GEOL 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Heat Capacity, Thermodynamics
Document Summary
Heat: energy exchanged from one object to another. Latent heat: energy required for a substance (i. e. water) to change from one state to another at constant temperature. Specific heat: the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree celsius. Albedo: the fraction of solar energy reflected form the earth back into space. Snow is a poor absorber of solar radiation. On average 30% is reflected back into space. Absolute temperature is proportional to the average kinetic energy of its constitute atoms and molecules. Heat is energy exchange from one object to another. Heat is an exchange of kinetic energy. It is impossible to cool a body to absolute zero by any finite process. Heat transfer: there are three ways of heat transfer in the atmosphere. Convection: transfer energy through mass movement of a substance. Conduction: from warm to cold, from molecular motions. Air is a poor conductor of heat, basically insignificant.
