C14 - Earths Resources Flashcards

1
Q

What is sea water?

A

Water in the seas and oceans

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2
Q

What is ground water?

A

Water in underground streams, rocks, and aquifiers

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3
Q

What is fresh water?

A

Water in underground streams and rocks, rivers, lakes, ice caps, and glaciers

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4
Q

What is waste water?

A

Used water from homes, industry, and agriculture

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5
Q

What is Potable water?

A

Water that is fit to drink

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6
Q

What is pure water?

A

Water that is 100% pure and contains nothing else

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7
Q

What are the levels of microbes in Sea water?

A

High levels

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8
Q

What are the levels of dissolved substances in Sea water?

A

High levels

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9
Q

What are the levels of microbes in ground water?

A

low levels

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10
Q

What are the levels of dissolved substances in ground water?

A

low levels

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11
Q

What are the levels of microbes in fresh water?

A

low levels

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12
Q

What are the levels of dissolves substances in fresh water?

A

low levels

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13
Q

What are the levels of microbes in waste water?

A

high levels

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14
Q

What are the levels of dissolved substances in waste water?

A

high levels

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15
Q

What are the levels of microbes in potable water?

A

none or low levels

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16
Q

What are the levels of dissolved substances in potable water?

A

low levels

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17
Q

What are the levels of microbes in pure water?

A

none

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18
Q

What are the levels of dissolved substances in pure water?

A

none

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19
Q

How do you make potable water from fresh water?

A

1) Filtration
2) Sterilisation

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20
Q

What is filtration and what does it do when making potable water from fresh water?

A

*Filtration is done by passing water through a wire mesh screen then filter beds (usually sand)
*This removes solids

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21
Q

What is sterilisation and what does it do when making potable water from fresh water?

A

*Sterilisation is done by adding chlorine, treating with ozone, or using UV light
*This kills microbes in the water

22
Q

What process makes potable water from sea water?

A

Desalination

23
Q

What are the 2 desalination methods?

A

* Distillation
* Reverse Osmosis

24
Q

How does reverse osmosis work?

A

Salt water is put through a partially-permeable membrane, which only allows water molecules to pass through. This happens as the membrane stops larger molecules and ions passing through

25
Q

What are the 6 stages of waste water treatment?

A

1) Screening and grit removal
2) Primary sedimentation tank
3) Aeration
4) Final settling tanks
5) Sludge treatment
6) Burners

26
Q

Explain the process of waste water treatment:

A
  • Waste water flows into sewers
  • Large solids and grit are removed in Screening and grit removal
  • Organic waste sinks to the bottom as sludge in the Primary Sedimentation tanks, whilst the remaining water (effluent) is taken from the top
  • Good Bacteria kill harmful bacteria in aeration tanks where air if pumped through the effluent to provide aerobic conditions
  • The good bacteria sink to the bottom as sludge in the Final settling tanks
  • Treated water is returned to the environment
  • Sludge from the Primary Sedimentation tanks and the final settling tanks is digested in anaerobic digestion by bacteria in the sludge treatment, releasing Methane
  • Methane is burned for heat and electricity generation in the Burners
27
Q

What are the requirements for water to be considered potable?

A

*should have a pH between 6.5 and 8.5

*Dissolved substances present in only small regulated amounts

*free of bacteria or harmful microbes

28
Q

Where is desalination often used to produce fresh water?

A

regions with a very hot climate, such as Saudi Arabia

29
Q

Why is desalination not ideal for producing large quantities of fresh water?

A

It is an expensive process as it requires large amounts of energy

30
Q

What is effluent?

A

liquid waste or sewage discharged into a river or the sea

31
Q

What does the sludge produced when treating waste water contain?

A

Undigested organic matter

32
Q

Where is most copper extracted from?

A

From copper-rich ores

33
Q

How is copper extracted from copper-rich ores?

A

*The copper ore is smelted (roasted) and purified

34
Q

Why are scientists developing new ways of extracting copper from low-grade ores?

A

*Smelting uses high amounts of energy which is expensive and can cause pollution of the environment

*Copper ores are becoming scarce

35
Q

What 2 ways are scientists attempting to extract copper from low-grade ores?

A

*Bacteria - Bioleaching

*Plants - Phytomining

36
Q

What is bioleaching?

A

Bioleaching uses bacteria to produce leachate solution from waste copper ore

37
Q

What is leachate solution?

A

A solution of copper compounds

38
Q

How can copper be extracted from leachate solutions following bioleaching?

A

*The metal compounds can be displaced using scrap iron

*The metal compounds can be broken down by electrolysis and the copper can be extracted

39
Q

What is phytomining?

A

Phytomining is when plants are grown on soils containing low-grade copper ore. The plants absorb the copper ions, then the plants are burnt and the copper is extracted from the copper compounds in the ash.

40
Q

What are the negatives of unconventional methods of extracting copper?

A

They are very slow processes

41
Q

What is a blast furnace?

A

The huge reaction vessels used in industry to extract iron from its ores

42
Q

What is a life cycle assessment (LCA)?

A

carried out the assess the environmental impact of products, processes, or services at different times in their life

43
Q

What is non-renewable?

A

Something which cannot be replaced once it is used up

44
Q

What is thermal decomposition?

A

The breakdown of a compound by heating it

45
Q

What are the 4 stages in an LCA?

A

*Raw Material Extraction

*Manufacture

*Use/Reuse/Maintainence

*Recycle/Waste Management

46
Q

Why should an LCA be peer reviewed?

A

The check the data and the validity of the conclusions

47
Q

Give an example of a product which can be reused

A

Glass bottle

48
Q

Explain how a glass bottle can be reused

A

Glass can be crushed and melted to make different glass products

49
Q

Give an example of a material which can be recycled

A

Metal

50
Q

explain how metals can be recycled

A

Metals can be recycled by melting and recasting or reforming into different products. Some scrap steel can be added to the iron from a blast furnace to reduce the amount of iron that needs to be extracted from iron ore.

51
Q

What are the benefits of recycling?

A

Recycling conserves limited reserves of materials. Extraction of raw materials (especially metals) have large environmental impacts, such as acid rain and global warming. Mining and quarrying to extract metal ore can cause visual, noise, and dust pollution as well as destroying habitats