[AlphBravo (OP)]

Being an observer of nature, I often watch things on water and wondered does the Planet have like a membrane on the border of atmosphere and space, or is it, just a coalesing at that point.
Is there any evidence?

[ukmicky]

Hi Leigh
In answer to your question, No there is no membrane as such surrounding the earth

The only thing that holds our atmosphere around our planet is gravity. The lower down you go the more gravity there is and the denser the atmosphere is. The higher up you go the less gravity there is and so the less dense it is.

Gravity can't hold everything to our planet and the some of lighter gases like hydrogen which sit above the heavier oxygen and nitrogen are constantly leaking into space around areas like the equator where the heat from the sun can excite the hydrogen atoms  to levels that allow them to achieve the required escape velocity to escape into space.[]


Michael                                      

[neilep]

Gosh Michael !..you know stuff ! !...nice.

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[ukmicky]

HA!HA! very funny, i amaze myself sometime's.

In reality though, The old Dendrites and Axons Dont work to well these days,if they ever have[]

and when i try to be clever you usally find i make a mistake or miss something important out.[]



Dendrites and Axons, i missed my calling i knew i should of become a neuroscientist.

Move over chris your job IS MINE[][]

Michael                                      

[daveshorts]

Just to prove your point Michael

The reason the air is more compressed near the surface of the earth than higher up isn't really because there is more gravity here (across the atmosphere gravity changes by about 3%). The pressure of the air is all to do with the amount of air piled on top of it.

If you imagine a hundred identical compression springs piled on top of one another the ones at the bottom would be much more compressed (and so dense) than the ones at the top, just because there is more weight of springs on them. Exactly the same is true of the atmosphere it is compressed by the weight of air above it..

[ukmicky]

[]

Michael                                      

[neilep]

quote:Originally posted by ukmicky

HA!HA! very funny, i amaze myself sometime's.


Michael                                      

No laughs at all chum, seriously, I agree with you, seems you've found your vocation....and it's never to late eh ?

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[ukmicky]

Neil

REALLY,DO YOU THINK[]

Michael                                      

[neilep]

quote:Originally posted by ukmicky

Neil

REALLY,DO YOU THINK[]

Michael                                      

Mate,

I'm not a scientist nor an academic (that's obvious here besides I like reminding everybody !) so I can only give you my laymans opinion, but if it comes so naturally to you then ...why not ?...after all some of the best Scientists around were mature students....

Men are the same as women.... just inside out !!

[AlphBravo (OP)]

Yes nicely put, but I suppose what I was trying to put across was there must be a point that defines Space and Atmoshere, and surface tension is probably the best analogy I could come up with, like when the shuttle comes back there must be some point where like gravity starts to draw, or weightlessness and then not. Though if the Planet is rotating the gasses of our atmosphere must be disturbed somewhat?