A.P.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (ICSE)

2025 -2026
SUB: GEOGRAPHY STD: IX

CHAPTER – 15 Humidity

Very Short Question and Answers.

1. Define humidity.

Ans. The term humidity refers to the amount of water vapour present in the
air at a particular time and place.

2. What is the instrument used for measuring humidity?

Ans. Hygrometer or Dry and Wet Bulb Thermometer is used to measure
humidity.

3. How is absolute humidity expressed?

Ans. Absolute humidity is expressed in grams of vapour per cubic metre of
air.
4. Why does human comfort depend on humidity?
Ans. Human efficiency is best at 40% relative humidity. More or less
humidity creates uneasiness of humidity and dryness.

5. What is evaporation?
Ans. Evaporation is the process by which a liquid is transformed into gas or
vapour.
6. What is condensation?
Ans. It is the process of converting the water-droplets into water.

7. When does condensation occur?

Ans. If the air is cooled below its dew point, some of the water vapour
becomes liquid/ice.

8. Name the different forms of condensation.

Ans. Clouds, dew, frost, fog, mist.

9. State the process of clouds formation.
Ans. When the water vapour converts into the water droplets floating in the air,
the clouds are formed.
10 Name the types of clouds.
Ans. Main types of clouds are Cirrus, Cumulus and Stratus.
11. What is precipitation?
Ans. Precipitation is defined as the release of moisture in different after
condensation. It occurs in different forms such as rain, hail, sleet,
snowfall.
12. What are the different forms of precipitation?
Ans. Rain, snow, hail, sleet
13. Explain the process of precipitation in brief.

Ans. The process by which products of condensation ( water droplets, ice

crystals, sleet etc fall to the ground precipitation. Condensation is not
followed by precipitation all the time.
14 Name an area where convectional rain is experienced in summer. Give
a reason for your answer.
Ans. Due to intense heating of the land in summers, convection rainfall is
caused in tropical grasslands and in the interior of continents in the
middle latitudes.
15 Which type of rainfall is called Relief Rainfall?
Ans. Orographic rainfall is also called Relief Rainfall.
16. What do you mean by the rain shadow area?
Ans. When the ascending air reaches the mountain summit and descends
on the leeward side, it is warmed by compression during its descent,
and thus becomes drier and drier. The part of land over which this dry
wind blows, is known as the Rain shadow area. The area faces the
Leeward slope.
17. State the principal factors affecting the distribution of rainfall.
Ans. Latitude, air temperature, moisture bearing winds, ocean currents,
distance inland from the coast, mountain barriers.
18. Which instrument is used to measure the rainfall?
Ans. The rain gauge is used to measure the amount of rainfall.
19. Give two examples of the areas that receive less than 25 cm of rainfall.
Ans. Arid region of Rajasthan and Rann of Kachchh of Gujarat.(In India)

LONG QUESTION ANSWERS

Q1. Define and differentiate between absolute and relative humidity.

Ans. Absolute humidity Relative humidity

 i. It is the actual amount of i. It is the ratio between the actual
water vapour present in the amount of water vapour present in
air regardless of the air and the maximum amount
temperature. of water vapour, the air can
hold that temperature.
ii. It is expressed as grams of ii. It is always expressed as a
moisture per cubic metre of percentage.
air (g/m ).3

iii. Absolute humidity iii. Relative humidity of the air

decreases from decreases with increase in
equator towards poles. Hot temperature and vice versa.
air can hold more
water vapour than the cold
air.
iv. It does not tell us the iv. Relative humidity is more
amount of water which the reliable and it is a measure of
air needs to become atmospheric humidity.
saturated.
v. Independent of v. If the temperature goes up,
temperature relative humidity goes down and
vice versa.
2. Name the factors that affect evaporation.

Ans. The factors that affect evaporation are:

1. The amount of water available
2. Temperature - higher temperature causes more evaporation
3. Relative Humidity
4. Area of evaporating surface
5. Air pressure.
3. How does latitude affect evaporation?

Ans. Evaporation is highest in the tropical belt due to continuous vertical

rays of the sun, while in temperate belt less evaporation and in polar
belt least evaporation takes place due to less insolation

4. Differentiate between Evaporation and Condensation.

Ans. Evaporation Condensation

i. The process by which water i. The process by which water

vapour enters the atmosphere vapour in the atmosphere gets
is known as evaporation. converted into water droplets or
ice is condensation.
 ii. Evaporation occurs due to ii. Usually condensation occurs
heating of water bodies by due to cooling or saturated air.
solar radiation.
5 Distinguish between dew and frost

Ans. Dew Frost

When water vapour In very low temperature, when

condenses on the surface , it condensation occurs at zero
forms tiny particles called metre or ground level water
dew. freezes into minute crystals of
It occurs in winter on account ice on grass, leaves, tiny rock
of cooling of air below dew particles.
point. It is harmful to the plants.

6 State the conditions necessary for precipitation.

Ans. 1. The air must be saturated.
2. The temperature at which condensation takes place must be
present.
3. The air must contain small particles of matter such as dust around
which droplets form.
4. The air must be cooled below its dew point.
7. Differentiate between Snowfall and Hail
Ans. Snowfall Hail

When the precipitation When the precipitation occurs

occurs in the form of crystals in the form of pellets or small
of ice, it is called snowfall. pieces, it is called hail.
Snowfall usually occurs in This form of precipitation
the high latitudes and in high occurs in places experiencing
mountain region. strong vertical currents of air.
8. Name the types of rainfall. Explain briefly.
Ans. i. Convectional Rainfall - Ascending currents of hot and humid air
causes condensation of the clouds, resulting in heavy rainfall.
ii. Relief Rainfall - It occurs from the cooling of warm moist air which
ascends above the mountain barrier lying in the direction of the
prevailing winds.
iii. Cyclonic or Frontal Rainfall - It occurs when warm and cold air
masses confront each other, the warmer air generally climbs above the
colder air.
9. Mention one factor due to which the following types of rainfall occur.
i. Convectional rainfall ii. Orographic rainfall iii. Cyclonic/ Frontal
rainfall.
Ans. i. Convectional rainfall is caused by upliftment of air due to intense
heat.
ii. Orographic rainfall occurs due to uplift of air caused by relief
features such as mountains.
iii. Cyclonic/Frontal rainfall occurs when warm and cold air masses
move against each other, the rising air is then cooled while undergoing
a frontal lift, which causes rainfall.
10 What is Convection?
Ans. When the air over a particular area on the earth surface becomes
warmer than the air around it, the warmer parcel of air starts rising
upwards. This vertical movement of air is called convection.
11 Name the factors necessary for convectional rainfall.
Ans. Factors necessary to cause this type are intense heating of the
surface and abundant supply of moisture. Due to intense heating of
the surface, the surface air gets heated and expands and rises up
conventionally holding moisture. It is cooled adiabatically and its
temperature falls below the dew point, thereby forming clouds.
12 Give two characteristic features of the convectional rainfall.

Ans. i. This type of rain mostly occurs at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

ii. It is always torrential accompanied by lightning and thunder.
iii. Thunderstorm can occur whenever land surfaces become greatly
heated.
13. Mention two characteristics of orographic rainfall.

Ans. i. When the moisture laden wind rises along the windward slope of the
mountain the pressure on it decreases, the air expands and cools.
ii. On the leeward side, as the dry air descends the mountain slopes,
the pressure decreases.
iii. For example, in India, Western Ghats in the windward side get
maximum rain from monsoons whereas in the leeward side there is a
rain shadow area receiving very little rain.
14. What is cyclonic rainfall? Name a region which experiences this type of
rainfall.
Ans. Cyclonic rainfall is provided by the cyclones created in tropical and
temperate regions along the air mass fronts, where warm and cold air
meet together and the warm air is encircled by the cold air resulting in
circular wind systems.
In India Cyclonic rainfall occurs in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
15. Differentiate between Warm and Cold air mass
Ans. Warm air mass Cold air mass

A warm air mass is warmer A cold air mass is colder than

 than the region over which it the area over which it moves.
moves.
Most of the air masses moving The air mass moving from
from lower latitudes to higher higher latitudes to lower
latitudes are warm. latitudes are cold air masses.

16. State the characteristics of cyclonic rainfall.

Ans. (a) Cyclonic rain is usually in the form of a drizzle.
(b) It occurs when warm front meets the cool front.
(c) It is widespread and of long duration when associated with cold
fronts. It is always in the form of thundershower for a very short
duration.
(d) This rain falls gradually for a few hours to a few days.
(e) Winter rainfall in northwest India is a typical example of cyclonic
rainfall.
17. Convectional rainfall and Cyclonic rainfall
Ans. Convectional rainfall Cyclonic rainfall

It is caused by upliftment of air It is caused due to a cyclone

due to temperature. formed due to meeting of
warm and cold air currents.
The warm air rising in the form Convergence of air in the
of convection currents expands area of low pressure causes
due to lower atmospheric ascent of air which is very
pressure around it and this rapid and the rapid cooling of
leads to its cooling. The air leads to heavy rainfall.
moisture in the air gets
condensed which leads to
heavy rainfall.
Give a geographical reason for the following:-
1 Coasts receive more rainfall than the interior of the continents.
Ans. Moisture-laden winds provide more rainfall to the coastal parts due to
being situated closer to the coast and receiving the rain bearing winds,
but the interior get negligible rainfall due to being the almost dry winds
without moisture.
2. The windward sides of mountains receive more rainfall than the
leeward sides. Or The rain shadow areas are generally dry.
Ans. The windward sides of mountainous slopes get ample rainfall by the
moisture bearing winds striking it . While the leeward sides do not get
sufficient rainfall due to being on other side where the winds become
 almost dry as they have shed their moisture on the windward side.
3. Evaporation is maximum in tropical deserts surrounded by seas.
Ans. In tropical deserts, surrounded by seas, evaporation is maximum
because of high temperatures and clear skies.
4. Condensation is the reverse process of evaporation.
Ans. Evaporation is the process by which water vapour enters the
atmosphere on heating while Condensation is the process by which
water vapour is converted back to water on cooling.

THE END