Sea of Air

An illustration of whales and sharks in the ocean and planes and balloons flying in he sky.
Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Our atmosphere and ocean share much in common. Both consist of fluids—matter that flows—and have currents that circulate throughout them. Both create pressure that changes with depth and provides buoyancy—for fish in water and balloons in air. The forces that apply to movement through air apply to movement through water as well. We are indeed bottom dwellers in a “sea of air.”

Categories: Gravity & Air