Air Density
Most of the air in Earth’s atmosphere is crowded close to the earth’s surface, due to gravity. Air density is greater at the earth’s surface because there are more molecules located there.
- Recall that density is determined by how massive and how close together particles (like molecules in the air) are.
- (density = mass/volume)
- In the atmosphere, density is the highest near Earth’s surface and then decreases with altitude. This decrease happens rapidly at first, but then slows down.
Source: WeatherSTEM