The ozone layer is important!
Hello, sorry for the late post. I couldn't sign it for a long time until I realised I typed the wrong username yeah ):
On the 24th of January in IS2104, we learnt the composition of air and the structure of the atmosphere. Our air comprises of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and 1% of other gasses. Carbon dioxide only comprises 0.03% of the air around us.
We also learnt how the ozone protects life from UV rays in this simple chemical equation:
UV rays + O3 --> O2 + O
The UV provides energy to break the ozone into an oxygen molecule and an oxygen atom, thus being absorbed by the ozone layer.
We also learnt 6 simple steps on how and why CFC can destroy the ozone layer.
1. 1.UV radiation hits CFC molecules
2. 2 Chlorine atom breaks away
3. 3 Chlorine atoms hits ozone molecule
4. 4 Chlorine atom takes one oxygen atom to create chlorine monoxide and leaves one molecule of oxygen
5. 5 The oxygen atom hits the chlorine monoxide molecule
6. 6The oxygen atom will combine with the oxygen in the chlorine monoxide, leaving the chlorine free and repeating the depletion process of the ozone.
It can also be summarized in 2 simple equations.
ClO + O3 --> ClO + O2
ClO + O --> Cl + O2
And I found this comic strip on the internet, maybe it might give you guys a better explanation if you all still don’t get it (:
Temperatures at the thermosphere can reach beyond 1200 degrees Celsius and yet it’s freezing up there. Why is this so? It is so near vacuum up there that the air is thin and there is low pressure. There is not enough contact with the few atoms of gas to be able to transfer heat, and thus you do not feel the heat of the thermosphere. However, you might freeze to death up there because the pressure is so low that the boiling point of blood will decrease significantly and thus will lead to death.
Yes so lesson learnt, never go up to the thermosphere.
And yeah, quite simple right today’s lesson (: Hope you have an awesome day ahead.
Erina Tan (4)
JH403
posted by IS2104_blog_jh403 @ 08:52
3 Comments
3 Comments:
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After learning the ozone layer, I have one question in my mind. CFC are mainly produced by the factories in developing and developed countries. But why is the part of the ozone which is destroyed located in Canada or Antartica, in which the effect of industrialization is not so extensive?
ANH(22)
This is what I got from Wikipedia regarding the ozone depletion in Antartica:
The role of sunlight in ozone depletion is the reason why the Antarctic ozone depletion is greatest during spring. During winter, even though PSCs are at their most abundant, there is no light over the pole to drive the chemical reactions. During the spring, however, the sun comes out, providing energy to drive photochemical reactions, and melt the polar stratospheric clouds, releasing the trapped compounds. Warming temperatures near the end of spring break up the vortex around mid-December. As warm, ozone-rich air flows in from lower latitudes, the PSCs are destroyed, the ozone depletion process shuts down, and the ozone hole closes.
Tuong (21)
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