Science in Action 9 Unit C Section 1.0-2.0

nitrogen fixation

Process to change free nitrogen into a nitrogen that can combine with other chemicals

Some bacteria do most of the nitrogen fixation in the soil

Where does nitrogen fixation occur?

Bacteria in root nodules

Lightning

Decomposes

Fertilizer

Substance that in riches soil so the plant will grow better

Made up of three elements nitrogen phosphorus and potassium

Pollution

Any change in the environment that produces a condition that is harmful to living things

What does the three numbers on a fertilizer container indicate?

Nitrogen-phosphorus - potassium

15-30-15 is an example

15% nitrogen- 30% phosphorus - 15% potassium

How is fertilizer harmful

Natural or synthetic fertilizer can harm organisms and even damage to crop it's supposed to help.

If fertilizer enters ponds, streams, lakes, or rivers, it may damage those ecosystems by changing the concentration of chemicals

Pesticides

Chemicals used to kill pests

Herbicides

kill or control weeds

Insecticides

a chemical that kills or control insects

fungicide

kills fungi

Sanitary landfills

Plastic liners and compacted clay to prevent these solutions from entering soil and groundwater

Sewage

Waste water containing dissolved in under soft materials from your kitchen bathroom and laundry

Septic tank

Underground container where bacteria break down organic materials in sewage before going to the soil

sewage treatment plant

Treats waste water from home, businesses, industries, and institutions

Effluent

Waste water from factory or sewage treatment plant put into a river or lake from where it came from. May contain nitrogen and phosphorus

Storm sewers

Large pipes that carry runoff Water from yards and streets straight into a river, lake, and or ocean

No water treatment

Combustion

hydrocarbon + oxygen --> carbon dioxide + water

combustion of methane

CH4 + 2O2 -> CO2 + 2H2O(g)

Methane + oxygen —> carbon dioxide + water vapour + energy

combustion of propane

C3H8(g) + 502(g)——> 3CO2(g) + 4H2O(g)

Propane + oxygen——> carbon dioxide + water vapour + energy

Sour gas

natural gas that contains hydrogen sulfide

No hydrogen sulfide it's called Sweet gas

Acid

Compound that dissolves in water to form a solution with a pH lower than seven

pH

Measure of hydrogen ions in a solution

Base

A compound dissolves in water to form a solution with a pH higher than seven

Example hair conditioner

pH scale

Scale from 0 to 14

pH of 0 is very acidic

pH of 14 is very basic or alkaline

pH of 7 is neutral it is neither a acid nor a base

Measured in a 10 fold difference

Example pH of 9 is 10 times more basic than a solution with a pH of 8

Measuring pH

Acid-base indicators like litmus paper

Universal indicator changes the colour of a clear fluid to tell if it's a base or a acid

If blue litmus paper turns red

It is an acid

If red litmus paper turns blue

It is a base

If red litmus paper stayed the same

It is an acid

If blue litmus paper stayed the same

It is a base

Neutralization

Reaction between an acid and a base that produces water and a solid compound called salt

If it's a strong acid you add a weak base

If it's a strong base add a weak acid

Formula for neutralization

HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq)—> NaCl(s) + H2O(l)

Acid + base—> Salt + water

What are acidic lakes treated with

Calcium hydroxide which is lime which is a base

Organic compounds

Compounds that contain carbon

Sugar, Starch, fat, oil, wax, and proteins

inorganic compounds

Compounds that do not contain carbon

Example baking soda, mineral quartz, natural gas, and coal

Macro nutrients

Nutrients needed in large quantities

Example carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sulphur

You need 25 nutrients in total

Micro nutrients

Nutrients needed in small amounts

Example selenium

Optimum amount

Amount of a substance that provides an organism with the best health

Example selenium is a micro nutrient that is needed but too much can hurt the poor fishy's from the reservoir, or your friend piggy's toes

Carbohydrates

Carbon hydrogen and oxygen example sugar starch cellulose and glycogen and glucose

Lipids

Fats and oils and are compounds composed of many carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms

Fats are solid oils are liquid

Proteins and amino acids

Are organic compounds made out of amino acid

Each protein has its own unique number, combination and arrangement of amino acids

Responsible for growth and repair an energy source

From meat, fish, eggs, dairy products

Nucleic acid's

Large complicated molecules that play a major role in heredity and in controlling the cells activities

Example Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Osmosis

Diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane

Diffusion

Process in which molecules move from an area of higher concentration to one of lower concentration

Active transport

Plant cells use energy to move nutrients from low to high concentration requires a lot of energy

Hydrolysis

Reaction of substance with water

Water breakdown

Hydrolyzed -> break down by water

Substrates

A material in which an organism moves or lives on

Organisms attach them self to the substrate, others obtain their nutrients from their substrate

Example watermelon snow

Red Single cell algae survive on a substrate that is near freezing, low in nutrients and often acidic

Five categories of water use

Human drinking water

recreation

livestock drinking water

irrigation

and protection of aquatic life

Why is clarity not a good indicator of water quality

Clarity is not a good indicator of water Quality because there could be acid rain in the water and you don't even know it

Biological indicators

Fish, plants, worms, insects, plankton, protozoa, bacteria, and viruses can all be biological indicators of water quality

Example of Microbiological indicators

Escherichia coil which is also known as E. Coli

invertebrate

An animal without a backbone

Example clam, Leach, flatworm, water strider, mosquito larva, etc.

If there is Many litres and bottom feeders what does that indicate?

That there is many decaying dead material

In the water

What happens to the aquatic environment if the pH is below 5?

You will not find many fish there especially young ones

The diversity of all organisms decreases as acidity increases and dissolved oxygen decreases

Temp goes up dissolved oxygen goes down

Indicators of water quality

Dissolved oxygen,

Acidity

pesticides,

heavy metals,

plant nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, salts like sodium chloride and magnesium sulphate

How to measure concentration of chemicals in the environment?

By ppm (parts per million)

When solving ppm cross multiply

1L=1000mL

Levels of dissolved oxygen in water depends on

Temp,

turbulence due to wind or speed of moving water,

Amount of photosynthesis by plants and algae in the water,

And number of organisms using up the oxygen

What causes algae blooms

Phosphorus and nitrogen causes algae blooms

They come from fertilizers that washed up in the sewage drains

Spring Acid Shock

Concentration of acid that can dramatically lower the pH of the water in a pond, lake, etc. for a short period of time.

Occurs when acid rain and acidic deposits build up in ice and snow in winter. Spring, ice and snow melt, acid melt water flows into aquatic systems

LD50

the amount of a chemical that kills 50% of the animals in a test population

LD stands for lethal dose

50 stand for 50%

50% die 50% don't

Heavy metals

Have a density of 5 g/cm3

Naturally occurs and rocksalt in sometimes water

Examples are copper, lead, zinc, mercury, cadmium, and nickel

Where can you find heavy metals in every day items?

Batteries, paint, rubber tires, pipes, gasoline, thermometers, and some fertilizers

Can be toxic to children like lead and can cause abnormal development and brain damage or even death

Can enter through water supply by acid rain and improper solid waste disposal

Air quality can be determined into 2 ways

Measuring levels of pollutants in the air

Estimating the amount of emissions from pollution sources

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

Major air pollutants that forms both smog and acid rain

Affects your respiratory system which is throat and lungs and irritate your eyes

Reduced through industrial processes like burning fossil fuels

Scrubbers

Dustrial plants use scrubbers to reduce over dioxide emissions by up to 99%

Use lime stone to convert a pollutant SO2 do you are useful product like gypsum

Sulfur dioxide + water + lime stone + oxygen->

Gypsum + carbon dioxide

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

Forms of nitrogen Adams combine with oxygen and give smog it's brown colour it is also a major air pollutants it also forms acid rain and smog

X indicates there is a mixture of NO and NO2

Forms from combustion in vehicles, generating blinds, and some industrial process like oil refining

Affect respiratory system and eyes

carbon monoxide

a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas

It is also known as the silent killer

If inhaled , carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen carried by the blood

As a result, it can cause headaches, sleepiness, chest pain, brain damage, and death

ground level ozone

For the reaction between oxygen, nitrogen oxides, and compounds called volatile organic compounds, in the presence of heat and sunlight

Major sources is motor vehicles and industrial processes

Harmful to people with asthma and other lung diseases

VOC

Volatile Organic Compound

catalytic converter

Device that converts carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide

Is carbon dioxide considered a pollutant?

No, it is not because it is naturally present in the air.

But it is a greenhouse gas

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrogen oxides and other gases

Acts like a greenhouse- traps heat

enhanced greenhouse effect

Greenhouse affect me greater by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, clearing land, etc.

Add some more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Global warming

An increase in the average temperature worldwide caused by enhanced greenhouse effect

ozone layer

Protective layer that protects organisms from UV rays

15 to 50 km above Earth surface

Some areas are so thin that they are called holes in the ozone

Plankton are sensitive to UV exposure, so increase UV radiation could cause plankton to die

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Scientist have concluded that the thining of the ozone is caused by our own use of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons

Where can you find CFCs

Aerosol cans and fire extinguishers

One chlorine atom can remove how many ozone molecules?

One chlorine atom can remove 100,000 ozone molecules

ice cores

Scientist use ice cores from the Arctic and Antarctic to get info about carbon dioxide concentrations over hundreds of years

Air is trapped in snow falls and is held in ice as the snow builds up. Scientist drill down into the ice and take samples.

Air quality can be determined into 2 ways

Measuring levels of pollutants in the air

Estimating the amount of emissions from pollution sources

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

Major air pollutants that forms both smog and acid rain

Affects your respiratory system which is throat and lungs and irritate your eyes

Reduced through industrial processes like burning fossil fuels

Scrubbers

Dustrial plants use scrubbers to reduce over dioxide emissions by up to 99%

Use lime stone to convert a pollutant SO2 do you are useful product like gypsum

Sulfur dioxide + water + lime stone + oxygen->

Gypsum + carbon dioxide

Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)

Forms of nitrogen Adams combine with oxygen and give smog it's brown colour it is also a major air pollutants it also forms acid rain and smog

X indicates there is a mixture of NO and NO2

Forms from combustion in vehicles, generating blinds, and some industrial process like oil refining

Affect respiratory system and eyes

carbon monoxide

a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas

It is also known as the silent killer

If inhaled , carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen carried by the blood

As a result, it can cause headaches, sleepiness, chest pain, brain damage, and death

ground level ozone

For the reaction between oxygen, nitrogen oxides, and compounds called volatile organic compounds, in the presence of heat and sunlight

Major sources is motor vehicles and industrial processes

Harmful to people with asthma and other lung diseases

VOC

Volatile Organic Compound

catalytic converter

Device that converts carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide

Is carbon dioxide considered a pollutant?

No, it is not because it is naturally present in the air.

But it is a greenhouse gas

greenhouse effect

Natural situation in which heat is retained in Earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, nitrogen oxides and other gases

Acts like a greenhouse- traps heat

enhanced greenhouse effect

Greenhouse affect me greater by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, clearing land, etc.

Add some more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Global warming

An increase in the average temperature worldwide caused by enhanced greenhouse effect

ozone layer

Protective layer that protects organisms from UV rays

15 to 50 km above Earth surface

Some areas are so thin that they are called holes in the ozone

Plankton are sensitive to UV exposure, so increase UV radiation could cause plankton to die

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Scientist have concluded that the thining of the ozone is caused by our own use of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons

Where can you find CFCs

Aerosol cans and fire extinguishers

One chlorine atom can remove how many ozone molecules?

One chlorine atom can remove 100,000 ozone molecules

ice cores

Scientist use ice cores from the Arctic and Antarctic to get info about carbon dioxide concentrations over hundreds of years

Air is trapped in snow falls and is held in ice as the snow builds up. Scientist drill down into the ice and take samples.