What is the atmosphere and what are its layers for elementary school children

The atmosphere is the layer of gas that surrounds the planet . In other words, you could say that the atmosphere is the air that we do not see but that we do feel. In addition, the atmosphere is made up of more things than the air itself, such as clouds, which are made up of water vapor and are also part of the atmosphere.

The atmosphere is formed on our planet as a consequence of gravity . Gravity makes heavier bodies fall more than lighter ones. For this reason, solid objects are closer to the center of the Earth, while gaseous objects are located further away. As this is always the case, the consequence is that the planet is formed at its center by a large mass of dense bodies (which would be the planet itself), while gases accumulate in the most superficial layers . That is, in the layers furthest from the center. Consequently this forms the atmosphere.

Although the atmosphere may look the same everywhere, it is actually layered . The layers of the atmosphere differ because, just as solids and gases have different weights, the gases in the atmosphere also have different weights. In this way, we find that, depending on the layer of the atmosphere in question, there is a type of gas or others that are concentrated in these layers. In addition, they also change according to the gas density. That is, the amount of air in one layer or another. In this way, we find layers of the atmosphere with a lot of air, and others with very little. Below we explain the layers of the atmosphere for primary :

Troposphere

It is the layer of the atmosphere that is closest to the ground . It measures about 10 kilometers. It is the layer where most of the meteorological phenomena that we see take place, such as rain, clouds or wind.

Stratosphere

It is between 10 and 50 kilometers high . It receives its name because the gases accumulate in the form of strata according to their weight. One of these layers is ozone, which forms the famous ozone layer . Which is responsible for preventing much of the sun’s ultraviolet rays from reaching the Earth’s soil. In this way, it is a layer that acts as a protector for life on the planet.

Mesosphere

It is located between kilometer 50 and 80 . It is a layer in which the amount of air drops a lot. In addition, it is a very cold layer of the atmosphere . Its average temperature is between -80 and -90 degrees approximately.

Ionosphere

It is located between kilometer 80 and 400 away. It is a layer of the atmosphere that is characterized by the presence of electrically charged atoms that are called ions, hence the name of this layer. It is the layer of the atmosphere that allows electrical transmission. In fact, it is through this layer of the atmosphere that many of the radio and television signals circulate . As a curiosity, it is also in this layer where most of the meteorites that reach our planet are destroyed.

Exosphere

It is located between kilometers 400 and 10,000 approximately . It is the last of the layers of the atmosphere. It is a very light layer, where there is almost no air and the composition it has is more like outer space. It is characterized by being the one that represents the Earth’s magnetic field.

Not all planets have an atmosphere . The presence of the atmosphere on a planet or natural satellite depends on several factors, such as the gravity of the planet or satellite in question. The larger the celestial body , the more gravity it will exert. Consequently, it is more likely to have an atmosphere, as gravity will keep the gas close to the planet’s surface.

A close example of a body that has no atmosphere is our natural satellite. The Moon has no atmosphere because its gravity is too weak to trap the gas. In this way, everything that happens on its surface stays there permanently, since there is no wind or meteorological phenomena that modify the terrain. An example of this are the footprints of the astronauts who stepped on the Moon. As there is no wind on the Moon, these tracks will remain there forever until a new object modifies them, but they will never be erased as would happen on Earth, since, with no wind, there is no erosion either.