2 (h.b.) Oxygen (O2) and Ozone (O3) in Earth's Atmosphere
Oxygen
Oxygen is called an element, because it is made of the same kinds of atoms (oxygen atoms). Almost all of our oxygen in our atmosphere was made by producers through a process called photosynthesis.
Oxygen
Even though oxygen is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere, it makes up less than one fourth of the volume.
Plants and animals take oxygen directly from the air and use it to release energy from their food.
Oxygen is also involved in many other important processes. Any fuel you can think of, from the gasoline in a car to the candles on a birthday cake, uses oxygen as it burns. Without oxygen, a fire will go out. Burning uses oxygen rapidly. During other processes, oxygen is used slowly. For example, steel in cars and other objects reacts slowly with oxygen to form iron oxide, or rust.
Chemical change
A change in matter that produces one or more new substances is a chemical change, or a chemical reaction.
In other chemical changes, two or more substances combine to form different substances. For example, iron metal combines with oxygen from the air to form the substance iron oxide, which you call rust. Unlike a physical change, a chemical change produces new substances with properties different from those of the original substances. The chemical change that occurs when fuels such as natural gas, wood, candle wax, and gasoline burn in air is called combustion.
Most oxygen molecules have two oxygen atoms. Ozone is a form of oxygen that has three oxygen atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two. Have you ever noticed a pungent smell in the air after a thunderstorm? This is the odor of ozone, which forms when lightning interacts with oxygen in the air.
If you have ever had a sunburn, you have experienced the painful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. But did you know that such burns would be even worse without the protection of the ozone layer? The ozone layer is a layer of the upper atmosphere about 30 kilometers above Earth’s surface Yet even the small amount of ozone in the ozone layer protects people from the effects of too much ultraviolet radiation. These effects include sunburn, eye diseases, and skin cancer. Ozone in the stratosphere filters out much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun The stratosphere is the second layer of the atmosphere and contains the ozone layer. The ozone layer is also important because it protects Earth’s living things from dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Oxygen is called an element, because it is made of the same kinds of atoms (oxygen atoms). Almost all of our oxygen in our atmosphere was made by producers through a process called photosynthesis.
Oxygen
Even though oxygen is the second most abundant gas in the atmosphere, it makes up less than one fourth of the volume.
Plants and animals take oxygen directly from the air and use it to release energy from their food.
Oxygen is also involved in many other important processes. Any fuel you can think of, from the gasoline in a car to the candles on a birthday cake, uses oxygen as it burns. Without oxygen, a fire will go out. Burning uses oxygen rapidly. During other processes, oxygen is used slowly. For example, steel in cars and other objects reacts slowly with oxygen to form iron oxide, or rust.
Chemical change
A change in matter that produces one or more new substances is a chemical change, or a chemical reaction.
In other chemical changes, two or more substances combine to form different substances. For example, iron metal combines with oxygen from the air to form the substance iron oxide, which you call rust. Unlike a physical change, a chemical change produces new substances with properties different from those of the original substances. The chemical change that occurs when fuels such as natural gas, wood, candle wax, and gasoline burn in air is called combustion.
Most oxygen molecules have two oxygen atoms. Ozone is a form of oxygen that has three oxygen atoms in each molecule instead of the usual two. Have you ever noticed a pungent smell in the air after a thunderstorm? This is the odor of ozone, which forms when lightning interacts with oxygen in the air.
If you have ever had a sunburn, you have experienced the painful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. But did you know that such burns would be even worse without the protection of the ozone layer? The ozone layer is a layer of the upper atmosphere about 30 kilometers above Earth’s surface Yet even the small amount of ozone in the ozone layer protects people from the effects of too much ultraviolet radiation. These effects include sunburn, eye diseases, and skin cancer. Ozone in the stratosphere filters out much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun The stratosphere is the second layer of the atmosphere and contains the ozone layer. The ozone layer is also important because it protects Earth’s living things from dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
