How many gases are present in the air?

Air is present every in the atmosphere, especially in the lower part of it, known as troposphere. We breathe air all the time. It is all around us though we cannot smell, taste or touch it. Numerous chemical and physical phenomena taking place in Earth’s atmosphere involves air in one way or the other. The air also throws around the planet a protective blanket shielding it from the harmful effects of sun rays.

What is air?

Air is a mixture of gases making up layers upon layers of gases going around Earth up into the atmosphere. Among the mixture, oxygen and nitrogen are two of the most important and abundant gases in the atmosphere. Air comprises of 21% of oxygen and nitrogen constitutes around 78% of nitrogen and 1% is made up of trace gases like argon, carbon dioxide , helium, hydrogen, krypton, methane, neon, water vapors, etc. It can be said that air is mainly made up two gases nitrogen and oxygen with traces of other gases mentioned above. We will discuss oxygen, nitrogen and a little about trace gases.

Oxygen

It is a nonmetallic gas represented by symbol O having atomic weight of 8 in the period table. Oxygen is an essential element for sustaining life on Earth. We need oxygen for oxidization of the food we take to release energy and heat. Individuals suffering from certain health conditions are not able to breathe in sufficient amount of oxygen. These people are administered supplemental oxygen, which high purity oxygen processed from atmospheric oxygen. We breathe in only molecular oxygen which exists only in the atmosphere. It is also used in numerous industries to sustain burning process because of its property of supporting combustion. The nonmetallic gas is valued for its high reactivity and tendency to form oxides with most of the elements.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is of the most abundantly found nonmetallic gas in the atmosphere. It is said to constitute 78% of the atmospheric air. It is a nonreactive nonmetallic gas which is widely used for creating modified atmosphere which is freed of oxygen. It is also used in the chemical industry for manufacturing for various chemicals like fertilizers, etc. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is used for preserving biological samples including sperm, blood samples and various other biological specimens. Moreover, it is also an essential constituent of life as it is part of DNA and other genetic materials.

Argon

Argon is a noble gas with chemically represented by symbol Ar and has atomic number of 8. It is known as the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere after nitrogen and oxygen with a concentration of 0.934% (9340ppmv). Ar also comprises 0.00015% of Earth’s crust. For generation of Ar for industrial applications cryogenic distillation process is used in argon gas plants. It is used as an inert shielding gas in argon welding and numerous other high temperature industrial processes.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is colorless represented chemically as CO2 found in low concentration in Earth’s crust. It is a greenhouse gas generated by human activities like fossil fuel burning, deforestation and natural processes like respiration. It has various industrial applications like it is used fire extinguishers. CO2 is also used as inert gas in welding. In its solid form, it is known as dry ice which is used as a refrigerant. It is added to sparkling water, beer and carbonated drinks to make them effervescent.