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The atmosphere and rates of reaction Flashcards

1
Q

Give the gases and proportions of the earth’s atmosphere?

A

Nitrogen 78%
Oxygen 21%
other gases (1%) e.g. carbon dioxide water vapour and noble gases e.g. Argon

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2
Q

How long have the gases in the atmosphere stayed constant?

A

Around 200 million yeas

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3
Q

Why cant scientists be certain about the early earth’s atmosphere

A

Because the earth is 4600 million years old

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4
Q

What do scientists think happened during the first billion years

A

They think there was intense volcano activity

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5
Q

What did volcanos release?

A

Gases which form the atmosphere,

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6
Q

Name one gas released by volcanoes

A

Water vapour

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7
Q

How were oceans formed?

A

Water vapour released by the oceans condensed

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8
Q

Name another gas released by volcanoes

A

Carbon dioxide

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9
Q

Why was the earths atmosphere similar to the atmospheres of mars and Venus?

A

Because it was made up of mainly carbon dioxide and little or no oxygen

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10
Q

Name even more gases which volcanos produced?

A

Nitrogen which gradually built up in the atmosphere, and small amounts of methane and ammonia

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11
Q

What did the earths early atmosphere consist of?

A

mainly carbon dioxide and small but increasing amuotns of nitrogen

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12
Q

Give three differences between the earth’s early atmosphere and the atmosphere of the earth today

A

The level of nitrogen increased and the early atmosphere contained of large amounts of carbon dioxide and the atmosphere today only contains a little amount, the early atmosphere of the earth contained very little oxygen and the atmosphere of the earth today contains 21% oxygen

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13
Q

How did the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere go down?

A

When oceans were forming some carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans to form a weak acid, this then reacted with minerals in the sea to form precipitates, over time this formed sediments of carbonate rocks on the sea bed, some of the carbon dioxide in the sea was used to make corals and shells of organisms such as mussels, when these organisms died they formed sedimentary rock limestone, plants evolved which take in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, the carbon can then be trapped in fossil fuels causing level of carbon dioxide to fall

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14
Q

Where did the oxygen come from that we see today?

A

Around 2.7 billion years ago photosynthetic algae first evolved in the oceans, photosynthesis produced oxygen which entered the atmosphere, over the following billion years plants evolved, increasing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, at a certain point the level of oxygen reached to the point where animals could evolve

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15
Q

Give the chemical symbol and word equation for photosynthesis

A

carbon dioxide plus water over light gives glucose plus oxygen
.6CO2 + 6H20 gives C6H12O6 +602

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16
Q

How many years does it take for fossil fuels to form?

A

Millions of years

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17
Q

Are fossil fuels renewable or non-renewable?

A

Non-renewable

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18
Q

How is coal formed?

A

From the remains of ferns and trees, if these die in marshy wetlands then they do not decompose, this can be due to lack of oxygen or acidic conditions, over time the plant remains are covered with sediment and compressed, high temperature and pressure creates coal

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19
Q

What prevents bacteria from decomposing

A

lack of oxygen or acidic conditions don’t allow the decomposition in bacteria

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20
Q

How is crude oil formed?

A

From plankton which are tiny plants found in the sea, when these die they settle in mud in the sea bed, if oxygen is not present they do not compose, over time they are compressed by sediment, heat and pressure then convert them into crude oil

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21
Q

What is natural gas mainly?

A

Mainly the hydrocarbon methane

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22
Q

Where do we find natural gas?

A

Near deposits of oil

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23
Q

How is natural gas formed?

A

Form plankton in a similar way to crude oil

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24
Q

What do all fossil fuels contain?

A

Carbon, this is part of the carbon dioxide taken in by photosynthesis

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25
How much carbon dioxide is in the current earth's atmosphere?
Around 0.04%
26
How much water vapour is there in the earths atmosphere today?
Its variable
27
How much methane is there in the earths atmosphere today
Around 0.0002%
28
Name three greenhouse gases?
Water vapour carbon dioxide and methane
29
What do greenhouse gases do in the atmosphere
Energy from the sun travels to the earth as short wavelength radiation e.g. ultraviolet and visible light, some of the short wavelength radiation reflects back into space but most passes easily through atmosphere this is because short wavelength radiation does not interact strongly with gas molecules in the atmosphere, energy of the radiation is absorbed once it reaches the surface of the earth, the surface of the earth now radiates the energy as long wavelength radiation such as infra-red, some of the long wavelength radiation interacts with the greenhouse gas molecules in the atmosphere, causing the energy of the long wavelength radiation to be absorbed, because the energy is trapped in the atmosphere this causes the temperature of the atmosphere to increase
30
What is the meaning of radiate?
Emit
31
Give an advantage of the greenhouse effect?
The greenhouse effect keeps the temperature of the earth warm enough to support life without it it will be too cold for most living organisms to survive
32
What does the level of water vapour depend on?
The temperature of the air
33
Is the level of carbon dioxide and methane increasing and why?
Yes its increasing due to human activity
34
How are carbon dioxide levels incrasing?
They are increasing as we burn fossil fuels such as burning coal for electricity, petrol and diesel to power cars and gas to heat our homes, normally carbon dioxide is absorbed by growing trees, however rainforests are now being destroyed by deforestation, usually forests are burned to provide space for grazing cattle, and burning forests produces a lot of carbon dioxide too
35
When is methane released?
Methane is released in agriculture e.g. growing rice in flooded paddy fields, methane is also released when cows pass wind
36
Explain why increasing carbon dioxide and methane levels means increase in temperature of atmosphere
Increased quantity in greenhouse gas molecules meaning more energy from the sun is trapped as less energy from long wavelength radiation passes through atmosphere and more of it interacts with these greenhouse gas molecules.
37
Explain the effects of climate change
Rising temperatures will increase melting of polar ice sheets and glaciers, leading to increased sea levels
38
What could increasing sea levels lead to?
More flooding of low-lying areas
39
What can climate change lead to?
More extreme weather e.g. storms in the UK
40
Name what increasing temperatures cold do to insects
It can change the distribution of animals such as insects, it may even change the distribution of insect-borne diseases such as malaria
41
Why do most scientists believe that climate change is caused by human activity causing the release of greenhouse gases
Because the evidence for climate change is shared between many different scientists, these scientists can then criticise the evidence and decide whether its valid
42
What do scientists call the process when they look at evidence and decide whether or not it is valid or not
Peer-review
43
What does peer-review allow?
Allows scientists to detect false claims based on poor evidence or bias
44
Explain why we have problems understanding climate change
Climate change is complex and difficult to model
45
Explain the effects of not having problems understanding climate change
.There is uncertainty, we cannot predict how much the temperature of the atmosphere will increase exactly . Speculations are made based on only parts of the evidence . We get stories from the media which are speculations, simplified and simply biased.
46
What does the carbon footprint tell us?
It tries to give us an idea of how much something contributes to climate change
47
What is carbon footprint?
The carbon footprint is the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product, service or event
48
How can we reduce our carbon footprint(carbon dioxide)?
By reducing carbon dioxide emissions, a lot of energy is used to heat our homes which usually comes from burning fossil fuels which releases carbon emissions, by insulating our homes or turning down the heating we can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Since a lot of carbon dioxide is released by driving cars, we can reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by using public transport such as trains or buses, these release less carbon dioxide per passenger, A lot of carbon dioxide is produced by generating electricity from burning fossil fuels, we can reduce that by moving to renewable sources of electricity e.g. wind power, we can also switch to energy saving lightbulbs, we can also turn appliances off at the plug rather than leave them on standby
49
Give problems to these solutions
They are expensive and inconvenient for people
50
Explain how methane can be released to atmosphere
Grazing cattle such as cows release methane when they pass wind
51
How can we reduce the emissions of methane?
cows release methane when they pass wind so we can reduce the amount of beef and diary products we consume, another source of methane is landfills, we can reduce this by trapping the methane and burning it to produce electricity, this is a good idea as methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas (hence more electricity)
52
What is the biggest source of methane?
Agriculture
53
Name a problem with the way we can reduce methane emissions
.people enjoy eating products from cows and are unlikely to change their diets, trapping and burning methane costs money
54
What do fuels release when combusted?
Energy
55
Give two examples of fuels?
Coal and hydrocarbons
56
What do most fuels contain?
The elements hydrogen and carbon
57
What happens when we burn fuels which contain the elements hydrogen and carbon?
The carbon and hydrogen atoms react with oxygen in the air
58
What does it mean to be oxidised?
Reacted with oxygen
59
What are the carbon and hydrogen atoms oxidised to form?
Carbon dioxide, and water vapour
60
How can we tell that a reaction is a complete combustion reaction?
Carbon dioxide is formed
61
What happens if the amount of oxygen is reduce in a complete combustion reaction?
We make carbon monoxide
62
Give some features of carbon monoxide
Toxic gas, has no colour or smell
63
Why do people have carbon monoxide detectors?
Toxic and hard to detect
64
Explain how sulfur dioxide is formed in a combustion reaction
some fuels e.g. coal contain the elements sulfur, so when coal is burned the sulfur atoms react with oxygen( are oxidised) to form sulfur dioxide
65
Explain how oxides of nitrogen are formed in a combustion reaction
Oxides of nitrogen are produce inside engines e.g. cars, high temperatures cause nitrogen and oxygen from the air to react, this produces a range of different molecules so they are all called oxides of nitrogen
66
Explain the problems with sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen
They cause breathing problems in humans and also dissolve in rain water to form acid rain, which can corrode buildings made from limestone and damage trees
67
what is soot?
particles of carbon and unburned hydrocarbons
68
Give three examples of pollutants form fuels
soot, sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen
69
What type of pollution is soot known as?
Particulates
70
Give the effects of particulates
Can damage human health e.g. increase the risk of heart disease and cancer, they also decrease the amount of energy from the sun reaching the earth's surface (known as global dimming)
71
What can global dimming effect?
rainfall patterns
72
In a graph with quantity of product formed over time, what does a steeper slope mean?
Higher rate of reaction
73
Explain what is happening in a graph where the quantity of product formed starts high slows down then goes flat
initially the reaction is fast, we are making lots of products in a short amount of time this is because there is a large number of reactant molecules so they are reacting and forming the product, gradually the rate of reaction decreases as slop of line becomes less steep, this is because a lot of reactant molecules have already reacted and formed a product, so there are a fewer amount of reactant molecules left to react, at the end the slop of line is zero, the reaction has stopped because all the reactant molecules have already reacted
74
What unit is used for quantity of product formed?
grams , cm3 for gases
75
How do you calculate the mean rate of reaction?
Quantity of product formed/time taken (in grams per second) | or quantity of reactant used/time take
76
If the slop of curve is constantly changing then what does that tell us?
That the rate of reaction is constantly changing, making it difficult to get the rate of reaction at a certain point
77
What does it mean if a tangent has a steeper slope?
It means it has a higher rate of reaction
78
How would you work out the rate of a reaction of a constantly changing slope at a given point?
By drawing a tangent, we then use the tangent to construct a triangle, find in the change in y over the change in x (in grams per second)
79
What does the Collison theory state?
Chemical reactions can only take place when the reacting particles collide with each other. The collison must have sufficient energy
80
What is the rate of a chemical reaction determined by?
The frequency of successful collisions
81
If the slope of the line goes down what does that mean?
Number of successful collisions decreases
82
Explain how concentration can affect rate of reaction?
If there are particles in dissolved in water and you increase the amount of particles than the particles are more likely to collide hence you get more successful collisions, meaning the rate of reaction increases as it is proportional to the number of successful collisions
83
If the concentration in a container is twice the amount over a another container how much higher is the rate of reaction?
Twice as high
84
What happens if you increase the concentration for gas particles?
The pressure will increase
85
What do you get with a higher concentration?
More products at the end(because we started with more reactants)

Triple science (6 decks)

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