Question

A student models convection currents in a laboratory activity. How are the convection currents in the student’s model different from the convection currents in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans? The warm air in Earth’s atmosphere and the warm water in Earth’s oceans sink instead of rise. The heat source for Earth’s atmosphere and oceans is the sun, which heats from above instead of below. Convection cells in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans flow in the same direction instead of opposite directions. Cold air in Earth’s atmosphere and cold water in Earth’s oceans are less dense than warm air and warm water instead of being more dense.

Answer 1

Answer: The heat source for Earth’s atmosphere and oceans is the sun, which heats from above instead of below.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the experiment, the source of heat is the burner below the pot. On Earth this is completely different as the source of the heat on Earth is the Sun which heats us from above instead of below.

The Convection currents still flow in the same direction however because as the sun heats air particles on Earth's surface, they rise but then cool as they keep going up. This makes them go back down where they are then heated up again.