What gas in the atmosphere is used to form ozone?

Answer 1

Oxygen.

Virtually all of the ozone in the "Ozone Layer," which is in the stratosphere and not the troposphere where we live, is formed from oxygen atoms and oxygen molecules.

If light with a wavelength shorter than 240 nm is absorbed by a molecule of oxygen, O2, then the oxygen molecule can split into two oxygen atoms. A photon of UV light normally cleaves the oxygen molecule, but an X-ray may also cause the cleavage. Thus the first step in the formation of ozone is:

O2 + hν (<240 nm) ---> 2 O.

The reaction that produces ozone proceeds very slowly because it requires that three species collide at the same time. The reaction to form ozone is:

O. + O2 + M ---> O3 + M, where M is usually a molecule of nitrogen, but it could be a helium atom, an argon atom, or even another oxygen molecule. The formation of ozone is exothermic, meaning that energy is released, and another species, M, is necessary to absorb this excess energy or the ozone just formed or nearly formed may fly apart as a molecule of diatomic oxygen and an oxygen atom.

Some ozone is created from the right cosmic radiation and a molecule of oxygen. An alpha particle and a beta particle with the right kinetic energies may collide with O2 to form helium and a molecule of ozone. The reaction is:

α + β + O2 ---> He + O3

Little to none of the ozone created from pollution, lightning, or from other electrical discharges in the air makes its way up to the Ozone Layer. Ozone is a very powerful oxidizing agent, therefore it is a very reactive species. It readily attacks rubber, causing it to harden and crack like an old rubber band, and it does damage lung tissue. Normally our body can repair any damage faster than it is created, although the elderly, the very young, or persons that are ill are often adversely affected by what is ultimately man-made ozone.

Answer 2

The gas in the atmosphere is OXYGEN. The ozone layer is basically formed of this word. The complete ozone is the result of oxygen gas.