Author Question: Explain the term absolute vorticity in a real-life context, such as a spinning ice skater. In your ... (Read 18 times)

javeds

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 570
Explain the term absolute vorticity in a real-life context, such as a spinning ice skater. In your description, include the terms relative vorticity and Earths vorticity.
  What will be the ideal response?

Question 2

Outline the development of the superstorm of March, 1993.
  What will be the ideal response?



akemokai

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 347
Answer to Question 1

ANSWER: Answers may vary. Watching an ice skater spin counterclockwise on a frozen lake, the ice skater possesses positive relative vorticity. If you could suddenly leave Earth and watch the same spinning skater from space, you would see the ice skater spinning on a rotating platformEarth. The combination of the skater spinning about her vertical axis (her relative vorticity) plus the small spin imparted to her from the spinning earth (Earths vorticity) yields the absolute vorticity of the skater.

Answer to Question 2

ANSWER: The storm began on March 12 as a frontal wave off the Texas coast. In the upper air, a shortwave, moving rapidly around a longwave, disturbed the flow, setting up the necessary ingredients for the surface storms development. By the morning of March 13, the storm had intensified into a deep open-wave cyclone centered over Florida. In the upper air, a region of diverging air positioned above the storm caused the storms surface pressures to drop rapidly. Upper-level southwesterly winds directed the surface low northeastward, where it became occluded over Virginia during the afternoon of March 13. At this point, the storms central pressure dropped to an incredibly low 960 mb (28.35 in.). Although the surface winds associated with this low pressure were quite strong and gusty, they were not as strong as those in a major hurricane because the isobars around the storm were spread farther apart than those in a hurricane and because surface friction slowed the winds. Higher up, away from the influence of the surface, the winds were much stronger, as a wind of 125 knots (144 mi/hr) was reported at the top of 1900-meter-high Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
The upper trough remained to the west of the surface low, and the storm continued its northeastward movement. By the morning of March 14 the storm (which was now a deep, bent-back occluded system) had weakened slightly and was centered along the coast of Maine. Moving out from under its area of upper-level divergence, the storm weakened even more as it continued its northeastward journey, out over the North Atlantic. In all, the storm was one of the strongest and most widespread in U.S. weather history. It blanketed a vast area from Alabama to Canada with deep snow. Fierce winds piled the snow into huge drifts that closed roads, leaving motorists stranded. The storm shut down every major airport along the East Coast, and more than 3 million people lost electric power at some point during the storm. The Storm of the Century damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes, produced 27 tornadoes, stranded hikers in North Carolina and Tennessee, caused an estimated 800 million in damage, and claimed the lives of at least 270 people.



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
 

Did you know?

Pubic lice (crabs) are usually spread through sexual contact. You cannot catch them by using a public toilet.

Did you know?

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Risperdal, an adult antipsychotic drug, for the symptomatic treatment of irritability in children and adolescents with autism. The approval is the first for the use of a drug to treat behaviors associated with autism in children. These behaviors are included under the general heading of irritability and include aggression, deliberate self-injury, and temper tantrums.

Did you know?

To combat osteoporosis, changes in lifestyle and diet are recommended. At-risk patients should include 1,200 to 1,500 mg of calcium daily either via dietary means or with supplements.

Did you know?

Addicts to opiates often avoid treatment because they are afraid of withdrawal. Though unpleasant, with proper management, withdrawal is rarely fatal and passes relatively quickly.

Did you know?

Stevens-Johnson syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis syndrome are life-threatening reactions that can result in death. Complications include permanent blindness, dry-eye syndrome, lung damage, photophobia, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, permanent loss of nail beds, scarring of mucous membranes, arthritis, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Many patients' pores scar shut, causing them to retain heat.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library