FIVE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE WORLD

EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AIR AND SPACE are five basic ele-

-ments of the world. Vaasthushastra tells our body is also made up of these

five elements. These are the fundamental elements giving life to all living

beings when they are in balance. For eg. earth and water are very important

to supply minerals and fertilizers to the growth of the plants. Similarly sun, the

basic source of fire and co2 found in air are very essential for the phenomena

of photosynthesis of plants. All human beings and other animals are mostly

depending on plants to meet their food necessities. Almost it is clear that we

are running our life with the support of these great elements. Let us now see

the chemical and physical properties of these elements.

It is our home planet revolving round the sun and rotating it self has gravitati-

-onal and magnetic forces. It is understood by our scientists as a huge magnet

and the magnetic pole in the northern hemisphere is located on a peninsula in

Northern Canada. The opposite magnetic pole in the southern hemisphere

lies on the Antartica continent. Earth has four layers. They are earth crust,

mantle, outer core, inner core.

Earth crust

It is the upper part of mantle and has thickness of about 8 km to 50 km. Upp-

-er part of this earth crust is composed of variety of soils like red soil, black

soil, clay, loam and etc., and inner part of the crust is composed of dense

rocks. It is also composed of various minerals and ores.

Mantle

This is about 2,900 km thick and filled with hot semi solid molten rocks. The

temperature of this zone is about 4000 degree centigrade.

Outer core

This is about 2,100 km thick and composed of liquid iron and other components.

The total volume of inner core and outer core is equal to the volume of Mars.

Inner core

Inner core is very hot solid iron and has diameter of 2,500 km.

Solid iron and ilquid iron found in both inner and outer cores of the earth is

giving rise to it's over all density as 5.5 gm/cc.

About 71% of total surface of earth is covered by water. Out of which 95% of

all the water is in the ocean and rest in gaciers and also as fresh water. Water

is a common chemical substance that is essential to all living beings. Commo-

-nly water refers only liquid form, in solid form it is called as ice and in gaseous

state it is called as water vapour, in cloud form it is called as condensated

water vapour. The other names of water are aqua, hydrogen hydroxide and

dihydrogen monoxide. The density of water in liquid form is 0.998 gm/cc and

in solid form it is 0.92 gm/cc. The boiling point of water is directly related to

barometric pressure. For example, on the top of Mount Everest it boils at

68 degree centigrade compared to 100 degree centigrade in sea level.

Fire is the heat and light energy re-

-leased during a chemical reaction.

Depending on the reactants and

impurities within, the colour of the

flame and the intensity of the fire

will vary. Sun is the most vital so-

-urce of light and fire. It is very

difficult to imagine a world without

sun. The temperature prevailing

in the earth by sun shine is giving

life to water, wind and all other living beings. Without sun we can not imagine

blowing wind, flowing water, running river, falling cascades, waving seas and

drinking water.

Air is the vital element for our survival. The air on the earth is various mixture

of gases like Nitrogen 78.08%, Oxygen 20.94%, Argon 0.93%, Co2 0.03% and

etc., It is also essential for plants ( Co2 ) to produce food in the presence of

sun light. The density of air is 1.2 kg/cubic metre

Astronomically it is defined as the empty parts of the universe. This is the

area out side the atmosphere of any celestial body. Obviously it is true that

space is the thing where earth. water, fire and air are filled in.