Sunday, June 30, 2013

Thermodynamics.

This is a very classical model called "Carnot's Heat Engine." In his day it was of a challenge to cool things and keep them cool than to heat them up so the diagram flows from left to right. 

Imagine now the circle in the middle is a vortex created by a hot troposphere. The cold air over the Arctic and/or Antarctica enters the 'heat engine' and then exists hotter on the other side. Basically, turn the diagram on it's head and move from right to left. That is what is occurring with the troposphere's temperature.

PV = nRT

This is called the "Ideal Gas Law." P is pressure, V is volume and T is temperature. The n represents number of molecules in the air mass. R is a constant.

Pressure and Volume are on the opposite side of the equation from Temperature. That is important. For the purpose of this discussion, let's just state that n and R in this equation is number 1. That will eliminate their effect on the equation. What is left is PV = T.

PV = T

At this point the equation illustrates that volume and pressure are STABLE with the temperature. If the temperature increases it will destabilize the pressure and volume component. The equal sign sincerely means the dynamic is equal, therefore, when one component of this 'balanced' relationship changes it all changes.

In the demonstration below with the child and her mother, the temperature of the air mass in the bottle increased and the air expanded. The balloon demonstrated that expansion. However, the air pressure in the CLOSED system of the balloon and bottle will increase otherwise the air pressure outside the bottle would inhibit the expansion. 

The idea of a closed system is very important here. When the temperature increases and it increases in a closed system the pressure and volume increase in a proportion to achieve that equal sign ( = ).

A CLOSED SYSTEM is different from an open system. If one took the balloon off the bottle it would no longer be a closed system and the demonstration would be mute. The heated air inside the bottle would simply move out of the bottle without detection.

Earth's ATMOSPHERES of which the troposphere is the one in which we live, is not a closed system. The gases in our troposphere will migrate up when the physics change. It is not an easy migration, but, a change in atmospheric temperature, even only 1 or 2 degrees centigrade will cause upward migration. In the meantime that equal sign will demand it's law. The Ideal Gas Law. So, with increased temperature the volume will change and the pressure will change and they will be less because it is not a closed system. 

Our atmosphere is gas and does not act according to manmade laws, it reacts only to Earth's physics and nothing else.