Air and Humidity
What is humidity?
The moisture content of air
Air is a mixture of ___________
Gases
What causes the phenomenon of global warming?
If the concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases were to increase too much, the earth would get too warm.
What does parts per million mean?
Parts per million is the number of molecules (or atoms) of a substance in a mixture for every 1 million molecules (or atoms) in that mixture
What is ozone and what makes an ozone molecule?
Ozone is a gas and it is made of three oxygen atoms.
About what percent of the air we breathe is made up of air pollutants?
About 1%
How does sweating cool the body?
When you get hot, your body releases sweat that evaporates from your skin. In the evaporation process, heat is removed from your skin, cooling it down. The evaporation takes energy (in the form of heat) away from your skin.
Which gas makes up the largest percentage of the air we breathe?
Nitrogen
What is the difference between the greenhouse effect and global warming?
The greenhouse is a beneficial process were certain gases trap light that radiates from the earth and makes the planet warm enough to sustain life. Global warming is when the concentration of those gases is too high and the earth warms too much.
What is the conversion relationship between ppm and percent?
1% = 10,000 ppm
What type of light from the sun is harmful to living organisms?
Ultraviolet light
Name 3 major air pollutants?
Sulfure oxides (dioxide and trioxide), nitrogen oxides, ozone, and carbon monoxide
What is absolute humidity?
The mass of water vapor contained in a certain volume of air.
What percent of the air we breathe is made up of oxygen?
21%
Name the primary gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect.
carbon dioxide
The concentration of argon in the air is about 0.9%. What is this in ppm?
0.9%/1 x 10,000 ppm/1% = 9,000 ppm
Is ozone poisonous to living organisms?
Yes
Name 3 human activities that produce air pollutants.
Driving, airplanes flying, air conditioning units, power plants, factories
What is 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 percentage.
What can happen to the human body when it is exposed to too much oxygen?
Humans can experience lung damage, eye damage, and even blindness when exposed to too much oxygen.
When studying temperature and carbon dioxide emissions data holistically, do we see evidence of global warming?
No
The concentration of nitrogen in the air is about 78%. What is that in ppm?
780,000 ppm
How far up in the earth's atmosphere is the ozone layer?
20-30 kilometers
What type of reaction causes carbon monoxide to form?
Incomplete combustion reactions
Suppose you left a glass of water outside on a day when the relative humidity was 100%. How quickly would the water evaporate from the glass?
You would not see any evaporation.
Why does the human body need oxygen to function?
The chemical reactions that supply energy to our bodies are combustion reactions. Oxygen is necessary for combustion.
What type of data of data is the best to study for indications of global warming?
Satellite temperature data
On a made up planet called Genovia, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air is 672 ppm. What is this concentration in percent?
0.0672%
How does the ozone work to filter out harmful sun rays?
When ultraviolet light hits an ozone molecule, it destroys the ozone molecule. This separates the ozone molecule into an oxygen molecule and a free oxygen atoms. It also destroys the ultraviolet light so that it does not reach the earth's surface.
Describe the cost/benefit analysis type of reasoning. Give an example.
Is the benefit of something worth the cost? Is cleaner air worth more traffic fatalities from lighter cars?