AIR
Air is a mixture of gases. The percentage composition of clean or unpolluted air by
volume is as follows:
Oxygen 21%
Nitrogen 78%
Carbon dioxide 0.04%
Noble gas less than 1%
Water vapour variable
This composition is usually kept constant by process of photosynthesis and
[Link] the components of clean air are useful to us i.e
-oxygen for respiration and combustion.
-nitrogen for protein synthesis in plants .
-carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
Effects of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is caused by cutting down trees and burning
too many [Link] dioxide has the ability to trap clean air a lot of heat therefore if its
amount is increased above clean air a lot of heat is trapped causing the air to be hot i.e
global over warming or green house effect if the air is very hot some plant and animals
dies.
Separation of oxygen and nitrogen from air (fraction distillation of air).Air is a cheap
source of nitrogen and oxygen and fractional distillation is not expensive technique
Steps of separating air
1. Air is pumped into the distillation plant
2. Purification
-filtration :-solid impurities like dust are removed.
-carbon dioxide gas is removed by passing air through Sodium Hydroxide solution or
Potassium hydroxide solution.
i.e NaOH (aq) + CO2 (g) NaHCO3 (aq)
-water vapour is removed from the air by passing it through Calcium oxide.
3. Compression- the purified air is passed through a compressor where it is compressed to
a pressue of 100 – 200 atmospheres.
4. Liquefaction – the compressed air is made to expand rapidly causing it to liquefy.
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5. Fractional distillation – the liquefied air is then sent into a very cold fractionating
tower where it distils off into two major fractions.
- the nitrogen fraction (Bp = -196oC) comes off at the top of the tower where it s cooler
and collected in cylinders whch are sealed under pressure.
- the oxygen (Bp = -183oC) comes off later at he bottom of the tower where it is
warmer and collected in cylinders which are sealed under pressure.
USES OF OXYGEN IN HEALTH AND IN INDUSTRY
In Health
Living organisms take in oxygen from air and fish from water for respiration. But in
hospitals, patients with breathing problems are given pure oxygen from oxygen cylinders.
In Industry
a. In Steel making – oxygen is blown into ‘pig’ iron to react with impurities like
excess carbon and sulphur and convert them to their oxides which are gaseous so
they escape.
b. In welding and cutting metals
Metal welding – is the joining of metals together. This is done by melting the
ends of the metal parts then press them together. The melting of the metal parts is
done by burning them in a very hot flame produced by a mixture of oxygen and
hydrogen called oxy-hydrogen flame.
Cutting metals
Oxygen is mixed with ethyne, C2H2 or acetylene. The mixture produces a very hot
flame called oxy-acetylene flame of 3000oC when burnt. The flame is used to cut
steel.
IMPORTANCE OF OZONE LAYER
Ozone is a triatomic molecule of oxygen, O3. It is formed when oxygen molecules
combine with oxygen atoms. This facilitated by a very strong radiation e.g ultraviolet
radiation.
O2 (g) + O O3 (g)
The reaction takes place all the time up in the atmosphere so a layer of ozone is formed.
The ozone layer absorbs the dangerous ultra violet radiations which cause cancer in
human bodies.
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ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Pollution means the introduction of substances which have harmful effects to the
environment to support life or addition of unwanted substances to the environment.
Effects of atmospheric pollution (air pollution)
1. Causes respiratory diseases.
2. Accelerates corrosion in metals structures and buildings.
3. Blackens paints.
4. Affects soil pH hence crop production.
5. Affects health of animals.
Common pollutants of air
1. Carbon monoxide
2. Oxides of nitrogen (nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide)
3. Sulphur dioxide
4. Lead compounds
1. Carbon monoxide
Most fuels (coal, natural gas, paraffin, oil, petrol) contain a high amount of carbon and if
they are burn in limited supply of oxygen there is incomplete oxidation and carbon
monoxide is formed instead of carbon dioxide.
2CH4 (g) + 3O2 (g) 2CO (g) + 4H2O (g)
Incomplete combustion occurs in homes (if ventilation is poor) and in internal
combustion engine where petrol is fuel and carbon monoxide is one of the components of
the exhaust gases.
Carbon monoxide is a dangerous pollutant because it is odourless, colourless and toxic. It
combines with haemoglobin in the red blood cells and form a stable compound in
preference to oxygen hence preventing transportation of oxygen to the body cells.
2. Oxides of nitrogen
Nitrogen is normally inert but if sufficient energy is supplied it reacts with oxygen to
form oxides of nitrogen. Oxides of nitrogen are formed by an electric discharge (like in
lightning) or at high temperatures in internal combustion engines in cars. The first
compound of nitrogen formed is nitrogen monoxide, NO.
N2 (g) + O2 (g) 2NO (g)
Nitrogen monoxide
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This gas normally reacts with more oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide, NO2.
2NO (g) + O2 (g) 2NO2 (g)
Nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogen dioxide is toxic. It promotes respiratory diseases and dissolves in water to form
nitric acid and nitrous acid.
2NO2 (g) + H2O (l) HNO3 (aq) + HNO2 (aq)
Nitric acid nitrous acid
3. Sulphur dioxide
Most fossil fuels contain sulphur and when they are burn sulphur dioxide is formed.
Sulphur dioxide gas is toxic and causes respiratory diseases and form and acidic solution
(acid rain) which corrodes metals and buildings which are made of limestone (calcium
carbonate).
SO2 (g) + H2O (l) H2SO3 (aq)
Sulphurous acid (a weak form of sulphuric acid)
CaCO3 (s) + H2SO3 (aq) CaSO3 (s) + CO2 (g) + H2O (l)
Calcium sulphite
4. Lead compounds
Tetraethyl lead (iv), Pb(C2H5)4, is added to petrol to prevent knocking (premature
explosion of petrol). !,2-dibromoethane is added to ensure that lead compounds do not
build up in in the engine but are instead discharged as volatile lead bromide in the
exhaust gases. This results in the build up of lead compounds in the atmosphere and on
surfaces particularly where traffic is heavy.
Ions of lead are toxic, they build up in the body and are very slowly excreted. Lead
compounds are known to cause brain damage in young children at levels lower than those
which affect adults.
Methods of controlling atmospheric pollution
1. Use of unleaded petrol
The introduction of unleaded petrol for use by motorists has helped to reduce the amount
of compounds of lead which are discharged I into the air by vehicles using leaded petrol.
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2. Use of catalytic converters
Car exhaust fumes contain pollutant gases such as carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen
monoxide (NO). The following reactions proceed on their own accord but very slowly
under the conditions inside an exhaust system.
i. carbon monoxide + oxygen carbon dioxide
2CO (g) + O2 (g) 2CO2 (g)
ii. nitrogen monoxide + carbon monoxide nitrogen + carbon dioxide
2NO (g) + 2CO (g) N2 (g ) + 2CO2 (g)
Cars are fitted with catalytic converters as part of their exhaust system. The catalyst in the
converter speeds up these reactions considerably. In these reactions, the pollutants are
converted to carbon dioxide and nitrogen which are naturally present in the air. The
catalyst converter can only be used with unleaded petrol.
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Discharge of sulphur dioxide into the air is prevented by fitting some units in power
stations. The sulphur dioxide gas is removed from the waste gases by passing it through
Calcium Hydroxide solution or lime water. Apart from removing the SO2 from the
burning of fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) calcium sulphate is formed. The units help in
controlling ‘acid rain’ in the long run.
[Link] of smokeless fuels
Ordinary coal contains a number of chemicals most of which are not completely when
ordinary coal is used as fuel. To produce Coke and other solid smokeless fuels, ordinary
coal is destructively distilled. Destructive distillation involves heating ordinary coal to
1000oC for a long period of time in the absence of oxygen. This drives off the smoke and
other volatile compounds.
