Earth’s Atmosphere can be divided into four layers with distinct changes in temperature as the altitude increases. Starting at Earth’s surface, these layers are: Troposphere: As the altitude increases, the air temperature decreases. The troposphere is hotter near the Earth’s surface because heat from the Earth warms this air. As the altitude increases the number of […]
Atmospheric Temperature vs. Altitude
Temperature is a physical property of how hot or how cold matter is. Cold Objects have a low temperature. Hot Objects have a high temperature. A thermometer is the instrument used to measure temperature.There are several different thermometer scales, the diagram shows a model of a Celsius thermometer. Note that this scale is marked in […]
Air Pressure vs. Altitude
The gravitational attraction between the Earth and its atmosphere is greatest near the Earth’s surface. As a result, the density of air molecules is greatest near the Earth’s surface and decreases as the distance from Earth’s surface increases. The greater the density of air molecules the greater is their pressure. Air pressure is greatest at […]
Atmosphere
Question: What is the atmosphere? Answer: Some planets, such as Earth and Venus have a layer of gas surrounding the planet, which is called the atmosphere. Earth’s atmosphere reaches out from Earth’s surface for over 350 miles (560 kilometers). The atmosphere diagram (left) represents the density of air in Earth’s atmosphere. The blue dots represent […]