Assessment 1

Q: Explain, “Why it gets colder as you go higher?” using the concept of the first law
of thermodynamics.

According to the first law of thermodynamics, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it can
only be changed from one form to another; the total energy of the universe remains constant.
This energy can be transferred in the form of heat, work, or even radiation, depending on the
particular type of system, where the system refers to the part of the Universe which is undergoing
a physical or chemical change. This particular law governs seamless aspects of the world around
us. For example, when we switch on a light bulb, it is converting electrical energy into light and
heat energy. Plants are constantly converting light energy obtained from the Sun into chemical
energy of bonds of organic molecules. The first law also plays a huge part in explaining why the
atmosphere gets colder as we go up, as shall be seen in the upcoming paragraphs.

For starters, we need to understand the first law in a mathematical sense. This has
been nicely illustrated by a video from The Organic Chemistry Tutor. It states that the overall
energy change of a system is the difference between the heat supplied to the system and the work
done by the system. The equation is as follows :
∆E = q – w

Here, ∆E = energy change due to heat absorption/release or due to work done by/on the system
q = the amount of heat supplied
w = work done by the system

This video also explains that if a system does work (w) on the surroundings, then the energy of
the system will decrease whereas the energy of the surroundings will increase and the opposite
will happen if work is to be done on the system by the surroundings. The same goes for heat (q);
if the system absorbs heat from the outside, its heat content will increase, and the opposite will
happen if heat is released from the system into the surroundings. Depending on the system, heat
can be converted to work and vice versa.

So what is the reason behind the decrease in temperature with increasing altitude? For
starters, our atmosphere is made up of countless air molecules. The molecules that are closer to
the surface are more compressed (closer to each other) compared to the ones higher up. When
the Sun’s rays hit these compressed molecules and heat them up, the air expands. This allows the
air to push against the surrounding ‘cooler’ molecules and rise up. In doing so, it expends some
of the heat (q) to do the work (w) of pushing. Due to the loss of heat, the expanded air begins to
cool as it rises up (UCSB Science Line, 2014). It is also important to note that the number of
molecules per unit volume, which indicates the pressure, decreases with increasing altitude, as
pointed out by Paul Shepson (2003). He further states that the reduction in external pressure will
cause the ‘systemic air’ to expand and cool. Michael Tinnesand (2003) extends Shepson’s idea
by stating that it is cooler at high altitudes because the amount of matter (air molecules) present
is lower, thus lowering the system’s total heat content (q).

Now, let us dig a little deeper into the actual energy conversions taking place during
the ascent of air molecules. The dense array of air molecules near the surface of the Earth are in
continuous, random motion. As they are colliding with each other, the resulting friction generates
heat energy which in turn provides them with kinetic energy, which is the energy of moving
objects. So this is another way of how air molecules attain heat energy other than absorbing the
Sun’s energy. And the greater the kinetic energy, the higher the temperature of the air molecules.
By using that heat and kinetic energy, the air molecules will expand and rise above to where the
air density is less. The air will stop rising once all the kinetic and heat energy will have been
transformed into gravitational potential energy, which is the energy possessed by an object raised
to a certain height above the Earth’s surface. And since the kinetic energy has been converted to
another form, the temperature of the gas molecules will decrease too (Mr Cognito, 2019). Hence
comes the part where air becomes cooler upon reaching maximum altitude.

This concludes the discussion of how the first law of thermodynamics applies to the
case of cooling of air with increasing altitude. The third paragraph gives us an overview of how
heat can be used to do work (ie expansion of gas) while the fourth one discusses the actual
energy changes that are occurring during the transition of air from a lower region to a higher one.
It also proves the point that energy doesn’t originate or vanish, it simply converts from one form
to another.

References

The Organic Chemistry Tutor. (2017). First Law of Thermodynamics, Basic Introduction -
Internal Energy, Heat and Work - Chemistry[Video].Youtube.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyOYW07-L5g>

UCSB Science Line. (2014). Why is it colder at a higher altitude when technically it is closer to
the sun?
<http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4561>
P.Shepson & M.Tinnesand. (December 22, 2003). If heat rises, why does the temperature
decrease at higher elevations? Scientific American.
<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/if-heat-rises-why-does-th>

Mr Cognito.(February 13,2019). Why is it Colder at Higher Altitudes?[Video].YouTube

<https://youtu.be/zmOSz8MbaNM>

(932 Words)