Chemistry of the Atmosphere
Atmosphere
*when we say atmosphere,
- Is a blanket of gases that surrounds
Earth. It is held near the surface of the
planet by Earth’s gravitational
attraction.
*among sa mga planets sa solar system our
planet is actually very unique because of our
atmosphere
- Atmosphere behaves as a protecting shield for
all life on Earth, making it unique in the solar
system.
- The atmosphere of Earth contains
mixture of gases which are forced to be
maintained near the Earth’s surface by
gravity
Division and Composition
The Earth's atmosphere is composed of several
layers, and they are separated based on
temperature.
 Major chemical components of the
atmosphere are Argon, Oxygen, and,
Nitrogen.
*these three compounds alone make up 99.9%
of a total dry weight of the atmosphere.
 Earth has an oxidizing atmosphere
*And did u know that the atmosphere became
oxidizing and oxygen consuming life forms
began appearing sa ating mga oceans.
And as higher life forms emerged on land,
plants added to atmospheric oxygen while
animals use it up for breathing and the oxygen
level stabilized around the 21% we know
today.
 Besides of the 3 main compositions,
there are others that are well mixed
ratios around the atmosphere.
 Most atmospheric studies focus on
*as you can see 93.497% is Carbon Dioxide
mainly the trace gases is carbon dioxide.
 trace gases.
 Carbon dioxide (CO2), Water vapor (H2
O), Ozone (O3) are the most
important trace gases.
Aerosols
- In addition to gases, the atmosphere
has a wide variety of suspended
particles known collectively as aerosols.
These particles may be liquid or solid
and are small enough that they may
require very long times to settle out of
the atmosphere by gravity.
Example of Aerosols
*so just to go into a little bit depth on
aerosols, the basic definition is a solid
particle or liquid droplet suspended in the
air.
Aerosols unclude dust, biogenic air cells
from forests, sea spray aerosols,
combustion and they’re very very small like
molecules, viruses, bacteria and pollen.

- Aerosols significantly affect

atmospheric heat balance, cloud
growth, and optical properties.