Earth Resources and Water

Question 1

What is drinkable water called?

Answer 1

Potable water

Question 2

What does potable not mean?

Answer 2

Chemically pure

Question 3

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

Answer 3

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.

Question 4

What is chemically pure water made up of?

Answer 4

Made of just HtwoO molecules.

Question 5

Where can we obtain potable water from?

Answer 5

• Fresh water
• Seawater
• Waste water

Question 6

Which source of potable water is the easiest to treat?

Answer 6

Fresh water

Question 7

What is the most expensive source of water to treat?

Answer 7

Seawater

Question 8

What two steps are taken to treat rain water?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

What is a non-renewable resource?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What are some examples of non- renewable resources?

Answer 10

• Fossil fuels
• Nuclear fuels
• Metal ores

Question 11

What is a renewable resource?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What are some examples of renewable resources?

Answer 12

• Timber
• Fresh water
• Food

Question 13

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

Answer 13

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

Question 14

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

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What product reduces our reliance on natural products?

Answer 15

Synthetic products

Question 16

What is supplementation?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What type of resource are metal ores?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What is the traditional method of ore extraction?

Answer 18

Mining

Question 19

What are some useful properties of copper?

Answer 19

• Unreactive
• Malleable
• Conducts electricity and heat well.

Question 20

What is a low-grade ore?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What are the alternative method of extracting copper?

Answer 21

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.