EARTH – Our Home Planet | Planets Of The Solar System

EARTH – Our Home Planet | Planets Of The Solar System

EARTH – In this topic, we will now know things about the third planet in the solar system which is our home, the planet Earth.

EARTH
Image from: The Fact Site

The planet is also known to be the only planet with an atmosphere with free oxygen, oceans of water and life.

It is the fifth largest planet in the system, according to Space. It orbits around the Sun every 365.75 days and almost 24 hours to complete its rotation.

The atmosphere of our home consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide. Here are its layers:

  • Troposphere
    • The first layer. This is where warm air rises when sunlight hits the surface
  • Stratosphere
    • The second layer. It is home of the ozone layer which protects us from the harmful ultraviolet rays
  • Mesosphere
    • The third layer. Temperature here gets lower
  • Thermosphere
    • The fourth layer. Extreme heat in this layer is due to the ultraviolet rays from the Sun
  • Ionospere
    • The fifth layer. The ions in this layer are due to the electrons knocked off by the energetic solar radiation.
  • Exosphere
    • The fifth layer. It contains mainly oxygen and hydrogen atoms
  • Magnetosphere
    • The outer layer. This is basically where charged particles spiral along the magnetic field lines.

The planet is also composed of 30% land and 70% water. Earth also has a moon, which is 3.4K kilometers wide.

The planet also has 7 large masses called continents:

  • Africa
  • Antarctica
  • Asia
  • Australia or Oceania
  • Europe
  • North America
  • South America

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