It's hot out there
This term describes the moisture content of the air.
Humidity
True/False: Ozone can be produced on the ground.
True
True/False: The air is only made up of two different gases.
False
What type of light is absorbed by carbon dioxide?
Infrared light
The "other gases" that make up air pollutants make up what % of our air?
Less than 1%
What are two effects humidity can have on you?
- Muscle cramps
- Fainting
- makes it harder for sweat to evaporate
This air pollutant is a product of incomplete combustion. (was reduced in cars by the catalytic converter)
CO - carbon monoxide
What two gases make up the majority of our air?
Double Jeopardy: What are the percentages of each?
Nitrogen - 78%
Oxygen - 21%
Plants need CO2 to perform ________________. (process they use to produce their own food and a key gas in our air)
Photosynthesis
What is an example of a human-made sulfur oxide?
Double jeopardy: What is an example of a natural-made sulfur oxide?
Human-made: All fuels we burn (coal, oil, wood, natural gas, etc.)
Natural-made: Volcanic activity, oceans, biological decay, forest fires
When humidity is low, sweat will evaporate (more or less) quickly?
Double jeopardy: Why?
More quickly
The air isnt' saturated (like it is in high humidity) so moisture from your sweat will want to evaporate more quickly into the air.
Every major pollutant in the air has a (higher OR lower) concentration today than it did 30 years ago.
Lower
List 2 reasons why we require oxygen.
- oxygen is required to turn food into energy
- your brain and organs need oxygen to survive
- oxygen supports immune system
What is infrared light?
Energy radiated back into space from earth, this process cools the earth
What are 2 examples of air pollutants?
Double Jeopardy: What are the other two examples we talked about?
The 4 we discussed were sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, ground-level ozone, and carbon monoxide
What if the air held ¾ of the maximum amount of water for that temperature. What would the relative humidity be?
75%
Ozone absorbs what type of light? Does it block all of it (yes OR no) and how do you know?
Ultraviolet light (UV light)
No not all of it - we still get sunburn
What is an inert gas?
Double Jeopardy: What are 2 examples of inert gases? (Hint: not CO2)
a gas that very rarely chemically reacts with anything else
Nitrogen and Argon
What are 2 ways carbon dioxide gets replenished into our air?
1. Human exhalation (we breathe it out)
2. Byproduct of fire (combustion reactions produce CO2, water, and energy/heat)
What is an example of a natural-made nitrogen oxide?
Double jeopardy: What is an example of a human-made nitrogen oxide?
Heat of lightning bolts and volcanoes
Cars, power plants, lawn mowers (burn fuel at high temps - Nitrogen is present in air all around them)
What are the two types of humidity? Describe each. (each worth 250 points)
Absolute humidity - The mass of water vapor contained in a certain volume of air
Relative humidity - The ratio of the mass of water vapor in the air at a given temperature to the maximum mass of water vapor the air could hold at that temperature (expressed as a %)
If the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases increases, then the earth would get too warm. What is this theory called and what data disproves it?
Global warming
CO2 concentration data and temperature deviation from normal data do not match up. The CO2 concentration has been steadily increasing, while the temperature has increased and decreased slightly over the years.
What is the purpose of inert gases?
They are used to "dilute" the oxygen in the air we breathe.
How does CO2 regulate the temperature of the earth? (You must talk about what CO2 absorbs and how the earth doesn't overheat)
CO2 regulates the temperature of the earth by absorbing infrared light and using it to heat the earth to a temperature necessary to maintain life. The earth does not overheat because not all infrared light is absorbed (it escapes to space).
Give 2 examples of human activities that produce ground-level ozone.
Driving
Mowing the lawn
Baking bread