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Chemistry > Earth and Atmosphere > Flashcards

Earth and Atmosphere Flashcards

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1
Q

What percentage of the atmosphere today is made up of

nitrogen?

A

78%

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2
Q

What percentage of the atmosphere today is made up of

oxygen?

A

21%

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3
Q

What percentage of the atmosphere today is made up of

argon?

A

0.9%

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4
Q

What percentage of the atmosphere today is made up of

carbon dioxide?

A

0.037%

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5
Q

How long ago did cyanobacteria evolve?

A

2.7 billion years ago

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6
Q

What was so special about

cyanobacteria?

A

they were the first creature to photosynthesise

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7
Q

What is the equation for

photosynthesis?

A

carbon dioxide + water -> oxygen + glucose

6CO2 + 6H2O -> 6O2 + C6H12O6

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8
Q

Where is most of the carbon from the original carbon dioxided now locked up in?

A
  • coal
  • natural gas
  • sedimentary rock
  • oil
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9
Q

What are the causes of

carbon dioxide

as a pollutant in the air?

A

combustion
respiration

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10
Q

What are the causes of

sulfur dioxide

as a pollutant in the air?

A

burning of coal

(burning the sulfur impurities)

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11
Q

What are the causes of

carbon particulates (soot)

as a pollutant in the air?

A

burning wood and fossil fuels

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12
Q

What are the causes of

carbon monoxide

as a pollutant in the air?

A

incomplete combustion

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13
Q

What are the causes of

nitrogen dioxide

as a pollutant in the air?

A

internal high temperature combustion engines

(e.g. cars)

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14
Q

What effects on the environment does the air pollutant carbon dioxide have?

A

it reflects radiation back into the earth’s atmosphere - contributing to global warming

(and the greenhouse effect)

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15
Q

What effects on the environment does the air pollutant sulfur dioxide have?

A

It binds with water vapour in clouds to produce acid rain. This acid rain destroys forests, erodes limestone buildings and kills aquatic life.

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16
Q

What effects on the environment does the air pollutant soot have?

A

it can cause lung damage and lung cancer

17
Q

What effects on the environment does the air pollutant carbon monoxide have?

A

it binds to haemoglobin in the blood and stops oxygen from getting to cells

18
Q

What effects on the environment does the air pollutant nitrogen dioxide have?

A

it forms photochemical smog

(and acid rain)

19
Q

How is acid rain formed?

A
  1. Fuels contain sulfur compouds as impurities and when burnt will generate sulfur dioxide (SO2).
  2. This sulfur dioxide then reacts with water to make ‘sulfurous acid’, H2SO3.
  3. Sulfurous acid reacts with oxygen to form sulfuric acid, H2SO4.
  4. A combination of acids fall as acid rain.
20
Q

What problems are caused by

acid rain?

A
  • it destroys forests
  • it erodes limestone buildings
  • it kills aquatic life
21
Q

What are the benefits of burning hydrogen as an alternative?

A
  • it is more efficient
  • it is a renewable resource
22
Q

What is the difference between

green hydrogen and blue hydrogen?

A

Green Hydrogen:
- from electrolysing water using photovoltaic cells (from the sun)

Blue Hydrogen:
- from the reaction between methane (not renewable) and steam
- this uses non-renewable resources to create a greenhouse gas :[[[

23
Q

What are the positives of

hydrogen in cars?

A
  • lower engine temperature
  • no pollutants formed during driving
24
Q

What are the negatives of

hydrogen in cars?

A
  • highly explosive
  • not readily available
  • difficult to store safely
  • low density (low energy to volume ratio)
25
Q

What makes water

safe to drink?

A
  • low salt concentration
  • free from pathogens
  • no large particles
26
Q

What steps are necessary to obtain

potable water?

A
  • choose a source of water
  • filter to remove large objects
  • sterilise (kill microbes)
27
Q

How can desalination be carried out?

A
  • distillation
  • reverse osmosis using membranes

this process requires a lot of energy

28
Q

What are the steps that are necessary to treat waste water?

A
  1. Screening and grit removal
  2. Sedimentation to produce sewage sludge and effluent
  3. Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge
    ○ Biogas produced
    ○ Remaining sludge can be used as fuel
  4. Aerobic biological treatment of effluent
    ○ Effluent can now be discharged back into rivers
29
Q

What formed the Earth’s early atmosphere?

A

gases produced by volcanic activity

30
Q

What was Earth’s early atmosphere thought to contain?

A
  • little or no oxygen
  • a large amount of carbon dioxide
  • water vapour
  • small amounts of other gases
31
Q

How did Earth’s oceans form?

A
  1. The earth has just formed and is a ball of molten rock.
  2. Its atmosphere consists of hydrogen and helium.
  3. As the ball cools, a crust forms
  4. Volcanoes burst forth from the molten rock below.
  5. These volcanoes erupt and gave out gases such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and steam.
  6. As the earth cools down even more, this steam condenses and falls as rain.
  7. It fills up hollows in the Earth’s crust and thus the oceans are formed.
32
Q

How did organisms start life on land?

A
  1. At first, there is no ozone layer, so the UV light from the sun is too intense for anything to live on land. So the first living things appear in the oceans.
  2. These organisms evolve into simple plants, like algae.
  3. These organisms use up carbon dioxide in photosynthesis and make the first molecules of oxygen.
  4. After some time, the oxygen starts to build up in the atmosphere. Some of this reacts to form the ozone layer, which shields the Earth from harmful UV light.
  5. This allows organisms to leave the water and start to live on land.
33
Q

What is the chemical test for oxygen?

A
  • collect the gas in a test tube
  • test with a glowing splint
  • oxygen will relight a glowing splint

Chemistry (6 decks)

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