Air:

Very Short Answer Type Questions:

1. Define exosphere.
Answer: It is the uppermost layer of the atmosphere having very thin air.

2. Define global warming.

Answer: General increase in earths temperature is called global warming.

3. What are the components of the atmosphere?

Answer: Nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, helium, argon, other gases and dust.

4. Define weather.
Answer: Hour to hour, day to day conditions of the atmosphere is called
weather.

5. What are the layers of the atmosphere?

Answer: Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

1. What is climate?
Answer: The average weather of a place over a longer period of time.

2. What is insolation?
Answer: Insolation is the incoming solar energy intercepted by the earth.
3. Define humidity.

Answer: Moisture in the air at any time.

4. What are clouds?

Answer: Masses of water droplets are called cloud.

Short Answer Type Questions:

1. What is oxygen?
Answer: Oxygen is the second most plentiful gas in the air. Most of the living
beings need oxygen for respiration. Thus, oxygen is important for survival of life
on earth.

2. What is mesosphere?
Answer: It is the third layer of the atmosphere and it lies above the stratosphere.
It extends upto a height of 80 km. The burning of meteorites on entering from
space occurs in this layer.

3. Write briefly about nitrogen gas.

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 Answer: It is the gas that is most abundant in the air. Nitrogen is an important
component of protein. Plants cannot take up gaseous nitrogen. They need help of
various agents of nitrogen fixation in order to utilize nitrogen.

4. What is temperature?
Answer: It is the degree of hotness or coldness of the air. It changes between
day and night and from season to season. Summers have a higher temperature
than winters. It is measured using a thermometer.

Long Answer Type Questions:

1. Describe the composition of the air.

Answer: The air that we breathe is a mixture of many gases like oxygen,
nitrogen, carbon dioxide, argon etc. The majority of the atmosphere is made up
of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%). The other gases that are present in small
quantities are:
o Carbon dioxide (0.03%),
o Argon (0.93%)
o Others ( helium, hydrogen, ozone)

2. Describe the layers of the atmosphere.

Answer: Our atmosphere is divided into five layers which are:

o Troposphere It is the most important layer of the atmosphere. The
air we breathe exists here. Its average height is 13 km. Almost all the
weather phenomena like rainfall, hailstorm etc. occur in this layer.
o Stratosphere This layer is just above the troposphere .It extends to
a height of 50 km. It is almost free from clouds and associated
weather phenomena that occur in the troposphere. It is most ideal for
flying aeroplanes since it is free from weather phenomena. It
contains a layer of ozone gas which protects us from the harmful
effect of sun rays.
o Mesosphere - It is the third layer of the atmosphere and it lies above
the stratosphere. It extends upto a height of 80 km. The burning of
meteorites on entering from space occurs in this layer.
o Thermosphere It is the fourth layer and the layer above the
mesosphere. In this layer, temperature rises very rapidly with
increase in height. Ionosphere is a part of this layer. It extends
between 80 to 400 km. It helps in radio transmission. This layer is
responsible for reflecting back of the radio waves that are
transmitted from the earth.
o Exosphere It is the uppermost layer of the atmosphere. It has very
thin air. Light gases like helium and hydrogen float into the space
from here.

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 3. Write in detail about winds.

Answer: The movement of air from high pressure area to low pressure area is
called wind. Winds can be gentle or very strong. Gentle winds blow away
smoke or fine dust. An extremely strong wind is in the nature of a storm which
can even uproot trees. A wind can be strong enough to make it difficult to walk
against it. Broadly, winds can be divided into three types:
o Permanent winds These blow constantly throughout the year in a
particular direction. For example the trade winds, westerlies and
easterlies.
o Seasonal winds These winds change their direction in different
seasons. For example, monssons in India.
o Local winds These winds blow only during a particular period of
the day or year in a small area. Land and sea breeze are examples of
this.
o
4. Describe air pressure.
Answer: Air pressure is defined as the pressure exerted by the weight of air on
the earths surface.
o Nature of vertical air pressure - The pressure falls rapidly as we go
up the layers of the atmosphere. Therefore, the pressure is the
highest at sea level and decreases with altitude.
o Nature of horizontal air pressure Horizontally, the distribution of
air pressure is influenced by the temperature of the air at a given
place.
o Where the temperature is high, the air gets heated up and rises, thus
creating a low pressure area. This is associated with cloudy skies and
wet weather. Where the temperature is low, the air is cold and
therefore heavy. This heavy air sinks and creates a high pressure
area. High pressure is associated with clear and sunny skies. The
movement of air is always from areas of high pressure to areas of
low pressure. Barometer is used to measure atmospheric pressure.

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