| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Cold Front, Prefixes, Stratus Clouds, Warm Front |
A cold front is a warm-cold air boundary with the colder air replacing the warmer. As a cold front moves into an area, the heavier cool air pushes under the lighter warm air that it is replacing. The warm air becomes cooler as it rises and, if the rising air is humid enough, the water vapor it contains will condense into clouds and precipitation may fall.
A prefix is added to the base units of the metric system to indicate variations in size. Each prefix specifies a value relative to the base unit in a multiple of 10. Common prefixes are:
| Prefix | Symbol | Relative Value | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| mega | M | 106 (1,000,000) | Mm |
| kilo | k | 103 (1,000) | km |
| base unit | N/A | 1 | m |
| centi | c | 10-2 (1/100) | cm |
| milli | m | 10-3 (1/1,000) | mm |
Clouds are categorized based on their shape, size, and altitude. Stratus clouds are low-altitude clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a broad flat base. When stratus clouds occur on the ground the result is fog.
A warm front is the boundary between warm and cool (or cold) air when the warm air is replacing the cold air. Warm air at the surface pushes above the cool air mass creating clouds and storms.