The Air We Breathe

deep breath after climbing a flight of stairs. A cool breeze on a scorching hot summer day. A warm draft from a fire on a chilly winter night. What do all of these things have in common. If you guessed “air,” then you’re correct. But what exactly IS air. It’s all around you, right. After all, you breathe in and out hundreds upon hundreds of times each day. Yet, you can’t really see the air around you unless it interacts with something. For example, have you ever opened a window and seen the curtains flutter. If so, you knew that air was coming through the window, pushing the curtains around. Despite this evidence, you couldn’t see the air itself. Have you ever WONDERed about the air all around you. What is it made of. How can it be so important and yet remain so elusive and mysterious. Many people assume that air is mostly made up of oxygen. After all, that’s what our bodies need so desperately from the air we breathe. While oxygen is an important part of air, many other things make up.