GEOL 118 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Adiabatic Process, Dew Point, Humidity
5 Apr 2016
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Geol 118 - lecture 24 - severe weather (cont. ) Change from solid to liquid, from liquid to gas involves large > in atomic vibration and requires large > in heat (latent heat) Conversely, reverse reactions of gas to liquid and liquid to solid releases lots of latent heat. Amount of water vapor air mass can hold. Hot air can hold much more water vapor (up to 4 wt. Absolute humidity= abundance of water vapor in atmosphere. Relative humidity= ratio of observed absolute humidity divided by max absolute humidity. Dew point= temperature to which air must be cooled to reach saturation. Clouds form when air rises, expands, and cools (adiabatic cooling) This causes decreasing ability to hold water vapor. Air eventually becomes fully saturated with water vapor (reach dew point) Adiabatic process involves no heat exchange with surrounding air. Absolute humidity of rising air remains constant but relative humidity increases to left due to cooling, until air reaches dew point.
