Physical Geography
Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Physical Geography explores the natural features and processes of the Earth, including landforms, climate, vegetation, soils, and water resources. This course examines the dynamic forces shaping the planets landscapes, such as weathering, erosion, plate tectonics, and the hydrological and atmospheric systems. Students will learn how physical environments interact with human activities and how global patterns and natural hazards impact societies. Through a combination of theoretical concepts and practical applications, Physical Geography helps develop a comprehensive understanding of our planets physical environment and its significance to life on Earth.
Recommended Textbook Atmosphere An Introduction to Meteorology 12th Edition by Frederick K. Lutgens
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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The normal lapse rate applies to the
A)thermosphere.
B)stratosphere.
C)troposphere.
D)mesosphere.
Answer: C
Q2) What causes the region of warmer temperatures found in the stratosphere?
Answer: Absorption of solar ultraviolet by ozone.
Q3) The basic elements of weather and climate include all of the following,except:
A)the humidity of the air.
B)the temperature of the air.
C)the pressure of the air.
D)the chemical composition of the air.
E)the type and amount of cloudiness.
Answer: D
Q4) The ionosphere is a region within the stratosphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Heating Earths Surface and Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on approximately:
A)June 21.
B)March 21.
C)September 22.
D)December 21.
E)January 3.
Answer: B
Q2) Fairbanks,Alaska,has more hours of daylight in June than Miami,Florida.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) During a cold winter,snow can provide a useful shelter material for animals and humans because of its low ________.
Answer: conductivity
Q4) The troposphere warms as a direct result of shortwave energy passing into it.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q5) The brightness of the daytime sky is due to ________ of light.
Answer: scattering
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Chapter 3: Temperature
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Sample Questions
Q1) How is the daily maximum temperature affected by the presence of clouds?
A)cooler
B)no conclusive effect
C)warmer during day,cooler at night
D)warmer
Answer: A
Q2) The annual range of temperature may be described as:
A)the difference between the average temperatures of the warmest and coldest months.
B)the sum of the average temperatures for each month of the year.
C)the difference between maximum and minimum temperatures during the period of one month.
D)the difference between maximum and minimum temperatures over a period of one year.
Answer: A
Q3) Typically,daily temperature changes in land surfaces are greater than those for water surfaces.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Moisture and Atmospheric Stability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Assume that the actual vapor content of the air remains constant over the course of a day.How does the relative humidity at 2:00 p.m.probably compare to the relative humidity at 5:00 a.m.?
A)The relative humidity at 2:00 p.m.is higher.
B)The relative humidity at 2:00 p.m.is lower.
C)The relative humidity is the same at 2:00 p.m.as at 5:00 a.m.
Q2) Plants release water to the atmosphere through the process of ________.
Q3) The temperature of rising air parcels ________ as they move upward.
A)decreases
B)increases
C)remains constant
D)may either increase or decrease
Q4) All of the following are lifting mechanisms in the atmosphere EXCEPT:
A)Orographic
B)Divergence
C)Convection
D)Frontal wedging
Q5) If you know the amount of heat it takes to melt 1 gram of water and turn it to vapor,you also know the amount of heat it takes to do this other phase change of water:
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Chapter 5: Forms of Condensation and Precipitation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why are high altitude clouds always so thin?
A)Winds are faster at high levels.
B)Not enough particulates are present.
C)Very little water vapor is present.
D)Air layers are stable there.
E)Air layers are unstable there.
Q2) The largest hailstone ever recorded in the United States weighed over 5 pounds.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The important difference between liquid droplets and ice crystals in a supercooled cloud is that ice crystals:
A)are more pure.
B)are colder.
C)grow much more rapidly.
D)are smaller.
E)increase the water vapor content of the cloud.
Q4) Tornadoes are only associated with cumulonimbus clouds.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When will an ascending parcel of air begin to condense into a cloud?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Air Pressure and Winds
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Sample Questions
Q1) Upper air winds:
A)are greatly influenced by friction.
B)are generally faster than surface winds.
C)are unaffected by the Coriolis force.
D)do not influence surface weather.
Q2) Which of the following would involve the greatest change in atmospheric pressure?
A)horizontal airplane flight of 200 miles
B)balloon ascent from sea level to 3 miles
C)travel from center of a low pressure system to center of a high pressure system
D)difference between the highest and lowest recorded pressure at any one weather station
Q3) During times of warmer temperature (summer),the atmospheric pressure is usually less.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The horizontal movement of air is called ________.
Q5) The tendency of a particle to travel in a straight line creates an imaginary outward force called ________ acceleration.
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Chapter 7: Circulation of the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Land-sea breezes and ________ are mesoscale winds.
A)Santa Ana winds
B)tornadoes
C)hurricanes
D)cold fronts
E)occluded fronts
Q2) The winter season is associated with strong centers of ________ pressure over the continents while centers of ________ pressure intensify over the oceans.
Q3) The 'bora' is an example of a katabatic wind that blows toward the Adriatic Sea.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Large scale wind circulation systems that reverse with the seasons are called:
A)meridional cells.
B)typhoons.
C)tropical cyclones.
D)monsoons.
E)tropical anticyclones.
Q5) Typically,four to six Rossby waves encompass the earth.
A)True
B)False
9
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Chapter 8: Air Masses
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Sample Questions
Q1) Siberian Express weather events are generally confined to Alaska and western Canada.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which air mass does not usually influence weather in the United States during the summer?
A)cA
B)cP
C)cT
D)mP
Q3) The two most important properties that should be relatively homogeneous at the same altitude in an air mass are:
A)temperature and carbon dioxide concentration.
B)vapor pressure and latitude.
C)moisture content and temperature.
D)relative humidity and radiation.
Q4) Lake-effect snowfall is created as a direct result of air mass modification.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is the air mass type and source region for "nor'easters"?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Weather Patterns
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compared to other types of fronts,the weather associated with a cold front usually:
A)covers more area.
B)involves less precipitation.
C)does not involve thunderstorms.
D)is less violent but of longer duration.
E)is more violent but of shorter duration.
Q2) Which of the following best represents the wind direction at point H?
A)SE
B)NW
C)SW
D)E
E)NE
Q3) The life cycle of a midlatitude cyclone generally has ________ stages.
A)one
B)two
C)four
D)six
E)ten
Q4) Winds shift from southwest to northwest.
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Chapter 10: Thunderstorms and Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lightning always occurs between a cloud and the ground.
A)True
B)False
Q2) About what percent of thunderstorms in the United States become severe?
A)10%
B)20%
C)25%
D)50%
Q3) Large hail is generally associated only with severe thunderstorms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Entrainment refers to the tendency of thunderstorms to form in a line-like pattern or sequence.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which of the following is likely during the mature stage of a thunderstorm?
A)lightning
B)light winds
C)light precipitation
D)no precipitation
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ________ scale is used to rank the relative intensity of hurricanes.
Q2) Hurricanes that affect the United States occur most frequently during the same months as tornadoes are most prevalent.
A)True
B)False
Q3) More hurricanes form in the South Atlantic and the eastern South Pacific than in any other regions.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The rain associated with a hurricane:
A)can often bring benefits that outweigh the losses.
B)always leads to torrential flooding,no matter where the hurricane makes landfall.
C)is never associated with deaths in a hurricane.
D)is only threatening in the immediate area where the hurricane makes landfall.
Q5) Cyclone Nargis made landfall in:
A)Bangladesh.
B)Myanmar.
C)Australia.
D)Japan.
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Chapter 12: Weather Analysis and Forecasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) These types of images are views of the earth the way an astronaut would see our planet from space.
A)infrared images
B)visible images
C)Moon images
D)water vapor images
Q2) What is the dew point represented on the station model shown above?
A)-20°C
B)75°F
C)69°F
D)69°C
Q3) Isotherms are lines representing equal values of solar radiation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) All satellites have the disadvantage that their orbits place them very far (over 20,000 miles)above the earth.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Long-range forecasting employs this method: ________.
Q6) In this process a search is made for analogous past weather records: ________.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) This is a colorless,corrosive gas that originates from burning coal and oil: ________.
Q2) Of the primary air pollutants monitored by the EPA,which one is found above recommended levels in more U.S.counties than any other?
A)ozone
B)particulate matter
C)carbon monoxide
D)sulfur dioxide
Q3) A substance with a pH of 4 is more acidic than a substance with a pH of 3.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The formation of inversions is unrelated to the terrain of the earth's surface.
A)True
B)False
Q5) When air pollution episodes occur they generally result from a dramatic increase in the output of pollutants.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How does the solar radiation on a clear sunny day act to reduce air pollution?
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Chapter 14: The Changing Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) Oxygen-isotope analysis is used on all of the following sources of proxy data EXCEPT:
A)tree rings.
B)coral reefs.
C)glacial ice.
D)sea floor sediments.
Q2) The length of time that a volcanic eruption impacts the climate is largely determined by:
A)the amount of water evaporated.
B)how much ash is emitted.
C)whether the ash or gas reaches the stratosphere.
D)how much gas is emitted.
E)the explosive force of the eruption.
Q3) Compared to climate changes due to plate tectonics and astronomical causes,the changes due to volcanic eruptions are:
A)very short.
B)much larger.
C)longer.
D)of equal duration.
Q4) List four kinds of evidence that can provide data about past climates.
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Chapter 15: World Climates
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some ecologists think the creation of savanna was not due to climate.What alternative explanation do they give?
Q2) Approximately what percentage of the earth's land surface is desert and steppe?
A)40 percent
B)50 percent
C)20 percent
D)30 percent
E)10 percent
Q3) The Aral Sea volume has shrunk by 90% because its waters have been claimed for irrigation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Highland climates are found on all continents.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Ice cap climate locations tend to maintain themselves because they have high albedos.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Name four countries where the Mediterranean climate is found.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Optical Phenomena of the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Refraction only occurs when light crosses a boundary between different substances.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Your mind's interpretation that light travels only in straight lines is an important part of explaining mirages.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A superior image is seen above its true position.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Before sunlight interacts with the atmosphere,it is this color.
A)violet
B)white
C)blue
D)yellow
E)red
Q5) Usually ________ color bands can be observed in a rainbow.
Q6) A type of mirage in which towering castles appear out of thin air is called a(n)________.
Page 18
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