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#1 NervousNerd

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 05:48 PM

I was thinking while taking my dog for a walk yesturday-what makes wind?
Does wind consist of matter? If it does then does that mean your breathing in the particles that make it? and when they hit you due to gust of wind,does that then mean they explode?If so then how are they still existing surely they`d run out, unless they make themselves/appear out of nowhere.

#2 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 05:58 PM

Wind is caused by temperature changes. When some air contracts, expanding air moves in to fill the void, and thus, wind.
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#3 NervousNerd

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 06:03 PM

What is wind consisted of though?

#4 SushiKitten

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 06:05 PM

Wind is just air. Air wants to be stable.

Heat causes higher pressure in the air, and lack of heat causes lower pressure in the air. Since air wants to be stable, it will rush from the high pressure area to the low pressure area, which is wind.

#5 NervousNerd

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 06:09 PM

Wind is just air. Air wants to be stable.

Heat causes higher pressure in the air, and lack of heat causes lower pressure in the air. Since air wants to be stable, it will rush from the high pressure area to the low pressure area, which is wind.


How come you get wind on a hot day?

#6 SushiKitten

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 06:12 PM

How come you get wind on a hot day?


There's still low pressure areas around, and not everywhere is heated evenly. Even if it is hot, there is always somewhere where it's cooler, and has lower pressure

#7 Matty_poo

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Posted 31 January 2013 - 10:31 PM

science talk is awesome

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#8 Silver_rose

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 03:08 AM

Wind is just air. Air wants to be stable.

Heat causes higher pressure in the air, and lack of heat causes lower pressure in the air. Since air wants to be stable, it will rush from the high pressure area to the low pressure area, which is wind.


I can't really seem to grasp how the concept of difference in temperature causing high and low pressures... However if reversed and I think of it as differences in pressure causing a difference in temperature, it becomes apparent. I can't seem to consider them interchangeably though (when it comes to weather), so my understanding of this is limited. I had always thought wind was created from heat causing air to rise, resulting in low pressure on the surface and cold(er) air (as cold sinks) having a higher surface pressure, moving to the lower pressure and stablising.

Because I can...


#9 SushiKitten

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 04:44 AM

I can't really seem to grasp how the concept of difference in temperature causing high and low pressures... However if reversed and I think of it as differences in pressure causing a difference in temperature, it becomes apparent. I can't seem to consider them interchangeably though (when it comes to weather), so my understanding of this is limited. I had always thought wind was created from heat causing air to rise, resulting in low pressure on the surface and cold(er) air (as cold sinks) having a higher surface pressure, moving to the lower pressure and stablising.


I think you're right, I have them mixed up. Heat would cause low pressure and cold would cause high pressure. They show this on weather reports by having the H blue and the L red. I'm not completely sure on which causes which though. I always figured it was due to direct sunlight, so it was temperature causes pressure, but I'm not sure.

#10 Calvary

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 06:41 AM

Just look at a heater for instance, turn one on and hold a piece of paper above it, notice how it flutters. If I remember correctly from GCSE chemistry, the oxygen molecules are being vibrated by the heat energy, giving them enough energy to rise up.

Someone might want to confirm or amend that though because I'm speaking from a grainy memory.

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#11 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 08:46 AM

Spleen science lesson time.

As molecules get hotter, they get excited and move more, spreading out. As they cool, they become less mobile and shrink down to become more dense, and since it's the same amount of material, take up less space. Water is a great example. Below freezing, it's a nice solid chunk of ice. When heated properly, we get steam, creating more pressure and consuming more space.

If you want to see this at work, take a water bottle, fill it with hot water and let it sit for just a minute, so the plastic is properly warm. Pour out all the water, and cap it tightly, leaving just hot air behind. Put it in the fridge or freezer, and as it cools, the air inside will cool as well to take up less space, making the bottle implode in on itself. For a more fun representation, see this youtube.


Now, as far as where the heat difference comes from, water is the biggest one, which is why it's always windy on the coast. Water has different thermal properties than land, keeping it a more stable temperature. Concrete and rock are two other big ones, they heat faster, and stay warm longer than something like a grassy field.

Also, I learned this stuff in like 2-3 grade. I'm very disappointed in all of your school systems.
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#12 Affray

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 10:25 AM

Spleen science lesson time.

As molecules get hotter, they get excited and move more, spreading out. As they cool, they become less mobile and shrink down to become more dense, and since it's the same amount of material, take up less space. Water is a great example. Below freezing, it's a nice solid chunk of ice. When heated properly, we get steam, creating more pressure and consuming more space.

If you want to see this at work, take a water bottle, fill it with hot water and let it sit for just a minute, so the plastic is properly warm. Pour out all the water, and cap it tightly, leaving just hot air behind. Put it in the fridge or freezer, and as it cools, the air inside will cool as well to take up less space, making the bottle implode in on itself. For a more fun representation, see this youtube.


Now, as far as where the heat difference comes from, water is the biggest one, which is why it's always windy on the coast. Water has different thermal properties than land, keeping it a more stable temperature. Concrete and rock are two other big ones, they heat faster, and stay warm longer than something like a grassy field.

Also, I learned this stuff in like 2-3 grade. I'm very disappointed in all of your school systems.


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#13 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 08:56 PM

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#14 Krankykoala

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Posted 01 February 2013 - 09:43 PM

>.> I think I need one of those shirts now.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me-- and there was no one left to speak for me.


#15 SpleenBeGone

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 07:51 AM

>.> I think I need one of those shirts now.

http://store.xkcd.com/products/science-works
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#16 flcl_grim

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 11:18 AM

Those who say that inanimate objects "desire" or "want" something are misinformed. Air does not have a brain, nor the faculties to provide air (or any collective mass thereof) a proper goal or consciousness.

THEREFORE, stop saying, "Atoms WANT eight valence electrons," "pressures WANT to stabilize," et cetera.

Gaseous particles are extremely active, and therefore TEND to bump each other around quite rapidly. On the particle scale, this is completely chaotic--to the point of common misconceptions. On the human scale, however, a colored gas would slowly expand over time. This is referred to as diffusion.

Now imagine two air masses. One is full of low-pressure, spaced out gasses, and the other is jam-packed with gasses. Due to natural forces, these particles bump into each other, and--over time--move around. The result is that the overall pressure (the AVERAGE pressure) equalizes. The process in between--the equalization--would be felt by an observer as wind (since the stuffy air mass would bump and equalize into the lower-pressure air mass).

#17 Affray

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 11:40 AM

Those who say that inanimate objects "desire" or "want" something are misinformed. Air does not have a brain, nor the faculties to provide air (or any collective mass thereof) a proper goal or consciousness.

THEREFORE, stop saying, "Atoms WANT eight valence electrons," "pressures WANT to stabilize," et cetera.

Gaseous particles are extremely active, and therefore TEND to bump each other around quite rapidly. On the particle scale, this is completely chaotic--to the point of common misconceptions. On the human scale, however, a colored gas would slowly expand over time. This is referred to as diffusion.

Now imagine two air masses. One is full of low-pressure, spaced out gasses, and the other is jam-packed with gasses. Due to natural forces, these particles bump into each other, and--over time--move around. The result is that the overall pressure (the AVERAGE pressure) equalizes. The process in between--the equalization--would be felt by an observer as wind (since the stuffy air mass would bump and equalize into the lower-pressure air mass).


I think using the word "want" in situations like this is more of a simplification tool than anything.

My chemistry teacher refered to the Noble Gases on the periodic table as "The Cool Kids" because all of the other atoms wanted to be like them.
Because they have a "full" valence shell.

She also had a song called Mambo Number Pi, which made everyone remember pi to a good handful of places.
Also she put the quadratic formula to the tune of the macarena.
Not her original idea, but dammit I can still recite that formula exactly and I have been out of high school for six years.

Though maybe not technically correct, saying that things without brains or motives want to do something that they happen to do, is just a tool for easier understanding of sometimes complex science.

It is perfectly acceptable to fear and admire a being you could not possibly understand.


#18 Coconut Man

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 11:53 AM

I think using the word "want" in situations like this is more of a simplification tool than anything.

My chemistry teacher refered to the Noble Gases on the periodic table as "The Cool Kids" because all of the other atoms wanted to be like them.
Because they have a "full" valence shell.

She also had a song called Mambo Number Pi, which made everyone remember pi to a good handful of places.
Also she put the quadratic formula to the tune of the macarena.
Not her original idea, but dammit I can still recite that formula exactly and I have been out of high school for six years.

Though maybe not technically correct, saying that things without brains or motives want to do something that they happen to do, is just a tool for easier understanding of sometimes complex science.


Do you know where you can find the mambo number pi on the Internet? Or do I have to take out the singing track and sing pi into it? (please have a link, I'm horrible at singing xD)

Also, how did she put the quadratic formula to the tune of the macarena? Maybe I don't remember the macarena right or something....

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#19 Calvary

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 12:15 PM

I think using the word "want" in situations like this is more of a simplification tool than anything.

My chemistry teacher refered to the Noble Gases on the periodic table as "The Cool Kids" because all of the other atoms wanted to be like them.
Because they have a "full" valence shell.

She also had a song called Mambo Number Pi, which made everyone remember pi to a good handful of places.
Also she put the quadratic formula to the tune of the macarena.
Not her original idea, but dammit I can still recite that formula exactly and I have been out of high school for six years.

Though maybe not technically correct, saying that things without brains or motives want to do something that they happen to do, is just a tool for easier understanding of sometimes complex science.


Not to mention that personification is actually a linguistic technique used to help people imagine foreign concepts. It's actually considered better to use personification when explaining this sort of thing because it becomes relate-able to humans. Well, depending on which linguist you follow, I imagine Orwell would turn in his grave.

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#20 flcl_grim

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Posted 02 February 2013 - 01:01 PM

Personification and misinformation are two different concepts. I understand saying, "imagine that atoms are in this huge moshpit; they tend to expand and get away from each other, et cetera."
Saying that air expands "because it wants to" is incorrect.