Life, Resources, and Atmospheric Change

Question 1

Name the theory we need to know for our exam regarding the Earth’s early atmosphere and life on Earth beginning

Answer 1

The primordial soup theory

Question 2

Describe the primordial soup theory

Answer 2

1. Billions of years ago, the Earth’s atmosphere was rich in nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia, and methane
2. Lightning struck, causing a chemical reaction between the gases, resulting in the formation of amino acids
3. The amino acids collected in a ‘primordial soup’
4. The amino acids gradually combined to produce organic matter which eventually evolved into simple living organisms

Question 3

Define ‘primordial soup’

Answer 3

A solution rich in _organic compound_s in the primitive oceans of the earth, from which life is thought to have originated

Question 4

Who carried out an experiment in the 1950s to prove the primordial soup theory?

Answer 4

Miller and Urey

Question 5

Describe Muller and Urey’s experiment

Answer 5

They sealed nitrogen, hydrogen, ammonia, and methane in thier apparatus, heated them, and applied an electrical charge for a week

Question 6

What were the results of Muller and Urey’s experiment, and what does this suggest?

Answer 6

That amino acids were formed, but not as many as there are on Earth.

This suggests the theory could be along the right lines, but isn’t exactly right

Question 7

What is the ultimate source of minerals and resources?

What does this mean?

Answer 7

The Earth’s crust, oceans, and atmosphere.

We can get everything we need from them

Question 8

Why do we fractionally distil air?

Answer 8

To get a variety of products for use in industry

Question 9

Describe the steps to fractionally distilling air

Answer 9

1. Air is filtered to remove dust
2. It is then cooled to around -220^oC - becomes a liquid
3. During the cooling water vapour condeses and is removed
4. Carbon dioxide freezes and is removed
5. The liquified air then enters the fractioning column and is heated slowly
6. The remaining gases are separated by fractional distillation…
7. … Except oxygen and argon come out together, so another column is used to serparate them

Question 10

Name the 2 ways the increase in carbon dioxide is thought to be harming our planet

Answer 10

1. Causes global warming and(/through) the greenhouse effect
2. The extra CO₂ being absorbed from the atmosphere by the oceans is causing it to become too acidic - bad for coral and shellfish. Also, in the future it won’t be able to absorb any more CO2