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    Atmosphere Activity

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    davgen
    The document describes how the atmosphere can be divided into four layers - the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere - based on variations in temperature with altitude. The boundaries between the layers are the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause. Temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere and mesosphere but increases in the stratosphere and thermosphere due to different mechanisms of solar energy absorption in each layer.

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    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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    Atmosphere Activity

    Uploaded by

    davgen
    60 views3 pages
    The document describes how the atmosphere can be divided into four layers - the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere - based on variations in temperature with altitude. The boundaries between the layers are the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause. Temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere and mesosphere but increases in the stratosphere and thermosphere due to different mechanisms of solar energy absorption in each layer.

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    The document describes how the atmosphere can be divided into four layers - the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere - based on variations in temperature with altitude. The boundaries between the layers are the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause. Temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere and mesosphere but increases in the stratosphere and thermosphere due to different mechanisms of solar energy absorption in each layer.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    60 views3 pages

    Atmosphere Activity

    Uploaded by

    davgen
    The document describes how the atmosphere can be divided into four layers - the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere - based on variations in temperature with altitude. The boundaries between the layers are the tropopause, stratopause, and mesopause. Temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere and mesosphere but increases in the stratosphere and thermosphere due to different mechanisms of solar energy absorption in each layer.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________ Period: _____

    OBJECTIVE: To discover how the atmosphere can be divided into layers based on
    temperature changes at different heights, by making a graph.

    BACKGROUND:
    The atmosphere can be divided into four layers based on temperature variations. The
    layer closest to the Earth is called the troposphere. Above this layer is the stratosphere,
    followed by the mesosphere, then the thermosphere. The upper boundaries between these
    layers are known as the tropopause, the stratopause, and the mesopause, respectively.
    Temperature variations in the four layers are due to the way solar energy is absorbed as it
    moves downward through the atmosphere. The Earth’s surface is the primary absorber of
    solar energy and some of this energy is re-radiated by the Earth as heat, which warms the
    overlying troposphere. The global average temperature in the troposphere rapidly
    decreases with altitude until the tropopause, the boundary between the troposphere and
    the stratosphere. The temperature begins to increase with altitude in the stratosphere.
    This warming is caused by a form of oxygen called ozone, (O3). Ozone absorbs
    ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Ozone protects us from most of the sun’s ultraviolet
    radiation, which can cause cancer, genetic mutations, and sunburn. Scientists are
    concerned that human activity is contributing to a decrease in stratospheric ozone. Nitric
    oxide, which is the exhaust of high-flying jets, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which
    are used as refrigerants, may contribute to ozone depletion. At the stratopause, the
    temperature stops increasing with altitude. The overlying mesosphere does not absorb
    solar radiation, so the temperature decreases with altitude. At the mesopause, the
    temperature begins to increase with altitude, and this trend continues in the thermosphere.
    Here solar radiation first hits the Earth’s atmosphere and heats it. Because the atmosphere
    is so thin, a thermometer cannot measure the temperature accurately and special
    instruments are needed.

    DIRECTIONS:
    1. Table 1 contains the average temperature readings at various altitudes in the
    Earth’s atmosphere. Plot this data on the graph on the worksheet, and connect
    adjacent points with a smooth curve. Be careful to plot the negative temperature
    numbers correctly. This profile provides a general picture of temperature at any
    given time and place; however, the actual temperature may deviate from the
    average values, particularly in the lower atmosphere.
    2. Label the different layers of the atmosphere and the separating boundaries between each layer.

    3. Mark the general location of the ozone layer. You should place eight words on your graph in the correct
    locations: troposphere, tropopause, stratosphere, stratopause, mesosphere, mesopause, thermosphere and
    ozone layer.

    QUESTIONS:
    1. What is the basis for dividing the atmosphere into four layers?

    2. Does the temperature increase or decrease with altitude in the:


    troposphere? _____________ stratosphere? ________________
    mesosphere? _____________ thermosphere? _______________

    3. What is the approximate height and temperature of the:

    tropopause: _______________ _____________


    stratopause: _______________ _____________
    mesopause: _______________ _____________

    4. What causes the temperature to increase with height through the stratosphere, and decrease with
    height through the mesosphere?

    5. What causes the temperature to decrease with height in the troposphere?

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