Topic 10 - Using Resources Flashcards
What do humans use the earths resources for?
Warmth, shelter, food, transport
What do natural resources supplemented by agriculture provide?
Food, timber, clothing, fuels
What are processed to provide energy and materials?
Finite resources from the Earth, oceans and atmosphere
What does chemistry play an important role in?
- Improving agricultural and industrial processes to provide new products
- Sustainable development
What is the sustainable development?
Development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
Give an example of natural products that are supplemented or replaced by agricultural and synthetic products?
Rubber is a natural product that can be extracted from the sap of a tree, however man-made polymers have now been made which can replace rubber in uses such as tires
What substance is essential for life?
Water of appropriate quality
What should drinking water consist of for humans?
Drinking water should have sufficiently low levels of dissolved salts and microbes
Define potable water?
Water that is safe to drink
What is potable water?
Not pure water in the chemical sense but it contains dissolved substances
What do the methods used to produce potable water depend on?
Available supplies of water and local conditions
In the UK what does rain provide?
Water with low levels of dissolved substances (fresh water) that collects in the ground, lakes and rivers
What are the three methods of producing portable water?
- choosing appropriate source of fresh water
- passing the water through filter beds
- sterilising
Give examples of sterilising agents used for potable water?
Chlorine, Ozone, ultraviolet light
What happens if suppliers of freshwater are limited?
Desalination of salty water or sea water may be required
How can desalination be done?
By distillation or by processes that use membranes such as reverse osmosis
What do the processes of desalination require?
Large amounts of energy
When it rains how does water collect?
- surface water (lakes, rivers and reservoirs)
- groundwater (in rocks called aquifers the trap water underground)
What are the disadvantages of desalination processes?
Require loads of energy so they’re expensive and impractical for producing large quantities
Where are large amounts of waste water produced?
Urban lifestyles and industrial processes
What does waste water required?
Treatment before being released into the environment
What treatment does sewage and agricultural waste water required?
Removal of organic matter and harmful microbes
What treatment does industrial waste water require?
Removal of organic matter and harmful chemicals
What are the four stages of sewage treatment?
- screening and grit removal
- sedimentation to produce sewage sludge and effluent
- anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge
- aerobic biological treatment of effluent