| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Cumulus Clouds, Refraction, Somatic Nervous System, Thermosphere, Troposphere |
Cumulus clouds are large, puffy, mid-altitude clouds with a flat base and a rounded top. These clouds grow upward and can develop into a cumulonimbus or thunderstorm cloud.
Because different materials have different refractive indices, light changes speed when passing from one material to another. This causes the light to bend (refraction) at an angle that depends on the change in refractive index between the materials. The greater the difference, the higher the angle of refraction.
Part of the peripheral nervous system, the somatic nervous system is made up of nerve fibers that send sensory information to the central nervous system and control voluntary actions.
Temperatures again increase with altitude in the thermosphere which is the hottest (4,530 °F / 2,500 °C) atmospheric layer due to direct exposure to the Sun's radiation. However, the gas in this layer is highly diluted so even though the atoms of gas may be very high in temperature, there are too few of them to effectively transfer much heat.
The Earth's atmosphere has several layers starting with the troposphere which is closest in proximity to the surface. Containing most of the Earth's breathable air (oxygen and nitrogen), it's a region with warmer temperatures closer to the surface and cooler temperatures farther away which results in the rising and falling air that generates weather.