Course Introduction
Physical Geography
Textbook Exam Questions
Physical Geography explores the natural processes and features of the Earth, examining landforms, climate, weather patterns, soils, vegetation, and the interactions between these elements. The course provides a foundation for understanding the Earth's surface dynamics, including plate tectonics, erosion, and the water cycle, and discusses how these processes shape the environment. Students also learn about the spatial patterns and distribution of physical phenomena, preparing them to analyze environmental changes and their impacts on human societies.
Recommended Textbook
Extreme Weather and Climate 1st Edition by C. Donald Ahrens
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15 Chapters
633 Verified Questions
633 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Turbulent Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Calm,tranquil weather is sometimes extremely hazardous.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Hurricane winds are generally stronger than tornado winds.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Water vapor shows more variation from place to place and from time to time than any other atmospheric gas.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Under what circumstances might a person breathe stratospheric air? How often is it likely to happen in a student's lifetime?
Answer: no answer
Q5) Stratospheric ozone is a health hazard for people with respiratory illnesses.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Energy That Drives the Storms
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49 Verified Questions
49 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) More solar radiation is received at the top of the atmosphere than at the earth's surface.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) If you want to keep an object cool while exposed to direct sunlight,you should:
A)put it inside a brown paper bag.
B)wrap it in black paper.
C)wrap it in aluminum foil with the shiny side facing inward.
D)wrap it in aluminum foil with the shiny side facing outward.
Answer: D
Q3) The proper order from shortest to longest wavelength is:
A)visible,infrared,ultraviolet.
B)infrared,visible,ultraviolet.
C)ultraviolet,visible,infrared.
D)visible,ultraviolet,infrared.
E)ultraviolet,infrared,visible.
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: Temperature and Humidity Extremes
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39 Verified Questions
39 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hypothermia is most common in cold,dry weather.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The maximum in daytime surface temperature typically occurs _______ the earth receives its most intense solar radiation.
A)before
B)after
C)exactly when
Answer: B
Q3) The wind-chill factor:
A)relates body heat loss with wind to an equivalent temperature with no wind.
B)indicates the temperature at which water freezes on exposed skin.
C)takes into account humidity and air temperature in expressing the current air temperature.
D)tells farmers when to protect crops from a freeze.
E)determines how low the air temperature will be on any given day.
Answer: A
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5
Chapter 4: Condensation in the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The cooling of the ground to produce dew is mainly the result of:
A)conduction.
B)radiational cooling.
C)cooling due to the release of latent heat.
D)advection.
Q2) On a humid day,the attraction of water by hydrophobic condensation nuclei causes salty potato chips left outside in an uncovered bowl to turn soggy.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Mammatus clouds form in descending air.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Satellite images taken of clouds at night use:
A)reflected visible light.
B)reflected infrared light.
C)emitted infrared light.
D)microwave radiation.
Q5) Explain how the stability of the atmosphere can affect the types of clouds that form.
Q6) Under what conditions can a cloud form when air is sinking?
6
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Chapter 5: Clouds and Stability
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Sample Questions
Q1) What two sets of conditions,working together,will make the atmosphere the most unstable?
A)cool the surface and warm the air aloft
B)cool the surface and cool the air aloft
C)warm the surface and cool the air aloft
D)warm the surface and warm the air aloft
Q2) Which of the following would increase the environmental lapse rate?
A)cold advection at higher altitudes
B)daytime solar heating
C)surface radiational cooling
D)all of the above
E)both (a)and (b)
Q3) __________ are found beneath fair-weather cumulus (cumulus humilis)clouds,whereas __________ are found between the clouds.
A)downdrafts;updrafts
B)updrafts;downdrafts
C)downdrafts;only horizontal motions
D)updrafts;only horizontal motions
Q4) Explain how the stability of the atmosphere can affect the types of clouds that form.
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Chapter 6: Precipitation Extremes
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is never too cold to snow.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What locations receive the most precipitation on the earth? What weather conditions cause this excessive precipitation?
Q3) Radar gathers information about precipitation in clouds by measuring the:
A)energy emitted by the precipitation particles.
B)absorption characteristics of falling precipitation.
C)amount of energy reflected back to a transmitter.
D)amount of sunlight scattered off the precipitation.
E)amount of solar energy passing through the cloud.
Q4) Supercooled cloud droplets are:
A)ice crystals surrounded by air warmer than 0 <sup>o</sup>C (32 <sup>o</sup>F).
B)liquid droplets that are cooler than the air around them.
C)liquid droplets observed at temperatures below 0 <sup>o</sup>C (32 <sup>o</sup>F).
D)water droplets that have had all their latent heat removed.
Q5) Cumulus congestus clouds often produce drizzle.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Motions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lines connecting points of equal pressure are called:
A)isobars.
B)millibars.
C)contours.
D)isotherms.
E)a coordinate grid.
Q2) Explain why strong upper-level divergence will cause the pressure in the center of a surface low to decrease.
Q3) Surface winds blow across the isobars at an angle due to the frictional force.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The vertical pressure gradient force is directed downward. A)True B)False
Q5) Sketch the wind flow patterns around surface high and low pressure centers in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
Q6) The rate of the earth's rotation determines the strength of the pressure gradient force.
A)True B)False
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Wind Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) The wind belt found on the poleward side of the polar front is called the doldrums.
A)True
B)False
Q2) At any given time,only one jet stream can be found in the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q3) You are hiking on a mountain trail at sunrise when you smell the smoke from cooking bacon.You can't see where the smoke is coming from.Would you expect the camp to be above you or below you on the mountain? Explain.
Q4) On the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains,chinook winds are driest when:
A)clouds form and precipitation falls on the upwind side of the mountains.
B)the air aloft is cold.
C)the sun is shining.
D)the winds are blowing from the east.
E)surface friction is greatest on the downwind side of the mountain.
Q5) During some years,the northern hemisphere has more than 10 semipermanent highs and lows.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Air Masses and Fronts
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Sample Questions
Q1) What type of air mass would be responsible for hot,muggy summer weather in the eastern half of the United States?
A)mP
B)mT
C)cP
D)cT
E)cA
Q2) Occluded fronts may form as:
A)a cold front overtakes a warm front.
B)a warm front overtakes a cold front.
C)a cold front overtakes a squall line.
D)overrunning occurs along a warm front.
Q3) What type of weather front would be responsible for the following weather forecast: "Increasing cloudiness and warm today with the possibility of showers by this evening.Turning much colder tonight.Winds southwesterly becoming gusty and shifting to northwesterly by tonight."
A)cold front
B)warm front
C)cold-type occluded front
D)stationary front
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Chapter 10: Mid-Latitude Cyclonic Storms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose you observe a middle-latitude cyclone on the surface weather chart.What kind(s)of weather chart(s)would you want to examine to determine whether the cyclone is likely to strengthen or decay over the next 24 hours? What information would you hope to gain from each chart type?
Q2) Sketch a 500 mb chart that clearly shows a trough and a ridge.Where would you expect to find converging and diverging wind motions? Below what point on your 500 mb chart would you expect middle latitude storm development to occur?
Q3) A surface low pressure area with a deep upper-level trough to the west will tend to move toward the southwest.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If the flow of air into a surface low pressure area is greater than the divergence of air aloft,the surface pressure in the center of the low will:
A)increase.
B)decrease.
C)remain the same.
D)deepen.
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Chapter 11: Thunderstorms
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Sample Questions
Q1) The downdraft in an ordinary thunderstorm is created mainly by:
A)the melting of snow in the anvil
B)electrical attraction between the cloud and ground
C)the release of latent heat as water in the cloud freezes
D)evaporating raindrops that make the air cold and heavy
E)upper level wind motions
Q2) Strong vertical wind shear inhibits the formation of severe thunderstorms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Where does the energy in a mature thunderstorm come from?
Q4) The warm temperatures of a heat burst (a very warm thunderstorm downdraft)are caused by evaporative warming.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A supercell storm is:
A)a thunderstorm that produces several tornadoes
B)a thunderstorm that produces a category F-5 tornado
C)a thunderstorm with an extremely large downburst
D)an enormous thunderstorm that lasts for several hours
Q6) What is a squall line? Where would you expect squall lines to form?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most tornadoes last only a few minutes;some tornadoes have existed for several hours.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In a region where severe thunderstorms with tornadoes are forming,one would not expect to observe:
A)a strong ridge of high pressure over the region.
B)a dry tongue of cold air between the 700 and 500 mb levels.
C)the polar jet stream above the region.
D)moist warm air moving north at about the 850 mb level.
Q3) A funnel cloud is composed primarily of:
A)cloud droplets.
B)dust and dirt from the ground.
C)raindrops.
D)hail.
E)ice crystals.
Q4) Why do tornadoes move from the southwest toward the northeast?
Q5) Would it be possible for a tornado to form around a high pressure core?
Q6) Where does the energy contained in a tornado come from?
Page 14
Q7) What makes a tornado-producing thunderstorm different from other thunderstorms?
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Chapter 13: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The strongest winds in a hurricane heading westward toward Florida would most likely be found on the __________ side.
A)northern
B)southern
C)eastern
D)western
Q2) Hurricanes dissipate when:
A)they move over colder water.
B)they move over land.
C)surface inflow of air exceeds upper-level outflow of air.
D)all of the above
Q3) Compare the size of an average hurricane to that of an average tornado.Given the size and intensity of each,which do you think is the more destructive storm? Why?
Q4) List and describe some of the conditions that are favorable to hurricane development.What atmospheric conditions inhibit hurricane formation and growth?
Q5) With sketches show the structure of a mature hurricane as it would appear from the side and from above.Indicate and label the major features.
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Chapter 14: Weather Forecasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Explain how observed teleconnection patterns can help in the preparation of a seasonal weather forecast.
Q2) A prog is a chart that interprets the current state of the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q3) With all other factors being equal,will a cloudy day have a higher or lower maximum temperature then a clear day? How about the minimum temperature during a cloudy vs.clear night? Explain.
Q4) About how far apart do you think weather observing stations should be in order to accurately depict a middle latitude storm and to be able to forecast the storm's movement?
Q5) Numerical weather prediction models begin with an __________ and produce a
A)prog;analysis
B)prog;meteogram
C)meteogram;prog
D)analysis;prog
Q6) Describe the data and tools that a meteorologist assembles prior to making a weather forecast.
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Chapter 15: The Earths Changing Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) Volcanoes that have the most impact on global climate seem to be those rich in:
A)nitrogen
B)water vapor
C)carbon dioxide
D)sulfur
E)oxygen
Q2) A positive feedback mechanism:
A)acts to reinforce an initial change
B)acts to weaken or oppose an initial change
C)will cause a positive change
D)will cause a negative change
Q3) Plate tectonics "explains" certain climatic changes by showing that these changes may be related to:
A)mountain building
B)the amount of CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O released into the atmosphere
C)the paths taken by ocean currents
D)the position of the continents
E)all of the above
Q4) What are some of the possible consequences of global warming?
Q5) In what ways might global warming benefit the planet?
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