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The density of the Earth's atmosphere decreases nearly exponentially with altitude. The total mass of the atmosphere is M = ρ A H ≃ 1 kg/cm 2 within a column of one square centimeter above the ground (with ρ A = 1.29 kg/m 3 the atmospheric density on the ground at z = 0 m altitude, and H ≃ 8 km the average atmospheric scale height).
The layers are to scale. From the Earth's surface to the top of the stratosphere (50km) is just under 1% of Earth's radius. The exosphere is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the density is so low that the molecules are essentially collision ...
The lower part of the thermosphere, from 80 to 550 kilometres (50 to 342 mi) above Earth's surface, contains the ionosphere. The temperature of the thermosphere gradually increases with height and can rise as high as 1500 °C (2700 °F), though the gas molecules are so far apart that its temperature in the usual sense is not very meaningful.
The Earth's weather is a consequence of its illumination by the Sun and the laws of thermodynamics. The atmospheric circulation can be viewed as a heat engine driven by the Sun's energy and whose energy sink, ultimately, is the blackness of space. The work produced by that engine causes the motion of the masses of air, and in that process it ...
The three diagrams are constructed from the P–alpha diagram by using appropriate coordinate transformations. Not a thermodynamic diagram in a strict sense, since it does not display the energy–area equivalence, is the Stüve diagram; But due to its simpler construction it is preferred in education. [citation needed]
The composition of Earth's atmosphere is determined by the by-products of the life that it sustains. Dry air (mixture of gases) from Earth's atmosphere contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and other "noble" gases (by volume), but generally a variable amount of water vapor is ...
[1] Working fluids are often categorized on the basis of the shape of their T–s diagram. An isentropic process is depicted as a vertical line on a T–s diagram, whereas an isothermal process is a horizontal line. [2] Example T–s diagram for a thermodynamic cycle taking place between a hot reservoir (T H) and a cold reservoir (T C).
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary field of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling, oceanography, geology and volcanology and other disciplines.