Air
2 Minutes
Air weight and composition for kids: learn how heavy Earth's atmosphere is, what gases make up air, and why trees matter. A science lesson in English.
- How heavy the air is compared to placing a car on your head
- The gases in air, including nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide
- Why cutting trees leads to acid rain and global warming
What this lesson teaches
Air is a mixture of various gases that surrounds the Earth and supports human life. Although people commonly imagine air to be extremely light, the atmosphere actually possesses an enormous amount of weight pressing down on everything.
The heavy weight of air
Air pushes down on our heads toward the earth with a 1,000-kilogram weight, which feels just like placing a heavy car directly on your head while trying to stand still. Across the entire planet, the total mass of all the surrounding air is equal to the weight of 103 followed by 13 zeros of standing elephants. Even though we move through air every day without noticing it, this massive quantity of atmosphere exerts continuous pressure on the earth.
Gases in the atmosphere
- Nitrogen gas forms the largest share of the atmosphere at 78 percent.
- Oxygen makes up 21 percent of the air and is the vital gas humans must breathe to survive.
- Argon makes up about 0.1 percent of the surrounding atmospheric gases.
- Carbon dioxide accounts for 0.04 percent, with other remaining gases appearing in very low percentages.
The exchange between humans and plants
Living things constantly take in oxygen to survive and release carbon dioxide, which is a gas the human body does not need. Green plants absorb that released carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and give back the oxygen that humans require. Because this continuous giving and taking between living beings and plants happens without stopping, life on Earth remains stable and healthy.
Effects of urbanization and tree loss
Urbanization causes people everywhere to cut down trees, plants, and creepers in order to construct roads and buildings. Without enough plants left to absorb the carbon dioxide that humans release, the gas rises up into the sky and mixes with clouds to create acid rain. In addition, this excess carbon dioxide traps heat coming from the sun and raises temperatures across the planet in a process called global warming. Protecting Earth requires controlling the smoke released by vehicles and factories and making sure that trees and plants are never cut down.