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Using Resources Flashcards

1
Q

What do humans use the Earth’s natural resources for? - Materials

A

Use them for energy and fuels
For building shelters
Fuels for transport
Materials for clothing

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2
Q

What is causing the use of the Earth’s resources to become unsustainable? - Materials

A

The human population is growing too quickly and as a result of having to meet increased demand, our use of natural resources is becoming to fast

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3
Q

What are finite resources? Give an example - Materials

A

Resources that are harvested from a limited supply

Crude oil is an example

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4
Q

What are renewable resources? - Materials

A

Resources which will not run out, and can be used now without impacting the demands of future generations

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5
Q

How is crude oil processed into useful products? - Materials

A

Crude oil is processed through fractional distillation and cracking to produce a variety of useful chemicals

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6
Q

How has the Haber process aided humans? - Materials

A

It has removed dependence on natural fertilisers such as manure, and led to the widespread use of intensive farming and feed a growing population

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7
Q

What is potable water? - Materials

A

Water that is safe for humans to consume

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8
Q

What makes water potable? Why is this? - Materials

A

For water to be potable it must have sufficiently low levels of dissolved salts (can sometimes be harmful to humans) and microbes (can cause illness)

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9
Q

How is potable water produced in the UK? Describe the process - Materials

A

Rainwater is collected in aquifers, as well as in lakes, reservoirs and rivers. The water is passed through filters to remove solid substances. It is then sterilised using chlorine and piped to houses.

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10
Q

How is potable water made from seawater? Describe the process. What issues are there with this? - Materials

A

Desalination through distillation (boiling and condensing the substances at different temperatures to separate) or reverse osmosis. Very expensive as it require high amounts of energy

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11
Q

What pollutants may be in waste water that needs treatment? - Materials

A

Human waste, harmful bacteria, industrial waste, fertilisers or pesticides

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12
Q

Describe the method of sewage treatment - Materials

A

Water is passed through a screen to remove large particles, and then undergoes sedimentation to remove tiny particles which produces sewage effluent. Effluent is digested by anaerobic bacteria and treated with aerobic bacteria to reduce solid waste

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13
Q

What is a life-cycle assessment? Name examples of aspects included in a LCA - Materials

A

An analysis of the impact of a manufactured product on an environment.
Extracting and processing the raw materials, manufacturing and packaging, use of a product, disposal of a product

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14
Q

How does the extraction of raw materials in an LCA impact the environment? - Materials

A

Using up limited resources such as ores and crude oil, damaging habitats through quarrying, mining or felling trees, greenhouse gas production from extraction

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15
Q

How does manufacture in an LCA have an impact on the environment? - Materials

A

Using land for factories and the use of machines which produce greenhouse gases

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16
Q

How does the use of a product in an LCA impact the environment? - Materials

A

Certain products, such as cars and electrical appliances produce greenhouse gases in order to fuel them

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17
Q

How does the disposal of old products in an LCA have an impact on the environment? - Materials

A

Land is used up for landfill sites, recyclable products have a lesser impact on the environment than non-recyclable ones

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18
Q

How are comparable LCAs used to provide information on 2 products? - Materials

A

Comparative LCAs can be used to show which product has a larger negative effect on the environment, and makes notes on the processes in manufacture

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19
Q

How are LCAs not effective? - Materials

A

LCAs often do not contain specific impacts of pollutants produced in industry and require an individual judgement to be made on the impacts of a product

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20
Q

What advantages are there of recycling? - Materials

A

Less crude oil needs extracting to make plastics, fewer quarrying and mining of ores needs to take place, landfill waste is reduced, less energy needed for recycling than for manufacturing a new product

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21
Q

What disadvantages are there of recycling? (Critique the recycling PROCESS) - Materials

A

The collection of used items needs organisation, workers, fuel and vehicles.
Can be difficult to distinguish between metals.
Sorted metal may need to be transported to places where it can be made into ingots.

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22
Q

What is phytomining? - Materials

A

Using plants to absorb metal compounds from the ground using roots.

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23
Q

Describe the process of phytomining - Materials

A

Plants are grown on land of a low grade ore, where the plants absorb metal ions through roots and concentrate them in cells. The plants are burned, with the remaining ash containing metal compounds

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24
Q

What positives are there of phytomining? - Materials

A

Phytomining reduces the need to obtain ore by mining, conserves supplies of high grade ores, reduces rock waste that requires disposal

25
What is the negative of phytomining? - Materials
Slow process
26
Describe the process of bioleaching. What is a leachate? - Materials
Bacteria breaks down low grade ores to produce an acidic solution containing copper ions. The solution produced is called the LEACHATE. The metal is displaced by a more reactive metal from the leachate
27
What advantages are there of bioleaching? - Materials
Doesn’t require high temperatures or energy to be applied, can use cheap scrap metal in the displacement reaction to reduce costs
28
What disadvantages are there of bioleaching? - Materials
Bioleaching produces toxic substances such as an acid when the desired metal is displaced
29
What causes the corrosion of metals? What is the product of this process? - Materials
Metals can become oxidised in air to form metal oxides and corrode over long periods of time
30
What is rusting? What happens? What metals does this happen in? - Materials
Rusting is an example of corrosion, which happens in iron and steel. It is caused by contact between iron/steel and water
31
What examples are there of physical barriers to rusting? How do these prevent rusting? - Materials
Painting, oiling and greasing, coating with plastic | Creates a physical barrier to oxygen and water
32
What is electroplating? How does it prevent rusting? - Materials
Electroplating is the process of using electrolysis to thinly plate iron/steel with metal to protect the iron/steel. The cathode is the iron/steel + the anode is the plating metal
33
What is a sacrificial bar? How does it prevent rusting? - Materials
If iron is in contact with a more reactive metal which oxidises more easily than iron, it doesn’t rust, yet the more reactive metal does. REQUIRES REPLACING
34
What is galvanising? How does it prevent corrosion? - Materials
When iron is coated in zinc, the process of galvanisation stops oxygen and water from reaching the iron. Zinc is also more reactive so acts as a sacrificial metal
35
What is an alloy? - Materials
An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements where at least one is a metal.
36
How is gold alloyed to improve its ability in jewellery? - Materials
Gold is often alloyed to make the jewellery stronger as different sized atoms disrupt the regular metallic structure
37
What is stainless steel an alloy of? How is this suited to use in washing machines? - Materials
Stainless steel is an alloy of steel (iron and carbon), chromium and nickel. This makes the alloy hard and resistant to rusting, which is vital with water in washing machines
38
What is magnalium? How is it useful for aircraft parts? - Materials
Magnalium is an alloy of aluminium and magnesium, which strengthens aluminium whilst maintaining a low mass and density
39
How are clay ceramics made? - Materials
Clay ceramics are made by shaping wet clay and then heating it in high temperatures in a furnace. Often coated with a glaze to form a hard, smooth, waterproof layer
40
What is LDPE? What are its properties? What are its uses? - Materials
Low density polyethene is flexible, unreactive and can be made into films. Used in carrier bags, bubble wrap
41
What is HDPE? What are its properties? What are its uses? - Materials
High density polyethene is strong, flexible and can resist shattering. Used to make plastic bottles, pipes and buckets
42
Describe the structures of HDPE and LDPE - Materials
LDPE has a structure where polymer chains are sparse and branched HDPE has less branching of polymer chains so molecules build up more closely
43
What are thermosoftening plastics? What bonding feature aids this? - Materials
Plastics which melt when they are heated, and are able to be recycled. Do not have covalent bonds between neighbouring molecules so molecules can melt easily
44
What are thermosetting plastics? - Materials
Plastics which do not melt when heated. Tend to char and burn when heated, but resistant to higher temperatures so used in electrical appliances
45
What are composite materials? - Materials
Composite materials are materials that consist of 2 or more materials with different properties
46
What is the equation of the reaction in the Haber process? - Materials
N2 (g) + 3H2 (g) <=> 2NH3 (g)
47
Describe the Haber process - Materials
Nitrogen (from the air) and hydrogen (from natural gas) are pumped through pipes. The pressure is increased to 200 atm and the temperature to 450°C, passed through a tank with an iron catalyst. The mixture is liquified so ammonia can be removed. Unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen are recycled
48
Why are fertilisers needed in plant growth? - Materials
Fertilisers provide mineral ions needed for growth in plants. The fertilisers increase the concentration of mineral ions that occur naturally
49
Why must fertiliser compounds be soluble in water? - Materials
Fertiliser compounds must be soluble in water so that they can be absorbed by root hair cells
50
How can raw minerals be mined to be used as fertilisers? - Materials
Potassium chloride contains potassium ions which can be used to help improve plant growth
51
How can ammonium sulfate be formed? What is this used for? - Materials
Ammonium sulfate is formed by reacting ammonia gas and sulfuric acid at 60°C. This forms a salt and fertiliser
52
Theoretically, what SHOULD the conditions of the Haber Process be to maximise the yield of ammonia? - Materials
By increasing the pressure, the yield of ammonia would increase and by decreasing the temperature the yield of ammonia would increase
53
What is the THEORETICAL effect of increasing pressure for the Haber process? Materials
As the pressure increases, the equilibrium will shift to the side of fewer moles (ammonia). This causes the yield of ammonia to increase.
54
What is the THEORETICAL effect of increasing the temperature of the Haber process? - Materials
When the temperature increases, the equilibrium shifts towards the endothermic direction (making less ammonia)
55
Why is a lower pressure used for the Haber process than what would produce the maximum amount of Ammonium? - Materials
It is incredibly expensive to reach high pressures for a reaction, whilst the equipment to have high pressures is hard to come by
56
Why is a higher than theoretically sensible temperature used in the Haber process? - Materials
Whilst decreasing the temperature will shift the equilibrium to produce more Ammonium, the rate of the reaction will decrease as particles have less kinetic energy, reducing the number of successful collisions
57
Why are a temperature of 450°C and a pressure of 200 atmospheres used for the Haber process? - Materials
It is a compromise between maximum rates of reaction (temperature) and cost effective production of high pressures
58
How is the effectiveness of the Haber process increased by recycling? - Materials
Any unreacted hydrogen and nitrogen which has passed through the iron catalyst chamber is recycled back into the chamber to be reacted again

Chemistry (11 decks)

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