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Air |
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air: see atmosphere atmosphere [Gr.,=sphere of air], the mixture of gases surrounding a celestial body with sufficient gravity to maintain it. Although some details about the atmospheres of other planets and satellites are known, only the earth's atmosphere has been well studied, the ..... Click the link for more information. ; liquid air liquid air, ordinary air that has been liquefied by compression and cooling to extremely low temperatures (see liquefaction ). Its commercial preparation involves purification by washing to remove soluble impurities and by passage over calcium oxide (lime) to remove ..... Click the link for more information. ; ventilation ventilation, process of supplying fresh air to an enclosed space and removing from it air contaminated by odors, gases, or smoke. Proper ventilation requires also that there be a movement or circulation of the air within the space and that the temperature and ..... Click the link for more information. . airMixture of gases constituting the earth's atmosphere. Some gases occur in steady concentrations. The most important are molecular nitrogen (N2), 78% by volume, and molecular oxygen (O2), 21%. Small amounts of argon (Ar; 1.9%), neon (Ne), helium (He), methane (CH4), krypton (Kr), hydrogen (H2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and xenon (Xe) are also present in almost constant proportions. Other gases occur in variable concentrations: water vapour (H2O), ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Air also contains trace amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The variable constituents are important for maintaining life. Water vapour is the source for all forms of precipitation and is an important absorber and emitter of infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide is necessary for photosynthesis and is also an important absorber and emitter of infrared radiation. Ozone in the stratosphere (see ozone layer) is an effective absorber of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun but at ground-level is a corrosive pollutant and a major constituent of smog. Air Alarm (See WARNING.) Aeolus god of the winds. [Gk. Myth.: Zimmerman, 9] god of whole atmosphere. [Gk. Myth.: Jobes, 42] winged nymphs of breezes. [Rom. Myth.: LLEI, I: 323] in allegories of elements, personification of air. [Art: Hall, 128]
spirit inhabiting atmosphere in Rosicrucian philosophy. [Medieval Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 1055]
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The top of the buggy caught the air like a parachute or an umbrella filled with wind, and held them back so that they floated downward with a gentle motion that was not so very disagreeable to bear. A weight of four thousand pounds is represented by a displacement of the air amounting to forty-four thousand eight hundred and forty-seven cubic feet; or, in other words, forty-four thousand eight hundred and forty-seven cubic feet of air weigh about four thousand pounds. The overseer wouldn't believe him when he said the valley air would be his death--and the negroes, who might otherwise have helped him, all avoided a man whom they knew to be under a spell. |
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Air
