1.

In which industrialized area would you find less air-pollution due to thermal inversion (if all air-polluting factors are equal)?

Great Plains

Cascadian Mountains

Rocky Mountains

Alps



2.

The air at sea level is composed of 40% nitrogen, 50% oxygen, and 10% other gases.

True

False



3.

Why does air pressure decrease as temperature increases?

There are more molecules in one specific area.

The molecules are spread out farther.

Air pressure actually increases as temperature increases.

The molecules are closer together.

1. The Answer is (A) Great Plains.

The explanation follows. First we need to understand what thermal inversion is. Ordinarily, the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature. In otherwords, the farther away from the earth's surface a body is, the more cooler temperatures it experiences. The tops of mountains are usually very cold due to this. Now thermal inversion is the opposite of this. This is a phenomenon where warm air being more volatile and less dense settles over the denser cool air, preventing it and any other constituent of the air within that area that's also dense like polluted air for example to stay locked beneath the warm air. This is particularly common in mountainous areas where the cooler air from the top of the mountains drop  across the periphery of the mountain into the valleys and settle while the warmer, more volatile air rises above it. Hence mountainous areas are more prone to more air pollution due to being held down with the cooler air than plain lands. Hence the great plains will be less prone to air pollution than the other options which are all mountainous.

2. The Answer is False

Air at sea level is comprised of:

Oxygen - 20.95%

Nitrogen - 78.08%

Other gases - 0.97 (This is spread across Caron dioxide, Hydrogen, Methane and inert gases)

PS: Anywhere with 50% of its gas combination being oxygen will be quite prone to fire outbreaks given that oxygen is a very ignitable gas.

3. The answer is that; the higher the temperature the higher the air pressure.

Chemically, heating causes excitement in molecules and they get busy darting around. So when the temperature increases in the air, the molecules begin to move very quickly bouncing of eachother reducing the distance between them and this generates more pressure. In the same way, if the temperature drops, the molecules begin to slow down and the pressure drops simultaneously.