the Equator is hot, so it…

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Water vapor is lighter than dry air because its molecular weight (18 g/mol) is less than the average molecular weight of air (29 g/mol). When moist air replaces dry air, the overall air density decrea…

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Earth's rotation causes air to be deflected due to the Coriolis effect. This, along with temperature differences, helps form global pressure belts. For example, warm air rising at the Equator moves to…

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Atmospheric pressure is measured using a barometer. There are two main types: the mercury barometer, which uses a column of mercury, and the aneroid barometer, which uses a sealed metal box that expan…

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Isobars are lines on a weather map that connect places with equal atmospheric pressure. They help meteorologists identify high- and low-pressure systems. Closely spaced isobars indicate strong winds d…

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The standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is 1013.25 millibars, or 760 mm of mercury, or 14.7 pounds per square inch. This is also known as 1 atmosphere (atm).