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

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

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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.

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