Presence of Air Around Us: Have you ever seen the air? You may not have seen air, but you must have felt its presence in a variety of ways. When the leaves on the trees rustle or the clothes on the line sway, you notice it. When the fan is turned on, the pages of an open book begin to flutter. You can fly your kite because of the moving air. In this article, we will learn more about the presence of air around us.

Air

Air is present all around us and everywhere on Earth. Air is a mixture of different gases such as nearly \(78\%\) nitrogen, \(21\%\) oxygen and the remaining \(1\%\) is made up of small amounts of carbon dioxide and other inert gases. Air is present above ground, in the soil, and some amount is dissolved in water. Air is very important for the survival of all living things because air is necessary for breathing. We can live without food or water for a few days but not without air. Try holding your breath for a minute. You will feel uncomfortable and within a minute you will take a deep breath and inhale a large amount of air.

Weathercock

A weathercock is a device that determines the direction of blowing air. It has a broad blade in the shape of a cock that is attached to an arrow and rotates. When the air blows, the cock blade and the arrow rotate and align themselves with the direction of the moving air.

How Do We Feel the Air?

Though we cannot see the air, we can feel its presence when it moves. Moving air is called wind. Some of the ways we can feel air are:
1. In the rustling of leaves when the wind blows.
2. In fluttering of the pages when the fan is switched on.
3. On our face and arms when we move or sit under a moving fan.
4. When the branches of a tree sway in the wind.
5. In the forward-backward movement of clothes that are left to dry.

Air Is Present Everywhere Around Us

Air can be found all around us (though we cannot see it). Even containers and vessels that appear to us to be empty are filled with air. An empty bottle, for example, is not empty; it contains air. Even when we turn an empty bottle upside down, there is still air inside. We can demonstrate that air occupies space and that even an empty bottle contains air by performing a simple experiment.

Activity

We take an empty glass bottle and hold it upside down (with its open mouth facing downwards). The inverted glass bottle is placed in a vessel of water [as shown in Figure (a)]. We will discover that no water enters the inverted glass bottle. Because the glass bottle is filled with air, water does not enter it. Air takes up the entire volume of the bottle. The air in the empty glass bottle keeps water from entering it. This activity leads us to the conclusion that air takes up space.

When we tilt the bottle in the water, the air in the bottle escapes in the form of air bubbles [see Figure (b)]. Water begins to enter the glass bottle as the air from the bottle escapes. Water has taken over the space left by the air leaving the bottle. The preceding activity demonstrates that a glass bottle that appears to be empty to us is actually filled with air.

Five Activities That Are Possible Due to the Presence of Air

1. Burning something
2. Flying kite
3. Winnowing
4. A ship moving because of sail
5. Toy windmill

Important Properties of Air

Uses of Air

1. The moving air helps us to fly a kite and makes our clothes dry faster.
2. The husk is separated from the wheat grains during winnowing by the moving air.
3. Children often play with a ‘Firki’ (wind—vane) that rotates when the moving air passes over its top. Children hold it in their hands and sometimes adjust the direction of the firki with moving air or blow air on its top to make it rotate.

4. Wind helps us in many ways like moving wind-mills, generating energy, pollination, cooling of temperature, etc. But sometimes, when the wind blows at a very high speed, it can cause damage by uprooting the trees, blowing off the rooftops and damaging the buildings.

Define Atmosphere

We live on the earth. Our planet is surrounded by an atmosphere. The atmosphere is the envelope of air that surrounds the earth. The atmosphere (or layer of air) extends many kilometres above the earth’s surface. We live within the atmosphere of the earth. The atmosphere is essential for life on earth. This is due to the fact that the atmosphere’s air provides oxygen gas for all living organisms, including us, to breathe. As we ascend higher into the atmosphere, the amount of air available decreases.

The air at the tops of extremely high mountains is so thin that it lacks sufficient oxygen for people to breathe properly. So, the people who climb high mountains carry cylinders containing oxygen gas with them. They breathe in oxygen from these cylinders.

Significance of Atmosphere

1. It is a mixture of various gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, etc. Oxygen is essential for respiration for all living beings.
2. It contains a layer of ozone gas in the upper layer that prevents harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun from reaching the earth.
3. It helps to maintain the right temperature on Earth. During the day it absorbs some of the heat and reflects the rest. While at night, it retains the absorbed heat and prevents the Earth from becoming too cold.
4. It causes some weather changes like rain, snowfall, storms, etc.

Summary

Air is a mixture of different gases which are transparent, colourless and odourless. Air is present all around us and everywhere on Earth. Air is present above ground, in the soil, and some amount is dissolved in water. Though we cannot see the air, we can feel its presence when it moves. The moving air helps us to fly a kite and makes our clothes dry faster. The envelope of air that surrounds the earth is called the atmosphere.

FAQs on Presence of Air around Us

Q.1. How can we feel the presence of air around us?
Ans: Some of the ways we can feel air are:
1. In the rustling of leaves when the wind blows.
2. In fluttering of the pages of an open book when the fan is switched on.
3. On our face and arms when we move or sit under a moving fan.
4. When the branches of a tree sway in the wind.
5. In the forward-backward movement of clothes that are left to dry.

Q.2. Can you give an example of how the air around us can be present?
Ans: Air is present everywhere around us. Even those containers and vessels which appear to be empty to us are filled with air. For example, an empty bottle is not empty, it contains air in it. Even when we turn an empty bottle upside down, the air remains in it.

Q.3. What is the meaning of air around us?
Ans: The meaning of air around us is that air is a mixture of gases that forms the blanket covering the earth.

Q.4. What are the four uses of air?
Ans: The uses of air are as follows:
1. The moving air helps us to fly a kite and makes our clothes dry faster.
2. The husk is separated from the wheat grains during winnowing by the moving air.
3. Wind helps us in many ways like moving windmills and generating energy.
4. Wind helps in pollination.

Q.5. What are the two main components of air?
Ans: The two main components of air are nitrogen and oxygen.

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