ATMOSPHERE

AIR
Air is not a gas, but a homogeneous mixture made up of several gases
that constitute the Earth's atmosphere, which is found surrounding the
Earth attracted by the force of gravity. Air is essential for life on our
planet.

The atmosphere is the gaseous layer surrounding the Earth.

ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and the
rest are other gases.

The atmosphere is necessary for living things, as they take oxygen for
respiration and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. In addition, the
atmosphere acts as a filter to retain ultraviolet radiation harmful to life
and allows a temperature suitable for the development of life.

AIR PROPERTIES
THE WEIGHT
Galileo proved in 1613
that air has mass.

POOR HEAT CONDUCTOR

It is a good thermal insulator.
This property is used in some
windows and buildings, creating
an air chamber to prevent heat
or cold from entering.

SOUND PROPAGATION
Air needs a physical medium (liquid,
solid or gaseous) to propagate its
waves. Without air, sound could not
be transmitted.

POORLY WATER SOLUBLE

Although air is not very soluble in water, it is sufficient for aquatic organisms to take it from
the
water.

GASEOUS STATE

Matter is made up of particles that occupy space.

The particles that are part of a gaseous state of matter, air in

this case, move in all directions and occupy all available
space. Therefore, gaseous matter has a fixed mass, but the
volume and shape is variable, since it occupies the entire
volume of the container that holds it.

ORIGIN OF THE ATMOSPHERE

4500 million years ago, our planet was a fireball
surrounded by a large cloud of gas and dust. When it
began to cool, the surface solidified, giving rise to the
continents and the seabed (fondo oceánico). There were
many erupting volcanoes, whose gases accumulated on
the surface, creating an atmosphere different from the one
we know today. The early atmosphere had a lot of water
vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases.

Millions of years later, when the Earth's crust had cooled,

the water in the atmosphere became liquid and, after heavy
rainfall, the seas and oceans formed, where life probably
began.

Later life appeared and the atmosphere changed.

Photosynthesis removed carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and passed it to living things, while emitting
oxygen into the atmosphere. When the atmosphere became
richer in oxygen, animals emerged, capable of breathing it.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere is made up of air (a homogeneous mixture of
gases in different proportions), and atmospheric dust, small
particles floating in the air (pollen, fine sand, volcanic ash,
etc.).

The composition of the air is:

78.08 % Nitrogen. It is an inert gas.
20.95 % Oxygen. It is combined with other substances and
oxygen oxidizes these substantes. Necessary for
respiration. It is soluble in water. It is generated in
photosynthesis (plants, algae and some bacteria).
0,93% Argon.

0.03 % CO2. It is obtained from the combustion of fossil

fuels and from the respiration of living beings. Plants use it
in photosynthesis
Other gases (O3, Neon, Hydrogen, Helium, Methane,
Krypton, etc.).
Water vapor. It comes from the evaporation of surface
water and plant transpiration.
Air density decreases at high altitudes. Most of the air mass is
found at low altitudes, attracted by the force of the Earth's
gravity. In contrast, at higher altitudes, the air is thinner and
lighter, with lower density.

HIGH-ALTITUDE SICKNESS
Altitude sickness is caused by the body's failure to adapt to the
lack of oxygen at high altitude. It usually occurs between 2400
meters and 8000 meters of altitude. It occurs more frequently
among people under 50 years of age, and among those who
usually live below 900 meters of altitude.
It can cause serious problems and if the altitude is very high and
has been ascended to there at a high speed. If you descend to
lower altitudes, the symptoms of altitude sickness disappear.

The body slowly adapts to these

circumstances by producing more red blood
cells so that they can transport the little
oxygen that arrives from the air.
Some athletes train at high altitude,
especially if their competition will be at high
altitude, in order to produce more red blood
cells. Other athletes cheat by injecting the
hormone erythropoietin (EPO) to achieve these
effects.

STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPERE

The atmosphere reaches up to 10000 km in
altitude, although more than half of its mass is
concentrated in the first 6 km and 75 % in the
first 11 km. It is not homogeneous because the
gases are arranged in the atmosphere
according to their density, with the denser
gases closer to the Earth's surface.
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE

THE STRUCTURE - CHEMICAL COMPOSITION

Homosphere (0 km to 60 km): It is made up of air, a mixture of

gases whose main components are nitrogen, oxygen, argon,
water and CO2.

Heterosphere (from 60 km to 10000 km): In this zone, the gases

occupy different layers according to the mass of the atoms. There
is an oxygen layer, a helium layer, and finally a hydrogen layer
(lighter atoms).

THE STRUCTURE - PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

The earth's atmosphere is divided into these layers:
Troposphere.
Stratosphere.
Mesosphere.
Thermosphere or ionosphere.
Exosphere.

The boundaries between each of these zones are called, respectively:

tropopause, stratopause, mesopause and thermopause.
THE LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
TROPOSPHERE:
The troposphere is the lowest layer, occupying the first 10 - 12
kilometres or so (less at the poles than at the equator).
It contains 80 % of the air in the atmosphere.
It is in contact with the earth's surface, where life develops and
where meteorological phenomena (winds, rain, etc.) occur.

Most of the oxygen and water vapour is concentrated, so the air

has its maximum density. Water vapour is a good thermoregulator,
so that the temperature between day and night is not too high.
In the troposphere, the temperature decreases with altitude, by
about 6.5°C for each kilometre of ascent, reaching down to -60°C.
The boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere is
called the tropopause.

STRATOSPHERE:
The stratosphere ranges in altitude from 12 km to 45 to 50
km.
Within the stratosphere, between 15 and 40 km above sea
level, is the ozone layer. This is where 90% of all the
ozone in the atmosphere is concentrated.
Ozone is essential for life, as it acts as a protective shield. A
series of reactions take place that cause the temperature to
rise as you go upwards, reaching up to 15oC.
The boundary between the stratosphere and the
mesosphere is called the stratopause.

MESOSPHERE:
The mesosphere ranges from about 50 km to 90 km. In this
layer, the temperature decreases again with altitude and can
reach as low as -80°C, the coldest part of the atmosphere.
The boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere is
called the mesopause.

THERMOSPHERE:
This name (thermosphere) is due to the absorption of
energy from solar radiation, it can reach a
temperature of over 1500oC.
It is also called the ionosphere because its atoms
and molecules are ionised, i.e., electrically charged.
Gamma rays, X-rays and ultraviolet radiation from
the sun cause this ionisation.

This layer ranges from about 90 km to about 500 km.

In the polar areas, many atoms lose electrons and become
ionised, releasing energy and giving rise to the northern or
southern lights.
It is in the thermosphere that shooting stars are observed, small
particles that, upon entering the atmosphere, burn up and
disintegrate due to friction. This friction is also noticed by
spacecraft returning to Earth.
This is where the reflection of radio and television waves takes
place.

EXOSPHERE:
The exosphere is the transition zone between the Earth's
atmosphere and outer space. Here, gases gradually lose their
physicochemical properties until they reach a composition similar
to that of space, where there is practically the emptiness
(vacumm) and the temperature does not vary.
The gases found in the exosphere are the lightest: hydrogen,
helium, carbon dioxide and atomic oxygen.

This layer occupies from 500-580 km to 10000 km altitude.

The exosphere is where artificial satellites are located.