Earth Resources and Water Flashcards

1
Q

What is drinkable water called?

A

Potable water

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2
Q

What does potable not mean?

A

Chemically pure

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3
Q

What do we need to do to water to make it potable?

A

We need to drastically reduce the number of microbes found in it. We also need to reduce the concentrations of dissolved minerals and salts found in the water.

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4
Q

What is chemically pure water made up of?

A

Made of just HtwoO molecules.

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5
Q

Where can we obtain potable water from?

A
  • Fresh water
  • Seawater
  • Waste water
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6
Q

Which source of potable water is the easiest to treat?

A

Fresh water

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7
Q

What is the most expensive source of water to treat?

A

Seawater

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8
Q

What two steps are taken to treat rain water?

A
  1. Filtration: particles of solid are filtered out by passing the water through a wire mesh.
  2. Sterilisation: harmful microbes are killed by bubbling chlorine gas through the water.
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9
Q

What is a non-renewable resource?

A

Non-renewable resources are regenerated at a much slower rate than we use them.

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10
Q

What are some examples of non- renewable resources?

A
  • Fossil fuels
  • Nuclear fuels
  • Metal ores
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11
Q

What is a renewable resource?

A

Renewable resources don’t run out as they are regenerated quicker than they’re used.

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12
Q

What are some examples of renewable resources?

A
  • Timber
  • Fresh water
  • Food
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13
Q

What has a rapid increase in population forced humans to do?

A

Forced us to find ways to supplement the Earth’s natural resources.

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14
Q

What is the main example of a supplement to natural resources?

A

AGRICULTURE
Natural food products (e.g. beef, maize, wheat etc.) are now available in much larger quantities because of the organisation of agriculture.

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15
Q

What product reduces our reliance on natural products?

A

Synthetic products

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16
Q

What is supplementation?

A

A way to add or to find substitutes for, the Earth’s natural resources.

17
Q

What type of resource are metal ores?

A

Metal ores are a finite resource and the availability of metal ores is rapidly decreasing.’

18
Q

What is the traditional method of ore extraction?

A

Mining

19
Q

What are some useful properties of copper?

A
  • Unreactive
  • Malleable
  • Conducts electricity and heat well.
20
Q

What is a low-grade ore?

A

An ore that doesn’t contain much of a desired metal…

21
Q

What are the alternative method of extracting copper?

A
  1. PHYTOMINING
    Plants growing on contaminated land absorb copper ions as they grow.
    These plants are harvested and burned, producing ash that contains high concentrations of copper compounds.
    A disadvantage of phytomining is that the process takes a lot longer than the classic methods.
  2. BIOLEACHING
    Bacteria are added in with low-grade ores.
    The bacteria break down the ores to create a solution rich in copper compounds known as a leachate solution. We can easily extract copper from leachate solution.
    Similarly to phytomining, bioleaching is a much slower process than traditional mining.