Download LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE

NC Essential Standard: Compare the
composition, properties, and structure of
Earth’s atmosphere to include: mixtures of
gases and differences in temperatures and
pressure within layers.
* Source of all of the energy on Earth.
* Energy from the sun must pass through
the atmosphere before it hits the surface.
* Different layers of the atmosphere have
different temperatures, because some layers
contain gases that absorb energy and others
do not.
* Which layer contains 90% of all the gases?
The bottom layer, the TROPOSPHERE
 All weather and the air you breathe!
 The lowest and most important layer.
Temperature is highest at the surface of the
earth and decreases with altitude.
High altitude, colder
temperatures
Low altitude, warmer
temperatures
 Earth’s surface is the source of heat.
 Rock, soil, and water absorbs the Sun’s light and
radiates it back as heat.
 The greater density of gases due to gravity causes the
temperature to rise.
 Usually, warm air sits below cooler air.
 Sometimes there is an INVERSION
and cold air sits below warm air.
 Layer above the troposphere
 Temperature increases with altitude (Sun)
Thinking Question!!!
How is this different from the altitude-temperature
relationship in the troposphere?
 Air is stable because warmer, less dense air
sits over cooler, denser air.
Stop to Draw!
The pilot says, “We are no at our cruising altitude of
30,000 feet.” Why do planes fly so high in the air?
Out of the troposphere and into the stratosphere.
Fuel costs are lower because there is less friction due to
the lower air density…there’s also less turbulence.
* Inside the Stratosphere.
* Ozone gas absorbs harmful UV radiation!
* Man-made
chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) were used a lot
in the past to keep things
cold and to make foam
and soaps…
* But CFCs break apart
(destroy) ozone
molecules.
 Third
 Temperature decreases with altitude
(heat is from the stratosphere)
 Extremely low density of molecules
 The pressure is so low that liquids would
boil at normal body temperature.
 Your blood would boil without a space suit!
 Thinking Question!
If pressure decreases with altitude…and your
blood would boil in the mesosphere….
Does water boil faster in
the mountains or at sea level?
Answer: The Mountains
 Fourth layer of atmosphere from the
surface of the earth.
 Very low density of molecules
Mysteries of the Sun: Ionosphere,
Thermosphere, and Mesosphere
 (500 km to outer space)
 Last layer of the atmosphere.