Name: ____________________________
Class: _______________
Properties of the Atmosphere Study Guide
1. What is the atmosphere?
The atmosphere is a thin layer of gases that surround Earth.
2. What percent of the atmosphere is Oxygen? Nitrogen?
Nitrogen makes up 78% of the earth’s atmosphere and oxygen makes up 21%.
3. What is Ozone?
Ozone is a form of oxygen that has three oxygen molecules instead of two.
4. Why is the atmosphere important to life on Earth?
It traps energy from the sun to keep Earth’s surface warm and water in liquid form.
The atmosphere protects living things from dangerous radiation from the sun.
It also prevents Earth’s surface from being hit by most meteoroids and rocks from outer
space.
5. What are the three properties of air?
Air is made up of atoms and molecules, which have mass. This means that air also has mass.
Because air has mass, it also has density and pressure. Air pressure is related to density and
mass.
6. Name the instrument used to measure air pressure.
A barometer is an instrument that is used to measure air pressure.
7. Compare and contrast the mercury and aneroid barometer.
In a mercury barometer, air pressure pushes down on the surface of the mercury in the dish,
causing the mercury in the tube to rise. In an aneroid barometer, changes in air pressure can
cause the walls of the airtight metal chamber to flex in and out. The needle on the dial
indicates the air pressure.
8. How does altitude affect air pressure?
Altitude is your elevation, or distance from sea level. The higher up you go, the lower the
pressure. The lower you go, the higher the pressure.
9. How does altitude affect density?
The density of air decreases as altitude increases.
10. Why does air have density and pressure?
Air is made up of atoms and molecules, which have mass. This means that air also has mass.
Because air has mass, it also has other properties including density and pressure.
11. What is the formula for finding density?
Density = Mass
Volume
Name: ____________________________
Class: _______________
12. What is water vapor?
In reality, air is not dry and contains water vapor. Water vapor is a gas form of water.
13. What is temperature?
Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold something is.
**Make sure you know the definitions of ALL the vocabulary
words**