The Salt Lake Tribune ran a full page story yesterday on Air Quality. It has some great pictures of how inversions work (similar to the Winter Inversion Blues I posted a few days ago) and it also features some useful items. There's a section on what we can do to reduce inversions like reducing idling, slowing down when we drive, and reducing your traveling all together. There's a section on EPA standards, health effects, and comparisons of the different valleys that are affected by inversions in Utah. To view this story, click here.
One of the most interesting things about this article, however, was at the bottom where the article included directions on how to create your own inversion:
"Experiment: With a clear glass or jar, food coloring, water, salt, a funnel, measuring cup, and some rubber or plastic tubing, you can create an effect similar to a thermal inversion.
1. Pour Water into the glass or jar until it's about half full. Then pour about 1/2 cup of water into the measuring cup, adding about 1/8 cup salt. Stir mixture until well blended.
2. Run tubing from a funnel to the half-full glass, resting the tube's end on the bottom and securing tubing to the glass with a clamp (or have someone hold it.)
3. Without agitating the water in the glass, carefully pour the salt water from the measuring cup into the funnel so that it comes out at the bottom of the glass. Gently remove tube.
4. The salt water represents cold air, which is denser than the normal air (represented by plain water). The denser water is now trapped below the plain water.
5. To see the layers, gently squeeze three drops of food coloring near the surface of the glass of water. The coloring would stay in the upper layer above the dense salty water."
This experiment creates an effect that is similar to the effect that is caused by a thermal inversion.
No comments:
Post a Comment