Perhaps the question of which is heavier - air or carbon dioxide, can arise in any person. On the one hand, you have to breathe air constantly - without it, even a trained person will not last longer than several minutes. On the other hand, everyone knows from childhood that carbon dioxide is released during breathing. Therefore, let's deal with this issue in more detail.
Air composition
Air, unlike carbon dioxide, is not one substance, but a complex mixture, which contains more than ten substances. And this is only normal air, not urban air, which includes several dozen dangerous ingredients for humans.
So, the largest share is nitrogen - air consists of it at 76%. It does not support combustion, is not used for breathing.
But the next component is vital to all living things - oxygen. Its air composition is much less, only 23%. But it is he who allows man, animals, birds, fish and plants to live. Yes, plants breathe too, although not everyone knows this.
The third gas in the air is argon. It is already quite a bit, only 1.3 percent. In wildlife, it is also almost never used, but it is actively used by people in various fields of activity.
The fourth place is occupied by carbon dioxide. True, the amount is very small - only 0.046%. Imagine all the factories, cars and living things on the planet almost can not increase this figure. Although, according to environmentalists, harmful production and deforestation lead to the fact that this figure is still increasing.
Also, air consists of neon, krypton, methane, helium, hydrogen and xenon. The latter occupies only 0.00004% of the total mass. Other impurities are so insignificant that we can not talk about them.
What does carbon dioxide consist of?
Carbon dioxide is a separate substance. Its formula is CO2. Interestingly, unlike most chemical mixtures, in nature it does not exist at all in a liquid state. It occurs only in gaseous and solid, gradually passing from one state to another under certain conditions.
It easily transmits ultraviolet rays, allowing the sun to heat the earth. But infrared heat coming from the surface of the planet does not let through. Because of this, it accumulates, and gradually the temperature rises throughout the world. This is called the greenhouse effect, because of which environmentalists around the world are sounding the alarm.
Density comparison
Scientists love to weigh, compare and analyze everything. Of course, this fate was not avoided by air with carbon dioxide. Through the most complicated calculations using modern equipment, it was possible to extremely accurately determine the density of both substances. Knowing them, you can determine what is harder - air or carbon dioxide, and what is easier.
For carbon dioxide, this figure is 1.977 kilograms per cubic meter. Ordinary air has less - only 1,204 kg / m3. However, it is worth considering that such clean air is rarely found in nature - usually it also contains dust, moisture and various impurities.
But from a scientific point of view, reference indicators should be considered. Therefore, it is safe to say how many times carbon dioxide is heavier than air - almost 1.64 times.
Why are they important?
The importance of air has been discussed above. But any educated person already knows perfectly well that without him, nothing living on planet Earth could survive in principle.
But what about carbon dioxide? Paradoxically, if it suddenly disappears from Earth, then humanity will die out surprisingly quickly. It’s not even that carbon dioxide is actively used in various industries. It is simply necessary for plants.
As mentioned above, any living organism breathes oxygen. And plants are no exception. However, they also need carbon dioxide. Indeed, the process of photosynthesis is actively going on in the light in green cells. It consists in the splitting of CO2 cells into carbon and oxygen. The latter is released into the atmosphere (or into water, if we are talking about green algae, which also has photosynthesis), and carbon is used to build new cells and plant growth. If all carbon dioxide disappears, then the process of photosynthesis will freeze. This means that plants will stop growing, animals and people will be left without food, which will very quickly lead to hunger and the extinction of all mankind.
Where is the mass difference used?
Knowing that it is heavier - air or carbon dioxide, we can assume that the latter always tends to down. And it can be used in practice. For example, this effect is used by divers when diving with a cap. The air supply is limited, and if carbon dioxide was mixed with it evenly, breathing would be difficult. But its excess is predominantly allocated and falls below, allowing a person to breathe easily.
This effect is also applied during fire fighting. Carbon dioxide is filled with special fire extinguishers - carbon dioxide. When liquefied gas escapes from the bell, it immediately expands by about 400-500 times, at the same time cooling by 72 degrees. This is enough for many burning objects to go out. But heavy gas spreads across the floor and burning objects, displacing the air. Since CO2 does not support combustion, the flame, left without oxygen, simply goes out.
Conclusion
This can end the article. Now you know what is harder - air or carbon dioxide, and how many times. At the same time, you learned about the basic properties of both substances, their importance in nature, as well as the use of density differences in human life. Hopefully this information is helpful to you.