The principal constituent of the atmosphere of the Earth is?
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Answer: D. Nitrogen
Explanation
Atmospheric composition measurements reveal that nitrogen gas dominates the lower layers of air. Chemical analysis shows that nitrogen makes up roughly seventy eight percent of dry air. Volcanic outgassing and geochemical cycles over billions of years accumulated this vast nitrogen reserve. Nitrogen is a colorless and odorless diatomic gas that is relatively inert at room temperature. Earth atmosphere also contains significant oxygen and trace amounts of argon and carbon dioxide. Nitrogen compounds are essential building blocks for amino acids and proteins in living organisms.
Industrial processes extract nitrogen from the air for use in fertilizer manufacturing and freezing. Nitrogen cycles through ecosystems via bacterial fixation processes involving soil microbes. Aviation and diving industries manage nitrogen narcosis risks related to breathing pressurized air. Oxygen accounts for only about twenty one percent of the atmosphere ranking second to nitrogen. Carbon exists mostly in locked geological formations or as a minor atmospheric trace gas. Hydrogen escapes easily into space and forms a negligible percentage of dry air near the surface.
- Subject
- Everyday Science
- Category
- Everyday Science
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
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