why r high altitude places cooler?

Answer 1

Our atmosphere is transparent to solar radiation.That means the air is not heated directly by the Sun.The sun heats the earth first and the atmosphere is heated from the bottom and the upper portion of the atmosphere is heated by conduction from the lower levels.That is why the temperatue drops as you go up.The radiation that comes from the sun is a short wave radiation which is not absorbed by the atmosphere whereas the reflected sun's radiation from the earth is a long wave radiation and it is absorbed by the atmosphere.Hence the atmosphere is heated from below and that is the reason for the temperature dropping as you go up.

Answer 2

The reason higher altitude places are cooler is because of the gas law. What the gas law states is P(pressure)XV(volume)=nRT(temperature, to simplify things n and R will be constant). so PV=T. As altitude increases the pressure drops, the volume of air will remain the same and the temperature will decrease. Another way of thinking about it would be to imagine what the molecules are doing. When a group of molecules are compressed, heat is produced. This is why compressed air always seems warmer. If the pressure on the molecules is reduced, the temperature falls. In the standard atmosphere, the temperature will fall by about 2 degrees celsius per 1,000 feet. The pressure also falls by about 1" Hg per 1,000 feet.

Answer 3

Good question. But sorry, you can not use the Gas Law to explain the atmospheric lapse rate. It is too simplistic. Perhaps the main reason the temperature decreases in the troposphere is the reason it has the name tropos. This Greek word means "turning" and in this lowest layer of the atmosphere there is a great deal of convective turning due to the heating of the earth's surface. This turning distributes the heat somewhat by turbulence resulting in the observed lapse rate. But as you go through the tropopause and into the stratosphere you will see the temperature increases with altitude. Then in the mesosphere it decreases with altitude again to its lowest value in the atmosphere. And finally above the mesopause the temperature continues to increase.

Answer 4

Air pressure is a result of gravity holding air molecules together. Gravity acts to keep the air molecules more compact the closer to the surface you are. The closer the molecules the more work is done, producing more heat. Also, there is more water vapor nearer to the surface for the same reason. Water vapor holds more heat as well.
In the layer above the troposphere, the stratosphere, the air actually warms with height. This is because of the ozone layer.

Answer 5

They are cooler become the air pressure is less.

As air rises from the earth, the pressure lessens on the air molecules. This means they can move around more freely.
However, to do this requires work, and work requires energy. Therefore, they are using their energy up trying to expand out. Since temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules, and there is now less energy, the temperature drops.

Hope that helps.