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Subject: Air is heavier now.... Author: Blobrana [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 20:26:39 11/22/04 Mon Scientists have discovered that air is heavier that we previously thought, but not by very much. The composition of air is well known. It is mostly nitrogen (around 72 per cent) and oxygen (21 per cent). The rest is a mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapour and argon. however, it is the amount of argon that is key here, because the more argon present, the denser the air. Around a century ago, scientists calculated that the amount of argon in the air was around 0.934 per cent. In 1969, this was revised to around 0.917 per cent. However, a team from the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in France, have determined that the actual amount of argon is 0.9332 per cent, plus or minus 0.0006. According to the Institute of Physics, this is particularly important to scientists taking very precise mass measurements, because of how air density affects buoyancy. So, consider the old joke: which weighs more, a kilo of feathers or a kilo of lead? Start by measuring out a kilo of each, in a vacuum, and when you re-measure the mass in air, the feathers will be lighter. This is because the air supports each of them, very slightly. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]