Question

State whether the given statement is true or false:
Land and Sea breezes are caused due to high specific heat capacity of water.

Answer 1

Hint:First understand what specific heat capacity means. Then check what effects will be observed due to the difference in specific heat capacity between water and soil. Understand the meaning of land and sea breezes and the effect of heat capacity on it.

Complete answer:
Given a statement, land and sea breezes are caused due to high specific heat capacity of water.First let us know the meaning of heat capacity. Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat required for a substance of one kilogram to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius.
During day time, radiation from sunlight is absorbed by water and soil. As specific heat capacity of water is more than that of soil, so water absorbs heat slower than soil, which is why the land heats up faster than sea.
The air above the land is warmer and air above the sea is cooler. Due to this temperature difference, thermal circulation is observed that warmer air above the land rises up and cooler air above the sea comes towards the land. This flow of wind from sea to land is known as sea breezes. During night time, the temperature lowers. Due to higher specific heat capacity, water cools down slower than soil that is land cools down faster than sea.
The air above the sea is now warmer and air above the land is cooler. The warmer air above the sea rises up and the cooler air above the land comes towards the sea. This flow of wind from land to sea is known as land breeze.Therefore, from the above discussion we can say that land and sea breeze are caused due to high specific heat capacity of water.

Hence, the correct answer is true.

Note:There are two terms between which students get confused; these are specific heat capacity and heat capacity of a substance. Specific heat capacity of a substance is heat energy required for a substance of one kilogram to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius, whereas heat capacity is the amount of heat energy required for a substance to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius.