Ozone is a form of the oxygen we breathe and need to stay alive. The oxygen we breathe is found throughout the atmosphere and contains two oxygen atoms (O2) but ozone (an allotrope of oxygen) contains three (O3). It is this extra atom which makes it poisonous and any animal or plant breathing in more than a tiny amount would die. If the ozone in the entire atmosphere was all collected at the Earth's surface it would make a layer only 3 millimeters thick.

It is dispersed throughout the atmosphere but is more concentrated in the stratosphere between 10 and 50 kilometer's above the surface, hence the name 'ozone layer'. However, even here, it makes up less than 1 in 100,000 parts of the atmosphere. It is produced from oxygen in the stratosphere in a series of photochemical reactions stimulated by sunlight, especially ultraviolet radiation. It is then broken up again by the activity of ultraviolet radiation. Thus ozone is constantly being produced and broken down in the stratosphere by the action of the sun. This natural cycle has kept the level of ozone nearly constant. As contaminants are added, the equilibrium concentration (the balance of make vs. destroy) of ozone drops.

Ozone is formed in the troposphere (where we are) by combustion and industrial processes, and by light-activating combustion products. This ozone is a component of smog. Ozone is formed in the "ozone layer" when oxygen molecules are shattered by absorbing UV-C from the Sun. UV-C only penetrates to about the lower stratosphere (above where aircraft fly), and this is where the ozone layer is found.

When it is winter at a pole, an ozone hole forms and the concentration there drops much lower. The formation of an ozone hole is entirely natural, periodic, and repeating, the size it attains may not be. The "ozone hole" occurs at the pole that is currently experiencing winter, where little or no UV-C arrives from the Sun, and ozone cannot diffuse into the vicinity faster than it decays.

A:Ozone (O3) is formed when oxygen gas is exposed to ultraviolet radiation in the upper regions of the stratosphere. The energy of the radiation breaks the gas particles into oxygen particles, which then interact with the oxygen gas to form ozone. Ozone can also absorb radiation and break apart to reform oxygen gas. Ozone forms over the equator where the rays of sunlight are the strongest and then flows toward the poles. Thus, ozone makes a convenient marker to follow the flow of air in the stratosphere. Normal Oxygen is a diatomic molecule O2. A:Ultraviolet light and electrical sparks excite the atoms in O2 molecules such that 3 of them combine to form a triatomic molecule O3 thus, 3O2 + energy = 2O3. It protects Earth from harmful radiation. A:Ozone is an allotrope of oxygen, with three oxygen atoms in a molecule. It is a very powerful oxidizer, and absorbs UV-B and some infrared light. Ozone is unstable and decays on its own, the decay rate being a function of temperature and time. Other compounds can accelerate ozone's decay. Ozone is formed in the troposphere (where we are) by combustion and industrial processes, and by light activating combustion products. This ozone is a component of smog. Ozone is formed in the "ozone layer" when oxygen molecules are shattered by absorbing UV-C from the Sun. UV-C only penetrates to about the lower stratosphere (above where aircraft fly), and this is where the ozone layer is found. The "ozone hole" occurs at the pole that is currently experiencing winter, where little / no UV-C arrives from the Sun, and ozone cannot diffuse into the vicinity faster than it decays from nearby masses of ozone.

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