Ozone Layer Research Paper

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The atmosphere of our earth surrounds it and protects it by blocking the dangerous light rays from the sun and acting as a shield. The atmosphere contains 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1% of other gases. Some of the oxygen turns in to ozone (O3), which creates the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Ozone is concentrated around an altitude of 25km. Ozone molecules absorb the dangerous light rays from the sun, so the ray breaks apart and only heats the surrounding by not damaging something. Ozone layer depletion is simply the wearing out of the amount of ozone in the atmosphere. This causes huge holes in the ozone layer of the earth and decrease in ozone amount that causes severe damages on the biological life. There are three forms of oxygen that are involved in the ozone-oxygen cycle. These are oxygen atoms (O), oxygen gas (O2) and ozone gas (O3). Ozone is formed by the oxygen gas taking an UV photon (that has a wavelength shorter than 240nm). So simply, the oxygen gas photo dissociates and becomes two ozone molecules. The ozone gas can absorb a UV light that has a wavelength between 200-310nm. After absorption, the ozone splits into an oxygen gas and an oxygen atom where the atom joins with another oxygen gas to form ozone again. This is a continuing process and the equation is: 2O3 → 3O2…show more content…
Industries that manufacture things like soaps, refrigerators, take-away containers, etc. use a chemical called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). This chemical is heavier than air so it can’t rise up by itself (if it could, ozone depletion would be much faster), so it is transferred to the ozone by wind. There are also ODSs (ozone depleting substances) that also harm the ozone layer. ODSs can be found in fire extinguishers, pesticides, industrial solvents and many more.

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