Why the Ozone layer is 15-30km above the earth surface despite the fact that O3 is heavier than O2?

320 views

Why the Ozone layer is 15-30km above the earth surface despite the fact that O3 is heavier than O2?

In: 42

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Follow-up question people might be asking: Even if ozone forms only in the upper atmosphere from UV rays hitting oxygen, why doesn’t it sink right away, being heavier than the rest of the air?

Answer: Same reason our air contains a mix of oxygen and nitrogen and carbon dioxide despite these gases being of different densities: turbulent mixing. Gas molecules bounce off each other in a chaotic way, and this makes the slightly different gravitational pull almost irrelevant.

You are viewing 1 out of 4 answers, click here to view all answers.