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WC7 - Latent Heat & Lapse Rates - Coggle Diagram
WC7 - Latent Heat & Lapse Rates
latent heat
The amount of heat energy that is needed to change the state of a substance without affecting its temperature
for glaciers, when ice melts, it is heat energy directly from the sun (or from the air around the glacier, which was previously warmed by the sun) that is absorbed by the ice to change the state of the water from solid to liquid
heat is released to the environment when the water is cooling (from gas to liquid or liquid to gas) where heat energy is taken in from the environment
Happens in the open air, heat energy is taken from the environment around the substance that is changing state
Impacts on the water cycle
Evaporation
latent heat is absorbed from the surrounding environment to cause liquid water to be transferred as water vapour, this leads to the surrounding environment to cool down
The rate of evaporation depends on the temperature of the environment, availability of water and humidity of the air
condensation & precipitation
Latent heat is released to the surrounding environment to cause water vapour to be transferred to liquid water, this leads to the surrounding enviroment heating up
condensation can only occur when warm moist air continues to rise through the atmosphere, most commonly caused by adiabatic cooling.
adiabatic
a change from within
adiabatic cooling
reduction in temperature caused from within, happens with most rising air because there is less air pressure above it, causing the molecules to spread out, using more energy.
Lapse rate
the rate at which atmospheric temperature descreases with altitude.
adiabatic lapse rate
Describes what changes happen to warm air as it rises
Dry adiabatic lapse rate
warm air rises and cools adiabatically - does reach dew point temp, cools as the saturated adiabatic lapse rate of average 5.9º, ranging between 4/9º per 1000m
environmental lapse rate
expected descrease in temperature with altitude, and a range of 6.5º per 1000m