Answer: 1 Earth's atmosphere is composed of about 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, 0.9 percent argon, and 0.1 percent other gases. Trace amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and neon are some of the other gases that make up the remaining 0.1 percent.
2 Air takes up space. ...
Air is made of gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, and other materials. ...
Air exerts pressure. ...
Air has weight. ...
Air can be compressed. ...
Air is affected by temperature.
3 Air pressure is higher at lower altitudes. Air density is higher at lower altitudes. There is more space between air molecules at higher altitudes. There is less oxygen to breathe at the top of a high mountain than there is at sea level.
4 The atmosphere can be divided into layers based on its temperature, as shown in the figure below. These layers are the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere and the thermosphere. A further region, beginning about 500 km above the Earth's surface, is called the exosphere.
5 The Sun's energy gets to the Earth through radiation, which you can prove just by standing outside and letting the sun's rays warm your face on a sunny day. ... The energy lost is emitted as light or electromagnetic radiation. Energy that is absorbed by an atom causes its electrons to "jump" up to higher energy levels.
6 Energy released from the Sun is emitted as shortwave light and ultraviolet energy. When it reaches the Earth, some is reflected back to space by clouds, some is absorbed by the atmosphere, and some is absorbed at the Earth's surface. ... Shortwave radiation reflected back to space by clouds.
7 Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have used various reference points and thermometric substances for definition. ... The lowest theoretical temperature is absolute zero, at which no more thermal energy can be extracted from a body.
8 There are three ways heat is transferred into and through the atmosphere: radiation. conduction. convection.
9 Wind is the movement of air, caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun and the Earth's own rotation. ... Differences in atmospheric pressure generate winds. At the Equator, the sun warms the water and land more than it does the rest of the globe.Nov 15, 2012
