Ozone layer absorbs which rays before reaching the Earth?

Concept

The ozone layer, concentrated in the stratosphere, is made of O3 molecules that absorb specific bands of solar radiation. Its defining protective function is absorbing ultraviolet (UV) radiation, chiefly the shorter, more energetic UV-B and UV-C wavelengths, through a photodissociation reaction in which a UV photon splits an O3 molecule into O2 and a free oxygen atom.

Application

Among the four options, ultraviolet rays are the specific radiation type that the ozone layer is characteristically known for absorbing. This is exactly why ozone depletion (caused by CFCs and related compounds) is linked to more UV radiation reaching the surface, raising risks such as skin cancer, cataracts, and damage to crops and marine plankton.

Contrast with the other options

• Gamma rays: extremely high-energy radiation released by nuclear and radioactive processes; not part of the solar radiation band that the ozone layer is known to filter.

• X-rays: high-energy electromagnetic radiation mainly encountered in medical and industrial use, or absorbed much higher in the atmosphere (the thermosphere/ionosphere); not the band tied to ozone’s protective role.

• Beta rays: a stream of fast-moving electrons emitted during radioactive decay, a particle-based form of radiation rather than a component of the sunlight spectrum that ozone filters.

Result

The absorption of ultraviolet radiation by the ozone layer is what shields living organisms on Earth from its harmful biological effects.