What is the approximate percentage of oxygen in the air?
The air in Earth’s atmosphere is made up of approximately 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. Air also has small amounts of lots of other gases, too, such as carbon dioxide, neon, and hydrogen.
Oxygen is the most essential gas for the existence of biological life forms on Earth, even though it comprises only 21% of the air in our atmosphere. Oxygen is used for respiratory processes in animals to produce energy, for burning fuel to produce heat and light, as a coolant in high processing computers, and for providing a safe environment for newborns in pediatric incubators. Clearly, oxygen is a highly employed commodity in the world.
More Info:
climate.nasa.gov
What are your thoughts on this subject?
12 Comments
Johnny Rock
21% of us know what we're breathing.
Louella Wilson
Alan Coates, aluminium is flammable! Try putting aluminium foil on a flame. Whoooosh!
Ken Putnam
James Webb,
the largest amount of oxygen is generated by algae in the oceans
Coral Harvey
teacherchicky, that must have been a difficult time for you. When I was a young student nurse the children's ward had a tiny girl on it who had survived open heart surgery but been left with a tracheostomy. Unfortunately no one in her home was able to manage the trachy si she was full time in hospital .
Coral Harvey
In the calciferous ers 350million years ago it was 35 per cent due to the huge amount of plants and foliage. We are not adapted to survive in that concentration. If we were adapted we would be enormous as were the centipedes millipedes and dragon flies of that era . A millipede was two metres long and nearly a metre widen. Dragon flies had a wingspan of 4 feet as fossil evidence shows us.
The world has been through so many stages and is an incredible place to live.
Alan Coates
If the oxygen level was 5% higher, Aluminium would be flammable!
Wayne Roberts
All scuba divers know this. Surprised that more people didn’t!!!!
Wayne Roberts
jonbroberts,
Percentage stays the same. But pressure drops. Resulting in less oxygen.
Howard Groopman
Should have remembered this from jr high school 60 years ago. I knew it was around 80-20 nitrogen and oxygen, but forgot which was which.
teacherchicky
And it's getting so that half the people I see are on oxygen because that's not enough for them. When I was training to be a respiratory therapist (in addition to everything else my daughter had to have a trach for two years and I needed training before I could bring her home) I was told to breathe pure oxygen; it will get you the biggest high you've ever had in your life!
lls
21 78...must remember that for next time...got them transposed.
Paul Greenslade
Johnny Rock, Baddabing!