The Mole Fraction of CO2 in the Earth's Atmosphere

What is the mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere?

What does the atmospheric concentration of CO2 gas being 407 ppm tell us about the mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere?

Mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere

The mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere is 407 M.

The atmospheric concentration of CO2 gas being 407 ppm means that there are 407 parts of CO2 in every million parts of the atmosphere by volume. This information allows us to calculate the mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The mole fraction, or molar fraction, is defined as the amount of a constituent (in this case, CO2) divided by the total number of all constituents in a mixture. Given that the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is 407 ppm, there are 407 parts of CO2 in a million parts of the atmosphere.

Since Avogadro's hypothesis states that equal volumes of gases under the same temperature and pressure contain an equal number of molecules, we can conclude that there are 407 moles of CO2 present in 407 moles of the atmosphere. Therefore, the mole fraction of CO2 in the atmosphere is 407 M.