using resources Flashcards
Give four reasons why humans use the earth’s resources.
humans use the earth’s resources for:
- warmth
- shelter
- food
- transport
Give two cases in which resources are provided by agriculture.
resources provided by agriculture:
- cotton - produced by a plant
- trees - for timber, fuel (eg. power stations that run on biofuels, like woodchips)
What is meant by a synthetic object? Give an example.
A synthetic object is a substance made by chemical synthesis to imitate a natural product. For example, rubber naturally comes from the sap of a tree, but synthetic rubber is made from crude oil. Two thirds of the rubber today is synthetic.
What does it mean when natural resources are finite? Give two finite natural resources.
Some natural resources are finite, which means that they cannot be replaced as quickly as they are being used.
- fossil fuels - humans use millions of kg everyday, but rate they are formed is slower
- metals - in earth’s crust
What does it mean when a resource is renewable? Give an example.
Some resources are renewable, for example wood. This means we can replace them as quickly as they are being used.
What does sustainable mean?
Sustainable means meeting our needs without preventing future generations from meeting theirs.
Give three examples in which Chemistry is important in how we use resources.
importance of Chemistry in how we use resources:
- to provide safe, potable water
- artificial fertilisers allow us to grow more food with the same area of land
- phytomining and bioleaching help to extract metals efficiently
What two processes can help to extract metals efficiently?
Phytomining and bioleaching help to extract metals efficiently
What is potable water?
Potable water is water that is safe to drink. This is essential for human life.
What dissolved substances are typically in water for humans?
For humans, water should have sufficiently low levels of dissolved salts (eg. sodium chloride) and microbes (eg. bacteria).
Why are potable water and pure water not the same?
Potable water contains small volumes of dissolved substances, but pure water contains no dissolved substances.
In the UK, where does most potable water come from? Why?
In the UK, most potable water comes from rain water as it already contains low levels of dissolved substances. This collects in the ground in aquifers, lakes, rivers and reservoirs. These reserves are plentiful in the UK.
Describe the process to produce potable water.
producing potable water:
1) choose a plentiful source of fresh water
2) pass this through filter beds to remove materials like leaves and suspended particles
3) sterilise to kill microbes (in the UK, this is done with chlorine, but other places use ozone and ultraviolet light)
What is desalination?
In many places, fresh water is scarce, so the only plentiful source is salt water, which has very high levels of dissolved minerals, so potable water is produced by desalination, which reduces the levels of dissolved minerals down to an acceptable level for human consumption.
What are the two ways of carrying out desalination? What is the problem with these methods?
methods of desalination:
- distillation
- reverse osmosis - passing it through membranes
The problem with these is that they require large amounts of energy, which makes them very expensive.
Why must waste water be treated?
A large amount of water is used for personal hygiene, flushing toilets, washing clothes and agriculture. After it has been used for these purposes, it will contain a large amount of organic molecules (eg. faeces, urine) and harmful microorganisms (eg. bacteria), so it must be treated before released into the environment again.
Describe the process of waste water treatment.
waste water treatment:
1) sewage is screened by passing through a mesh, which removes solids and pieces of grit
2) it settles in large sedimentation tanks, which produces a liquid effluent and a semi-solid sludge
3) the sludge sinks and is taken away and digested by anaerobic bacteria
- the bacteria produce biogas due to the lack of oxygen, which can be burned for electricity
- digested sludge can be used as fertilisers
4) the liquid effluent contains a large amount of organic molecules and harmful microorganisms
- air is bubbled through it so aerobic bacteria can multiply and digest the organic molecules and harmful microorganisms
5) the liquid effluent can be safely discharged back into nearby rivers
What must happen to water used by industry before waste water treatment?
A lot of water is used by industry, like in making paper and chemicals. When this water is treated, any harmful chemicals must be removed, and then they can be passed to the general sewage treatment.
What is the easiest way to obtain potable water? Why?
easiest way of obtaining potable water:
- use ground water from aquifers
- usually, this is safe to drink from after treated with Cl
Name three ways of obtaining potable water and their problems.
obtaining potable water:
AQUIFERS
- water here may be polluted (eg. fertilisers), so water from aquifers must be tested carefully
WASTE WATER
- directly from waste water such as sewage
- takes many purification steps
SALT WATER
- must be desalinated, which takes a lot of energy, so it is expensive
What are most metals like when they are found in the earth’s crust?
Most metals are found in the earth’s crust already reacted with other elements, such as oxygen.
Give one reason why copper is important.
Worldwide demand for metals is growing, such as copper. It is used in electronic equipment, like phones.
Why are metal ores good for extracting metals?
Metal ores contain enough metal to make it economical (cost effective) to extract the metal.
What is happening as a result of copper ores becoming scarce? Why is this a problem?
Copper ores are becoming scarce, so we need to extract copper from low-grade ores (have a small amount of copper), so it is less cost effective.
Describe the process of phytomining.
phytomining:
- plants are grown on land with the metal compound we want
- the plants absorb the metal compound and concentrate it in the tissue
- the plants are then harvested and burned
- the ash contains a relatively high concentration of metal compounds
Describe the process of bioleaching.
bioleaching:
- bacteria is mixed with a low grade ore
- the bacteria carries out chemical reactions, which produces a solution called leachate
- leachate contains the metal compound we want in a higher concentration
How is the metal extracted from a metal compound?
Metals can be extracted from their metal compound through electrolysis. Copper can be extracted via displacement with scrap iron, which is much cheaper.
Why are phytomining and bioleaching both cost effective?
Phytomining and bioleaching are cost effective extraction methods from low grade ores. It is cheaper as it doesn’t involve digging, transporting or disposing od large amounts of rock, unlike mining.
What is a life cycle assessment?
A life cycle assessment attempts to put a number on the environmental impact of a product.
Give four factors that affect the life cycle assessment of a product.
factors affecting life cycle assessment:
- impact of extracting and processing the raw materials
- manufacturing and packaging
- impact of use and operation during its lifetime
- disposal of product at the end of its useful lifetime
Name an advantage and two disadvantages of life cycle assessments.
life cycle assessments:
ADVANTAGE
- the use of water, energy and the production of some waste products with reasonable accuracy
DISADVANTAGES
- cannot be certain how damaging they are to the environment, so we have to use estimates, so may be inaccurate
- can be biased, like to support advertisers