Air

UNIT 11

AIR

Learning Objectives

After the completion of this lesson, students will be able to:

* know about the occurence and composition of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

* understand the properties and uses of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

* understand nitrogen fixation.

* identify the causes of green house effect, global warming and acid rain.

* suggest remedial measures for the prevention and control of these effects.

 Introduction

Air is a mixture of gases that surrounds our planet earth. It is essential for the survival of all the living things. Air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide and small amount of other gases. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants in turn use carbon dioxde for photosynthesis and release oxygen into the atmosphere. Since men have been cutting down trees for their needs, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing. This is responsible for the raising of atmospheric temperature. Industries and vehicles release gases like carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. This has resulted in effects like global warming and acid rain which affect us in many ways. In total, the quality of air is gone in the modern days. In this lesson we are going to study about the effects like green house effect, global warming and acid rain. We will also study about occurrence and properties of the gases oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.