ATM OCN 100 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Gas Constant, Heat Capacity, Tropopause

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The solid earth has a radius of 6,370 km. The earth"s atmosphere is only 1/132nd the thickness of the planet. Mass= a measure of the substance of an object. Fluid= an substance that conforms to the shape of its container. A hygrometer is an instrument that can measure the humidity of the air. Interestingly, the very best hygrometers use human hair, as it is remarkably sensitive to the level of humidity. Nearly 98% of the universe is still composed of hydrogen and helium, the simplest atoms. Hydrogen can be turned into helium by nuclear fusion. Smaller balls of matter did not get large enough to force fusion at their cores and so they became non stars, like our planet earth. So it is very likely that earth"s original atmosphere was composed of mostly h and he and other light gases such as methane (ch3) and ammonia (nh4).