1 / 10

The Atmosphere

The Atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere is a mixture of gases that distributes heat and enables life to exist on Earth. Composition. Earth’s Atmosphere is a mixture of gases that distributes heat and enables life to exist on Earth. Gases that make up the atmosphere :

gustav
Download Presentation

The Atmosphere

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Atmosphere Earth’s atmosphere is a mixture of gases that distributes heat and enables life to exist on Earth

  2. Composition • Earth’s Atmosphere is a mixture of gases that distributes heat and enables life to exist on Earth • Gases that make up the atmosphere : • Keep earth’s surface warm enough to have liquid water • Protect against dangerous radiation • Prevent Earth’s surface from getting hit by meteors or chunks of rock from space • Gases • Nitrogen 78% • Oxygen 21% • Other gases 1% • Water vapor <1% • Solids • Dust, volcanic ash, salt, dirt, smoke • Liquids • Water

  3. Composition

  4. Atmospheric Pressure & Temperature • Air pressureis the measure of the force with which air molecules push on a surface. • Air pressure is strongest at the Earth’s surface because more air is above you. • As altitude ( distance from sea level) increases, air pressure decreases • Air Temperature also changes as altitude increases due to the way solar energy is absorbed as it moves through the atmosphere • High % of gases that absorb solar energy= warmer • Less gases that absorb solar energy= cooler

  5. Layers of the Atmosphere • Troposphere: layer in which we live; contains almost all of the weather, carbon dioxide, water vapor, clouds, air pollution, and life-forms • Stratosphere: gases are layered and don’t mix; contains the ozone layer; protects life by absorbing harmful UV radiation • Mesosphere: middle layer; the coldest layer; most meteoroids burn up here, producing meteoroid trails • Thermosphere: temperature increases; does not feel hot; outer most part of atmosphere; no definite outer limit

  6. Atmospheric Heating

  7. Energy in the Atmosphere • Earth and it’s atmosphere are warmed by energy from the sun. • We are going to discuss the three ways that this happens: radiation, conduction, and convection

  8. Radiation: Energy Transfer by Waves • Radiation is the transfer of energy as electromagnetic waves • The earth receives only about2 Billionths of the energy radiated by the sun, but it’ enough to drive the weather cycle and make life on earth possible

  9. Conduction: Energy Transfer by Contact • Thermal Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy through a material by direct contact • Thermal energy is always transferred from warm to cold areas • When air molecules come into Direct Contact with the warm surface of earth, thermal energy is transferred to the atmosphere.

  10. Convection: Energy Transfer by Circulation • convection is the transfer of thermal energy by the circulation or movement of a liquid or gas • Most thermal energy in the atmosphere is transferred by convection • As air is heated it becomes less dense and rise, Cool air is denser so it sinks, and as the cool air sinks it pushes the warm air up. • This cycle of warm air rising and cool air sinking causes a circular movement of air called a convection Current

More Related