4.9 Chemistry of the Atmosphere Flashcards
Explain why octane is a hydrocarbon(1)
contains only carbon and hydrogen
How does burning coal affect the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s
atmosphere? (2)
Increases the amount of carbon dioxide because there is carbon in coal, which reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide.
Why is it important to stop carbon monoxide (CO) from being released into the air? (1)
harmful/poisonous
Suggest why burning wood in power stations is said to be ‘carbon-neutral’. (2)
Carbon dioxide is produced from burning wood, and carbon dioxide is used by trees in photosynthesis.
Suggest two reasons why the world production of coal is predicted to increase (2)
oil is running out, plentiful supply
Give a reason why sulfur dioxide is produced in a petrol engine. (1)
sulfur in petrol reacts with oxygen
Carbon neutral means that there is no increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in
the atmosphere.
Suggest why adverts claim that using biodiesel is carbon neutral. (2)
burning biodiesel releases carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide is absorbed by the plants used to produce the biodiesel
Explain why clearing large areas of forest has an environmental impact on the
atmosphere(2)
increases carbon dioxide because burning trees releases carbon dioxide
Why is there an increasing demand for biodiesel?(1)
Crude oil is non-renewable
Suggest why producing biodiesel from crops:
(i) causes ethical concerns
(ii) causes economic concerns
i) use crops that could be used for food
ii) increases the cost of food
Biodiesel may be less suitable than petroleum diesel as a fuel for cars.
Use these results to suggest one reason why.
does not flow as easily through pipes
What conclusions can the scientist make about the viscosity of biodiesel compared
with the viscosity of petroleum diesel at different temperatures?(2)
biodiesel is more viscous than petroleum diesel at all temperatures and in petroleum diesel the viscosity does not change
Replacing petroleum diesel with biodiesel increases one type of environmental
pollution. Explain why (2)
increases acid rain because there is more nitrogen oxides
is biodiesel a carbon neutral fuel? (2)
no because carbon dioxide is released and this will not all be absorbed by photosynthesis
Suggest why burning wood instead of coal would help to reduce our carbon footprint(3)
Wood is renewable, no new carbon dioxide is produced and carbon dioxide is used by trees in photosynthesis
Why is it so difficult to produce models for climate change?(1)
many alternative theories
Describe how carbon dioxide helps to maintain temperatures on Earth(3)
Carbon dioxide allows short wavelength radiation to pass through the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface. Carbon dioxide absorbs outgoing long wavelength radiation
Explain how human activities have contributed to the main trend shown from 1910 in the figure above (Global air)
General increase in temperature caused by increase in greenhouse gases. Increased burning of fossil fuels causes carbon dioxide. Deforestation causes more carbon dioxide
Petroleum diesel is produced from crude oil. Biodiesel is produced from plant oils. The crops used to produce biodiesel can be used to feed humans. Evaluate the use of plant oils to produce biodiesel(5QWC)
- renewable
- burning biodiesel produces low amounts of particulates
- can use waste vegetable oils from the food industry
- creates food shortages
- crops take time to grow
- vast areas of land needed for crops to grow
Explain how carbon monoxide would be formed(2)
Incomplete combustion of the fuel when there is insufficient oxygen to burn the fuel completely
Explain the meaning of ‘locked up’ carbon dioxide (2)
Carbon dioxide from Earth’s early atmosphere was used to form sedimentary rocks
Benefits of using biodiesel as a sustainable, low pollution fuel(3)
- renewable, use less fossil fuels/diesel
- less new carbon dioxide, most emissions are lower
Why is biodiesel’s contribution to global warming considered as much less than fossil diesel (3)
Plants use carbon dioxide from the air, biodiesel releases carbon dioxide from plants. Fossil diesel releases ‘locked up’ carbon dioxide.
Coal contains carbon and small amounts of sulfur. Explain the environmental problems if coal was used as a fuel (Steam train- 4)
global warming caused by the formation of CO2
acid rain caused by the formation of SO2
If wood was used as a fuel, why would it be ‘carbon neutral’ steam train
renewable, no ‘new’ carbon dioxide is produced and carbon dioxide is used by trees in photosynthesis.
Describe the natural processes which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere(4)
Plants take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, and carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater. It is also locked up in fossil fuels and used to form sedimentary rocks.
Describe how carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere: (4)
i) by human and industrial activity
ii) from carbonate rocks by geological activity
i) respiration, burning of fossil fuels
ii) rock is decomposed and carbon dioxide is released through volcanoes
Explain how seas/oceans decrease the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere(3)
Carbon dioxide dissolves in seawater producing insoluble carbonates and carbon dioxide formed and locked into shells/limestone
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increased by reactions that occur in internal combustion engines (x) and is decreased by reactions in seawater (y). Describe in as much detail as you can, the reactions which take place at X and Y. (5)
X - combustion of fossil fuels
Y - produces calcium carbonate which is insoluble, photosynthesis which releases oxygen
there is not much oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars. Suggest why
Mars has no living plants
How is carbon dioxide released from limestone?(2)
calcium carbonate decomposed
CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
Suggest why scientists don’t know the accurate composition of the Earth’s early atmosphere.
Humans had not evolved yet, millions of years ago
There are other differences between Earth’s early atmosphere and the atmosphere of today. Use the bar charts to describe and explain 2 of these other differences(3)
carbon dioxide decreased from 95% to 0% because it was used by plants during photosynthesis
oxygen increased from 0% to 21% because it was released during photosynthesis
Describe how volcanoes caused the oceans to be formed(2)
Water vapour was given out from volcanoes and condensed to form the oceans
Wegener had an idea plates could move. Give one piece of evidence that led to Wegener’s idea being accepted(1)
Sea floor spreading
Why can scientists not prove which theory about the core is correct? (1)
Cannot see the core
Why should we be concerned about our global footprint(1)
thought to cause global warming
The burning of fossil fuels has caused the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to increase. Explain why (2)
Increased burning of fossil fuels means locked up carbon dioxide is released
Explain why we should be concerned about the information displayed on this graph (increase of CO2) (3)
Increasing carbon dioxide, there is a more rapid increase recently and carbon dioxide causes global warming
Describe and explain how the composition of Earth’s atmosphere was changed by the formation of coal. (3)
carbon dioxide decreased by plants, and oxygen increased by plants in photosynthesis. Coal locks up carbon dioxide, decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide.
Explain how the use of calcium carbonate:
a) increases atmospheric pollution (2)
b) decreases atmospheric pollution (2)
a) carbon dioxide is released from the thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate
b) sulfur dioxide is removed by reaction with calcium carbonate
How did nitrogen form(1)
Nitrogen formed because ammonia from Earth’s early atmosphere reacted with oxygen.
Other than gases, what else may be released from burning fuels? (2)
solid particulates and unburned hydrocarbons
Why does it rain methane on Titan?
methane boiling point -164 degrees C
average surface temperature of Titan is -178 degrees C
(2)
Because methane’s boiling point is greater than the average surface temperature, and any methane that evaporates will condense
Why does the release of this carbon dioxide cause an environmental problem?(1)
increases global warming
When the Earth was formed its atmosphere is thought to have been similar to the atmosphere on Mars. Explain how green plants and other organisms have changed the
composition of the Earth’s atmosphere(4)
Plants take up carbon dioxide and give out oxygen in photosynthesis. Nitrogen gas produced by reaction of oxygen and ammonia.
Give one reason why the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing
gradually. (1)
sea is unable to absorb all the extra carbon dioxide being produced
Evaluate the three methods of removing sulfur dioxide from waste gases. Complete the three methods and give a justified conclusion (6)
W removes the most carbon dioxide and D removes the least carbon dioxide. Both W and D use calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is obtained by quarrying which will destroy habitats. D produces carbon dioxide which may cause global warming. S uses sea water which is readily available. W product can be sold, W also makes carbon dioxide which may cause global warming. S may pollute the sea and D waste fill landfill sites.
Explain how the first seas were formed (2)
Water vapour from the atmosphere condensed to form the first oceans.
Explain why excess carbon dioxide should be prevented from entering the atmosphere. (2)
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide causes global warming.
Describe what causes the Earth’s tectonic plates to move (3)
convection currents, radioactivity, releases heat
A student was asked to use the data in the table to compare these four fuels, and then
place the fuels in an order.
The order that the student chose was:
Use the information in the table to suggest reasons why the student chose this order.
To gain full marks in this question you should write down your ideas in good English. Put
them into a sensible order and use the correct scientific words. (D,A,C,B) (4)
B is least energy efficient in terms of cost, D is 1st since it only gives water as a product. A is 2nd best since it produces carbon dioxide.
Graph 1 shows how the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere changed in the
last 4500 million years.
Describe how the percentage of carbon dioxide has changed in the last 4500 million
years. (2)
carbon dioxide decreases rapidly at first then slowly
Carbon dioxide is also a greenhouse gas.
The figure below shows how the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has
changed since 1850.
Give three conclusions that can be made from the figure above (3)
- carbon dioxide concentration stayed constant from 1850 to 1900
- carbon dioxide concentration slowly increased from 1900
- carbon dioxide concentration increased more rapidly from 1965
Suggest one reason why there was no liquid water on the Earth’s surface billions of years
ago. (1)
the Earth’s surface temperature was high
Figure 2 shows the carbon dioxide percentage (%) in the Earth’s atmosphere since the
year 1800.Describe, in detail, how the carbon dioxide percentage changed from 1900 to 2015 (2)
increased slowly then rapidly
