The troposphere contains about three quarters of the mass
of the...

Question

The troposphere contains about three quarters of the mass 
of the entire atmosphere. The troposphere is only 12 km 
thick while the whole atmosphere is about 120 km thick. 
Explain why the troposphere contains such a large fraction 
of the total mass.

Accepted Answer

Hi everyone for this problem, we're being asked to identify which statement is true and it looks like we're looking at layers of the atmosphere. So let's go ahead and rank the layers of the atmosphere in terms of decreasing altitude. So we have the thermostat fear followed by the mesosphere. Then we have the stratosphere followed by the troposphere. Okay and on our Y axis we have decreasing altitude and on our X axis we have increasing temperature. So let's take a look at our options here to see which statement is true. The first one says the stratosphere is the densest layer in the atmosphere. This is false because the troposphere is the most dense statement to the stratosphere is the thickest and heaviest layer in the atmosphere. So this is also false because the thermos Fear is the thickest and the trophy sphere is the heaviest. Our 3rd statement says the troposphere is the thickest and heaviest layer in the atmosphere. This is false. It's the heaviest but not the thickest. And our last statement says the troposphere is the densest layer in the atmosphere. This is true. Okay, so this is going to be the correct statement here and we were able to see that by looking at our layers of the atmosphere in terms of decreasing altitude. So option four is going to be the correct answer here. And that's the end of this problem. I hope this was helpful

The troposphere contains about three quarters of the mass of the entire atmosphere. The troposphere is only 12 km thick while the whole atmosphere is about 120 km thick. Explain why the troposphere contains such a large fraction of the total mass.

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