CHM 1020 Chapter 2: The Air We Breathe

Order of the Earth's atmosphere:

1. troposphere 2. stratosphere 3. Ozone 4. Mesosphere 5. Thermosphere 6. Exosphere

what is the composition of Air?

78% of the air is nitrogen. 21% is oxygen it is a homogenous mixture

Which component of the air makes up approximately 100 times more of an exhaled breath than of an inhaled breath?

CO2

The more toxic the pollutant, the higher the concentration is set when concerning air quality standards. T or F?

False

what is a part per billion?

PPB

Catalyst

a chemical substance that participates in a chemical reaction and influences its rate, without itself undergoing permanent change

organic compound

a compound that always contains carbon, almost always contains hydrogen, and may contain other elements such as oxygen and nitrogen

what is a parts per a hundred?

a percent

Secondary Pollutant

a pollutant produced from chemical reactions involving one or more other pollutants

chemical reaction

a process whereby substances described as reactants are transformed into different substances called products

chemical equation

a representation of a chemical reaction using chemical formulas

Carcinogenic

capable of causing cancer

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

carbon-containing compounds that pass easily into the vapor phase.

what are the prefixes?

mono- 1 di- 2 tri- 3 tetra- 4 penta- 5 hexa- 6 hepta- 7 octa- 8 nona- 9 deca- 10

percent (%)

parts per hundred; (ex) 15% is 15 parts out of 100

ambient air

the air surrounding us, usually meaning the outside air

exposure

the amount of a substance encountered

combustion

the chemical process of burning. the rapid reaction of fuel with oxygen to release energy in the form of heat and light

Green Chemistry

the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.

Shifting Baselines

the idea that what people expect as "normal" on our planet has changed over time, especially with regard to ecosystems

toxicity

the intrinsic health hazard of a substance

Troposphere

the lowest region of the atmosphere in which we live that lies directly above the surface of the earth

risk assessment

the process of evaluating scientific data and making predictions in an organized manner about the probabilities of an outcome.

Tragedy of the commons

the situation in which a resource is common to all and used by many, but has no one in particular who is responsible for it. As a result, the resource may be destroyed by overuse to the detriment of all that use it.

reactants

the substances listed on the left hand side of a chemical equation, representing the starting materials for a standard chemical reaction.

when do you not add a prefix for a molecular structure?

when the first atom is singular. (EX: CCl4; Carbon Tetrachloride)

what is a part per a million?

PPM

law of conservation of matter and mass

a law stating that in a chemical reaction, matter and mass are conserved

Respiration

the process of metabolizing the foods we eat to produce carbon dioxide and water to release the energy that powers other chemical reactions in our bodies.

products

the substances listed on the right hand side of a chemical equation, representing the materials that are formed during a standard chemical reaction

Sustainability

"meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."