LET me set you a little weather quiz this morning a sort of Blackboard Jungle of the isobars, or a Challenging Times of meteorology. There are no cases of Tullamore Dew to reward the lucky winners, nor copies of The Oxford Book of Hindustani Weather Lore for runners up the object is merely whet the elementary appetite, to offer an aperitif du temps to tempt you to a Gallic weather inquisition.
Your starter for six concerns the 17th century Frenchman Blaise Pascal who famously, you may remember, sent his brother in law to climb the Puy de Dome with a barometer. He thereby demonstrated with a minimum of personal effort that atmospheric pressure drops, with altitude. But before that, Pascal had dabbled in barometers for years. In his earlier experiments, did he fill the instrument with (a) mercury, (b) water, (c) ink, or (d) red wine?
Early therometers, too, were charged with a variety of liquids, ranging from water to alcohol in various forms. In due course mercury became the norm, because it responds quickly to changes in temperature, expands at a uniform rate throughout the measurable range, and has a higher boiling point and lower freezing point than other substances that might be suitable. But Question Two what is the freezing point of mercury? Is it (a) -20C, (b) -38 C (c) -46 C, or (d) -52 C?
Finally, if you look at a cartoonist's drawing of a raindrop, you will invariably find it depicted "tear drop" fashion, like an inverted ice cream cone - a sphere at the bottom elongated to a pointed top. But a real raindrop does not look like this at all. Does it resemble: (a) a pear, (b) a grape, or (c) a mushroom cup?
If you enjoy trying to answer questions such as these, or perhaps some rather easier ones, and if you also have a modicum of French, you may care to pit your wits against Eve Biazzi for the next four weeks or so. The third Grand Jeu competition of the year on TV Cinq - or TV5 on Cablelink to you and me begins this evening. At 5.25 each day until May 26th, Eve will ask a question about the weather, climate or meteorology in general; it will be repeated at 9.30 p.m., and after France3 news at about 11.50 p.m. There are daily prizes for correct answers, and a grand draw at the end for a holiday for two in Guadeloupe among the "most faithful" participants in the competition. Bonne chance!
Yes. I almost forgot! The respective answers to the three questions above are: d, b and c - this last because air resistance flattens the bottom of the drop as it falls downward through the atmosphere.