The atmosphere

Air is made up of approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% other gases (argon, carbon dioxide, water vapour, etc.). Order these components from highest to lowest proportion and represent the data using a simple bar chart.

You can do it on paper and send a photo with your answer.

Name the two most abundant gases in air and state their approximate proportion.

State whether these statements about the atmosphere are true or false and correct the false ones: air is made up only of oxygen; the troposphere is the layer where weather occurs; the exosphere is the layer closest to the surface.

The diagram shows the layers of the atmosphere (not drawn to scale).

1. a) Which layer is labelled with "?"?
2. b) In which layer do clouds form and storms occur?
3. c) Which gas forms an area in the layer labelled with "?" that absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun?

What is the ozone layer, which layer of the atmosphere is it located in, and why is its depletion a concern?

A rocky exoplanet similar to Earth has been discovered that receives comparable stellar radiation, but whose atmospheric analysis indicates that it lacks an ozone layer in its middle region and does not retain water vapour in its lower layers. Reasonably justify which protective and regulating functions fulfilled by Earth's troposphere and stratosphere would be absent on that planet, and predict two critical consequences for the viability of life on its surface.

As you climb a mountain, the temperature drops, even though you are closer to the Sun. Explain which layer of the atmosphere this temperature drop corresponds to and reason why the peak of a high mountain is cold.

In the troposphere, temperature decreases with altitude, but in the stratosphere it increases. Relate this change of trend to the absorption of ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer.

A weather balloon records the following temperatures as it rises: 15 °C at the surface, −50 °C at an altitude of 10 km, 0 °C at 45 km, and −80 °C at 70 km. State which layers of the atmosphere it passes through in each section and explain the change in trend observed in the data.

Explain in your own words what atmospheric pressure is and reason why it is lower at the top of a mountain than at sea level.

In high mountains, each breath provides less oxygen than at sea level. Explain how this fact is related to atmospheric pressure and why mountaineers need to acclimatise for days before climbing a very high summit.

A hiker hermetically seals a flexible plastic bottle at the summit of a mountain at an altitude of 3000 m. Upon descending to the beach, they observe that the bottle has deformed and is completely crushed. Justify this event by refuting the idea that "air has no weight" based on the concept of mass and the air column, and predict with reasoning what would happen to that same bottle if it were sealed at the beach and carried up to the summit again.

State two functions of the atmosphere that make life on Earth possible, and briefly explain one of them.

The Moon has virtually no atmosphere. State two consequences of this fact related to the functions that the atmosphere performs on Earth.

CFC gases, formerly used in aerosols and fridges, destroyed ozone and were banned by the Montreal Protocol. Explain the risk their use posed and why that agreement is considered a success of international cooperation.