How is convection related to the winds we experience outdoors? Please Help! Thanks! :-)
2007-03-11 08:21:49 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
Hot air rises. Cold air sinks. When the air in our atmosphere is heated by the Earth's surface, it expands and rises. Up in the atmosphere the air is cooled and it contracts, so it sinks to the Earth's surface where it is heated and it expands, so it rises. This causes the wind we experience. This is known as heat driven convention.
You can also explain this more precisely in terms of density. Hot air is less dense than cold air. This explains why cold air sinks and hot air rises. The reason why hot air is less dense is due to thermal expansion. The hot air has the same mass but occupies more space, giving it a lower density than cold air. Remember Density = mass/volume. Density is not proportionally related to volume, which means that as volume increases, density decreases.
Done.
2007-03-12 09:58:48 · answer #1 · answered by ruth m 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm sure it is in the webpage some where but it has been a while since I took science.
Happy reading
2007-03-11 15:36:24 · answer #2 · answered by Old guy 124 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cools it down
Wind speeds up convection cooling significantly
2007-03-11 15:31:34 · answer #3 · answered by cmhurley64 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋