Natural Resources: Air

• Air


  The invisible mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth
• Important substances in air

  • Oxygen (21%)
  • Nitrogen (78%)
• Air contains important substances that most species need to survive, including human beings
• Atmosphere


  Another term used instead of "air"
• Standard Dry Air


  The composition of gases that make up air at sea level
• Gases in Standard Dry Air

  • Nitrogen (78.08%)
  • Oxygen (20.95%)
  • Argon (0.04%)
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Neon
  • Helium
  • Krypton
  • Hydrogen
  • Xenon
• Standard Dry Air does not include water vapor because the amount of vapor changes based on humidity and temperature
• Plants and animals


  Each produce the gases that the other needs to live
• Plants need carbon dioxide, which people and other animals exhale as a waste product
• People and other animals need oxygen, which plants produce during photosynthesis
• Layers of the atmosphere

  • Weathers occur
  • Holds the air needed by plants and animals to survive
  • Contains 99% of water vapor and aerosol
  • Protects us from UV radiation
  • Ozone layer located
  • Coldest layer
  • Where most meteors burn up
  • Aurora borealis and aurora australis can be seen here
  • Where International Space Station orbits
  • Merge with solar wind
  • Satellites orbit here
• Compressed air


  Air kept at a consistent pressure, such as air pressure at sea level
• Airplanes are usually pressurized at ground level so passengers can breathe without canisters of air
• Compressed air is often kept at a pressure higher than normal air pressure
• Scuba divers use compressed air to breathe under water
• Pneumatics


  The science and work of pressurized air and other gases
• Uses of pneumatics


  • Air brakes in automobiles, trucks, and trains
  • Pipe organs
• Air pollution


  The release of pollutants into the air that are detrimental to human health and the planet
• Air pollution has a negative effect on the air we breathe
• Air pollution happens when harmful byproducts, like exhaust from cars, enter the air
• Smog


  A combination of smoke and fog that can clog the atmosphere
• Soot


  Tiny particles of chemicals, soil, smoke, dust, or allergens, in the form of gas or solids, that are carried in the air
• Other air pollutants, such as methane and excess amounts of carbon dioxide, can upset the balance of molecules in the air, contributing to global warming