natural resources Flashcards
What do humans use Earth’s resources for?
- to provide warmth, shelter, food, and transport.
What do natural resources, supplemented by agriculture, provide?
- food, timber, clothing, and fuels.
What are finite resources, and where are they obtained from?
- materials from the Earth, oceans, and atmosphere that are processed to provide energy and materials.
What is sustainable development?
-development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
What is potable water?
-water that is safe for human consumption, meaning it has low levels of dissolved salts and microbes. It is not pure water but contains dissolved substances.
What are the steps involved in producing potable water in the UK?
-Choosing an appropriate source of fresh water.
-Passing the water through filter beds.
-Sterilizing the water using chlorine, ozone, or ultraviolet light.
What methods are used to produce potable water when fresh water is limited?
-Desalination of salty water or sea water using distillation or reverse osmosis, which require large amounts of energy.
What does sewage treatment include ?
-Screening and grit removal.
-Sedimentation to produce sewage sludge and effluent.
-Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge.
-Aerobic biological treatment of effluent.
Why is water quality important for life?
- water of appropriate quality essential for life, and for humans, drinking water must have low levels of dissolved salts and microbes to be considered safe for consumption.
What is phytomining?
-a method where plants absorb metal compounds from the soil. The plants are then harvested and burned to produce ash containing metal compounds.
What is bioleaching?
- uses bacteria to produce leachate solutions that contain metal compounds, which can then be processed to obtain metals like copper.
What does Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluate?
- the environmental impact of a product at each stage: raw material extraction, manufacturing, use, and disposal.
How can we reduce environmental impact through product life cycles?
- By reducing, reusing, and recycling materials, we can reduce the use of limited resources, energy, waste, and environmental impacts.
What is corrosion, and how can it be prevented?
- destruction of materials by chemical reactions with substances in the environment (e.g., rusting)
- by coatings like greasing, painting, or electroplating.
What are alloys, and give examples?
- Alloys are mixtures of metals.
- Examples include :
-Bronze (copper and tin)
-Brass (copper and zinc)
-Steel (iron with carbon and other metals)
-Aluminium alloys (low density)
What is the difference between thermosoftening and thermosetting polymers?
- Thermosoftening polymers melt when heated, while thermosetting polymers do not melt when heated.
How is soda-lime glass made?
-by heating a mixture of sand, sodium carbonate, and limestone.
What is a composite material made from?
-a matrix (binder) that surrounds and binds together fibers or fragments of another material (reinforcement).
What is the Haber process used for?
- The Haber process is used to manufacture ammonia, which is used to produce nitrogen-based fertilizers.
What are the raw materials for the Haber process?
-The raw materials for the Haber process are nitrogen and hydrogen.
Where can nitrogen and hydrogen used in the Haber process come from?
-Nitrogen can come from the air, and hydrogen can come from natural gas or other sources.
What conditions are required for the Haber process to work?
-purified gases are passed over an iron catalyst at a temperature of about 450°C and a pressure of about 200 atmospheres.
What happens during the Haber process?
- Nitrogen and hydrogen react to form ammonia, but the reaction is reversible, so some ammonia breaks down into nitrogen and hydrogen.
What happens to the ammonia after it is produced in the Haber process?
- ammonia liquefies when cooled and is removed, while the remaining hydrogen and nitrogen are recycled.
What are NPK fertilizers?
-NPK fertilizers contain compounds of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which are used to improve agricultural productivity.
How are NPK fertilizers produced?
- NPK fertilizers are made using various raw materials in integrated processes, and they are formulated to contain specific percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
What can ammonia be used to manufacture?
- ammonium salts and nitric acid.
Where do potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, and phosphate rock come from?
-Potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, and phosphate rock are obtained by mining.
How is phosphate rock used in fertilizers?
- Phosphate rock is treated with nitric acid or sulfuric acid to produce soluble salts, which can then be used as fertilizers.
