11/30/2010

Earth’s Atmosphere

Our Atmosphere
• Our atmosphere is mostly
Nitrogen (78%) and Oxygen
(21%)
• The remaining 1% is made
up of about 10 other
elements.

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Solids and Liquids

• Our atmosphere also contains solids
and liquids.
• Dust, salt and ice are
three common
solids.

Layers of our Atmosphere

• Our Atmosphere has 5
layers.
• The Layers are separated
by differences in
temperature.

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Lower Atmosphere
• We live in the Troposphere. This is
where 75% of the gasses are. The
clouds, weather and smog also occur
in the Troposphere.
• The second layer is the Stratosphere.
There is a layer of ozone in the
Stratosphere.

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The Ozone Layer

• Ozone is very important to us. If ozone
is down in the Troposphere, it is bad for
us to breathe.
• In the Stratosphere, it blocks
dangerous UV radiation from the sun.
(This is good)
• Holes can develop in the layer and
cause danger for people living
underneath.

The budget of solar radiation is as follows:

percent

reflected 35

absorbed by atmosphere 17.5

scattered to the Earth from blue sky 10.5

scattered to the Earth from clouds 14.5

radiation going directly to Earth's
22.5
surface

100

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Upper Atmosphere
• There are 3 levels of the
upper atmosphere.
• The Mesosphere. The
coldest layer and the place
where most meteors burn
up. (Meso means middle)

• The Thermosphere. This is where

the Ionosphere is located. The
Ionosphere contains charged
particles. These particles along
with solar flares create radio
disruptions. It reflects radio waves.
• The Exosphere. There are very few
atoms here. Mostly Hydrogen &
Helium. The beginning of space.

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Atmospheric Pressure
• The weight of our atmosphere
pushes on the molecules. We
call this pressure Atmospheric
Pressure.
• The higher you go, the lower
the pressure.

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Pressure Differences in Water

• When you swim

On the on the surface,
surface
you don’t feel
pressure.
• The deeper you
50 feet below the dive, the greater
surface
the pressure.

Pressure differences on Earth

Less • At sea level, there is
Pressure much more air
above you pushing
down creating
pressure.
• On the top of a tall
mountain, there is
More Pressure less air above you
and less pressure.

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Temperature of the Layers

• The gasses in some layers are
heated by the sun and others are
not.
• Our layer (the troposphere) gets
colder as you go higher. Other
layers get hotter as you rise.

Colder

Hotter

Colder

Hotter

Colder

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