QUESTION DESCRIPTION
Please provide concise, grammatically correct, neatly written answers to the following questions. All questions can be answered in, at most, a few sentences.
1. Liquid water has the peculiar property that its density is largest at 34ºF. Imagine two adjacent lakes with identical surface areas. One lake is much deeper than the other. A mass of cold air rushes over the lakes in late November. On which of the two lakes will the surface freeze first? Explain your answer. (HINT: Consider how conduction and convection change the temperature of the lake water).
2. With respect to snow’s radiative properties, explain why a deep snow cover leads to a much lower overnight minimum temperature than a thin dusting of snow, all else being equal.
3. In a lab experiment you note than an object experiences a steady decrease in temperature with the passage of time. If that object is absorbing 100 units of radiant energy every second, what must be true about the amount it emits? Explain your answer with reference to the concept of radiative equilibrium.
4. An experiment is conducted in which a small beaker of fluid is placed into a larger beaker of fluid and changes in the temperatures of the fluids are observed (see Fig. 1). Which set of observations (Set 1 or Set 2) was the initial condition? Explain your answer in terms of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
