• Question: Has all the air in the world been breathed before?

    Asked by lilygrainger to Anouk, Chris, Judith, Leisha, Seyyed on 13 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Chris Kettle

      Chris Kettle answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      Googled this one as I didn’t know:

      Some of the gases in the air we breathe have come from decay of heavy radioactive elements in rocks …
      Quote
      “Other important examples of radiogenic elements are radon and helium, both of which form during the decay of heavier elements in bedrock.”
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiogenic

      So these are new in the air and have never been breathed before.

      In summary, no, not all of the bits that make up “air”.

      Apparently, all the water in London has been drank but seven people before you drink it!

    • Photo: Judith Sleeman

      Judith Sleeman answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I guess if you stick your nose in a plant for long enough, you’ll be getting freshly revitalised oxygen, although it might have been made from the carbon dioxide you breathed out yesterday…

    • Photo: Seyyed Shah

      Seyyed Shah answered on 13 Jun 2012:

      I would agree with Chris that not all the oxygen we breathe has been breathed before.

      Volcanoes that are active and which can erupt, can release lava and gases into the earth’s atmosphere. One of the gases which are released is carbon dioxide. This gas contains oxygen. Plants take in carbon dioxide and use it release oxygen, so that we can breathe it. In this way, we can breathe new oxygen which comes from deep within the earth.

      Scientists believe that the very first atmosphere on the earth was formed by gases released from deep within the earth.

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