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    Composition of Air

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    El Comedor Benedict
    This document summarizes the composition and layers of Earth's atmosphere. It states that the atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), with trace amounts of other gases. It then describes the five main layers of the atmosphere from lowest to highest: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The top of the thermosphere merges into outer space, and this layer contains the auroras.

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    Composition of Air

    Uploaded by

    El Comedor Benedict
    64 views10 pages
    This document summarizes the composition and layers of Earth's atmosphere. It states that the atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), with trace amounts of other gases. It then describes the five main layers of the atmosphere from lowest to highest: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The top of the thermosphere merges into outer space, and this layer contains the auroras.

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    Composition of air

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    This document summarizes the composition and layers of Earth's atmosphere. It states that the atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), with trace amounts of other gases. It then describes the five main layers of the atmosphere from lowest to highest: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The top of the thermosphere merges into outer space, and this layer contains the auroras.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    64 views10 pages

    Composition of Air

    Uploaded by

    El Comedor Benedict
    This document summarizes the composition and layers of Earth's atmosphere. It states that the atmosphere is composed mainly of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), with trace amounts of other gases. It then describes the five main layers of the atmosphere from lowest to highest: the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The top of the thermosphere merges into outer space, and this layer contains the auroras.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 10

    Composition of air

     Nitrogen— 78 percent
     Oxygen — 21 percent
     Argon — 0.93 percent
     Carbon dioxide — 0.04 percent
     Trace amounts of neon, helium,
    methane, krypton and hydrogen, as
    well as water vapor
    Earth is the only planet in the solar system with an
    atmosphere that can sustain life. The blanket of gases
    not only contains the air that we breathe but also
    protects us from the blasts of heat and radiation
    emanating from the sun. It warms the planet by day and
    cools it at night.
    Earth's atmosphere is about 300 miles (480 kilometers)
    thick, but most of it is within 10 miles (16 km) the
    surface. Air pressure decreases with altitude. At sea
    level, air pressure is about 14.7 pounds per square inch
    (1 kilogram per square centimeter). At 10,000 feet (3
    km), the air pressure is 10 pounds per square inch (0.7
    kg per square cm). There is also less oxygen to
    breathe.
    Atmosphere layers
    Earth's atmosphere is divided into five main layers: the
    exosphere, the thermosphere, the mesosphere, the
    stratosphere and the troposphere. The atmosphere
    thins out in each higher layer until the gases dissipate in
    space. There is no distinct boundary between the
    atmosphere and space, but an imaginary line about 62
    miles (100 kilometers) from the surface, called the
    Karman line, is usually where scientists say atmosphere
    meets outer space.

    The troposphere is the layer closest to


    Earth's surface. It is 4 to 12 miles (7 to 20
    km) thick and contains half of Earth's
    atmosphere. Air is warmer near the ground
    and gets colder higher up. Nearly all of the
    water vapor and dust in the atmosphere are
    in this layer and that is why clouds are
    found here.

    The stratosphere is the second layer. It


    starts above the troposphere and ends
    about 31 miles (50 km) above ground.
    Ozone is abundant here and it heats the
    atmosphere while also absorbing harmful
    radiation from the sun. The air here is very
    dry, and it is about a thousand times
    thinner here than it is at sea level. Because
    of that, this is where jet aircraft and weather
    balloons fly.
    The mesosphere starts at 31 miles (50
    km) and extends to 53 miles (85 km) high.
    The top of the mesosphere, called the
    mesopause, is the coldest part of Earth's
    atmosphere, with temperatures averaging
    about minus 130 degrees F (minus 90 C).
    This layer is hard to study. Jets and
    balloons don't go high enough, and
    satellites and space shuttles orbit too high.
    The thermosphere extends from about 56
    miles (90 km) to between 310 and 620
    miles (500 and 1,000 km). Temperatures
    can get up to 2,700 degrees F (1,500 C) at
    this altitude. The thermosphere is
    considered part of Earth's atmosphere, but
    air density is so low that most of this layer
    is what is normally thought of as outer
    space. In fact, this is where the space
    shuttles flew and where the International
    Space Station orbits Earth. This is also the
    layer where the auroras occur. Charged
    particles from space collide with atoms and
    molecules in the thermosphere, exciting
    them into higher states of energy. The
    atoms shed this excess energy by emitting
    photons of light, which we see as the
    colorful Aurora Borealis and Aurora
    Australis.

    The exosphere, the highest


    layer, is extremely thin and is
    where the atmosphere merges
    into outer space. It is composed
    of very widely dispersed
    particles of hydrogen and
    helium.

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