The Atmosphere - Chapter 1: Composition of the Atmosphere Flashcards
What were thought in Aristotle’s day to be the four substances?
Fire, water, air, and earth
What is the earth composed of?
Minerals
Air is actually often a ____ of many different gases and tiny solid particles.
Mixture
What are the two gases that almost entirely comprise clean air?
Nitrogen and Oxygen
What are the less significant elements to make up air?
Argon, tiny quantities of other gases, CO2
Carbon dioxide is an important constituent of air because it has the ability to ___ heat energy radiated by the earth and thus helps keep the earth warm
absorb
Arguable most important component of atmosphere
Water vapor
______ is responsible for clouds and precipitation
Water vapor
When water changes from one state to another it absorbs or releases ____ energy.
heat
_____ may intercept and reflect incoming solar radiation
Dust
What is responsible for the colors we see at sunset?
Dust
What is ozone or O3?
The triatomic form of oxygen
How is ozone created?
When a single atom of oxygen combines with O2 in the presence of a neutral molecule
True or False: The availability of ultraviolet radiation from the sun is in sufficient amounts of produce atomic oxygen, and there is an atmospheric density that is great enough to bring about the required collisions between atomic and molecular oxygen.
True.
Why is ozone important in the atmosphere?
It absorbs the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun
