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USES OF THE GASES IN THE AIR
USES OF THE GASES IN THE AIR
The atmosphere of the Earth has developed over geological time and various changes have taken place. The most significant one was thee introduction of oxygen (O₂). Clean air has approximately the following composition: Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), argon (0.9%) and other gases.
Nitrogen: is used to produce Ammonia (NH3) which is used for fertilisers. This process is called the Haber Process. Nitrogen is also used to keep air away from certain products, bag of chips, to ensure that the product gets crushed or go rancid in contact with oxygen.
Oxygen (O₂): the biggest single use of oxygen is in the production of steel. Oxygen is used also in hospitals in cyllinders to help the breathing of people who are sick.
Argon: argon in used in light bulbs so that the tungsten filament burns away. It doesn't react with tungsten even at high temperatures. Other noble gases instead are used for traffic lights, because they glow in different colours when electricity flows through them.
POLLUTION OF THE AIR
POLLUTION OF THE AIR
Many gases are released in our air, some are harmless but many create problems to the environment. The main source of "problem" is the burning of fossil fuels. The most common fuels are coal and oil which are used to produce electricity. When these fuels are burnt the sulfur which they contain reacts with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide. Moreover, oxides of nitrogen are also produced which then dissolve in the rainwater and produce "acid rains".
PREVENTION:
Some ways to prevent the effects of the acid rain are to add lime (CaO) and the sorrounding area to reduce the acidity. The best solution, however, is to prevent the acidic gases to be released in the first place. Scrubbers are the tools which perform this job. These devices go through an alkaline substance such as lime (calcium oxide). This makes the escaping gases much less harmful.
In cars the burning of fuels is particularly problematic, because fuel doesn't usually burn completely hence, carbon monoxide (CO) is formed. This toxic gas is formed from the incomplete combustion of the fuel.
The main products and the danger of these pollutants are as follows
A solution to this problem is to install in the car a catalytic converter, which converts carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide into carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
GLOBAL WARMING AND THE "GREENHOUSE" EFFECT
GLOBAL WARMING AND THE "GREENHOUSE" EFFECT
Carbon dioxide and methane in contact with water vapor and oxides of nitrogen, are causing global warming due to the greenhouse effect. The Earth is warmed by the Sun but this heat would quickly escape if it wasn't for our atmosphere. Some gases are better at keeping heat than others. If there's too much of these gases , the Earth gets warmer and this leads to environmental problems, which are called climate change.
The effects are listed below:
Glacier and polar caps will melt. This will cause a rise of the ocean levels and land will be flooded and eroded.
The surface temperature of the Earth will increase. Millions of people will have less water because of the desertification process
Severe weather phenomena events will increase in frequency
In some areas crops will become more difficult to grow
Methane and Carbon dioxide are the two main problems gases; methane is around 20 times more effective at stopping heat escaping than carbon dioxide is.
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