Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Cold air and high altitude

Asked by: 4141 views Aerodynamics

hi guys.

warm air is less dense than cool air.

in the troposphere, as altitude is more increased, temperature is gradually decreased.

high altitude has cool air(low temperature?)

should it be more dense in higher altitude than lower altitude?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Bill Trussell on Mar 12, 2013

    So you have several things going on in this line of thinking.

    First, temperature does decrease with an increase in altitude. This is due largely to the increased separation between the air and the surface of the earth receiving the sun’s radiation.

    The fact is that the air temperature is lower at higher altitudes.

    What is missing in this discussion is the fact that air, made up of water vapor and other elements including oxygen and nitrogen, is more densely packed at lower altitudes than higher altitudes due in part to the fact that everything piles up on each other impacting or compacting the atmospheric elements at the lower altitudes. Think of being the guy on the bottom of the pile of football players. Who has it better, the guy on the top or the guy on the bottom?

    The theory goes that 2/3 of the atmosphere by weight exists below 18,000 feet. If it were any different we would possibly be crushed by the weight of our own atmosphere.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.