Pictured is Mount Everest behind the mountain of Nuptse.
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Why Is It Colder at the Top of a Mountain Than It Is at Sea Level?
BY HOW STUFFWORKS.COM CONTRIBUTORS
Lower pressure at higher altitudes
causes the temperature to be colder on top of a mountain than at sea level.
You may already know about
the relationship between temperature and pressure: When you pressurize air (or
any gas), it gets hotter, and when you release the pressure on air it gets
colder.
So a bicycle pump gets
hot when you pump up a tire, and a spray paint can or a C02 cartridge gets cold
as you release the pressurized gas.
A refrigerator puts
both of these processes together, pressurizing gas on the outside of the
refrigerator to release heat and decompressing it inside the refrigerator to
absorb heat.
You may also know that air pressure decreases as altitude increases.
This table shows the pressure
(in pounds per square inch) at different altitudes:
Altitude and
Air Pressure
As
air rises, the pressure decreases.
It is this lower pressure at higher
altitudes that causes the temperature to be colder on top of a mountain than at
sea level.
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