Nature

In the 1960s, one photograph changed the way world leaders, scientists and the general population thought about the management of the world’s resources. People became concerned about the world’s resources running out. This photograph was our Earth. When world leaders saw this photograph taken from space, the world looked for the first time the world looked small and finite, this is because there is so many people on this planet and there needs to be consideration on what resources we use, and how much we use of them. The term ‘spaceship earth’ is applied here to describe how people felt about the Earth’s resources…they were limited just as a spaceship has limited reserves of air, water and food. Before world leaders were in illusion thinking that the world’s resources were in abundance.

Some resources are non renewable meaning that after they run out there is no way of replacing them, and they only reform after millions of years these resources are called fossil fuels. There are three types of fossil fuels (crude oil, coal and natural gas). These resources are the resources the world should be concerned about and therefore use it sparingly. However the fossil fuels although the most important are not the only non renewable resources, others include food and forests. There are other resources called renewable energy sources which are starting to be developed such as biomass and wind power which takes the earth’s natural processes such as wind and through certain mechanisms covert it into energy which can be used for electricity.

So in answer to the question, the fossil fuels are the most important world resources, however there are other non renewable world resources that have to be carefully used otherwise certain things couldn’t happen, for example imagine what the world would be like without out any wood.

When the first maps of the world were created, many parts of the world were not discovered and therefore because society in that day and age believed in sea creatures and mermaids and other such things, everyone thought two things, firstly that at the end of the world was limitless and secondly that at the end of the worlds there were sea monsters. The first maps of the world were flat. Naturally many incorrect assumptions had been made, the world was not limitless and of course no sea monsters. However as countries began to be discovered the world seemed to become limitless and powerful. People began to have a care free attitude about the resources because they thought they would never run out.

Things started to go downhill when it was discovered that the world was actually round, people started to believe that the world was not limitless, however they still remained in the delusion that the world’s resources were not going to run out any time soon and then therefore continued with their care free attitude. It was not until the 1960’s that people began to get worried about the world’s resources and decide to do something not to waste electricity (which in theory is the product of fossil fuels). This diagram shows how many people began to care about the world.

Background

There are two main official views in regard to the world’s resources running out. These are optimists and pessimists:

Optimists View

Optimists believe that the world’s resources are eventually going to run out, but we can delay that happening, and our future is not doomed. Because the is such talk and media coverage of the world’s resources running out optimists hope that people will alter their lifestyle and take certain measures to delay the world’s resources running out such as turning their computers off at night. Optimists also believe because of advanced technology and science, we can discover more and more alternative fuels, optimists believe that people would use alternative energy sources as it is cheap and therefore more economical. In the future optimists believe that there should be a more equal distribution of the world’s resources. Famous optimists include E.Boserup and J.Simon.

Pessimists View

These people believe that the world’s resources have a finite limit and could eventually run out or be damaged beyond repair. In 1970, 10 countries, known as the Club of Rome, met in order to discuss resource management. Their report, entitled ‘The Limits to Growth’, made predictions about a world where continued industrial and population growth would consume both resources and food supplies. This Club believed that population increase are the reason why world resources are running out because there is more demand for it; they put forward the idea of preventive checks. An example of one of their ideas is the one child policy; they wanted to make the one child and international policy. Famous pessimists include P.Ehrlich.

Factors that are causing the World’s Resources to Decrease

There are a few main factors that are causing the world’s resources to decrease.

Population

Because there is such a growth of population, people are needing more and more energy in their house. This is best displayed in a case study:

In the year 2000 Family A (comprising of a husband and wife) used 20,000kg of energy per year. In 2002 they had their first child. Before Family A didn’t watch that much T.V., however now because their child needs entertainment, the T.V. is turned on for the whole day even if the child is not watching. So in 2003 their yearly consumption increased to 25,000kg.

Now think of this on an international scale and everyday the population is using up more and more world resources. Optimists say that creating new alternative energy sources rather than using the fossil fuels up, is the way forward. Pessimists say that the way forward is to enforce an international one child policy, to over populated areas to balance the population out to one of an optimum population. However I agree with the pessimists but I don’t think there should be an international one child policy, but as a whole unit we need to find a method to achieve optimum population and taking into consideration a specific area’s carrying capacity and therefore move into the direction of sustainable development.

Economic Threats

Because of the current economic downturn people are turning to cheaper ways to provide heat, water and electricity to their houses they are put off by the idea of alternative energy sources such as solar panels because they can’t afford it

Case Study-Diamonds (Sierra Leone)

In this day and age diamonds are such a controversial issue, as most people in the West think diamonds are nice stones that are on their rings, however twenty years ago 40% of all diamonds were somehow in the process of buying/selling at least one illegal transaction was carried out, now due to the Kimberly agreement and other factors including media this figure has decreased to 25%. Diamonds are a world resource that is limited as they will eventually run out.

Sierra Leone is a country located in the north west of Africa. Sierra Leone is one of the largest diamond producer in the world this is because of it’s geographical location, it’s relief and finally because it has so many mines. This is still unfortunately has not lead to the economic development of the country, because rebel troops take over the mines and take all profits. Sometimes diamonds are fought over; these diamonds are known as conflict/blood diamonds.

Sierra Leone’s Conflict Diamonds

In 1991, Sierra Leone a rebel force known as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) launched assaults against the government. A military government was set up, yet this did not deter the RUF attacks. From the beginning, the RUF became allies with Liberia. Their goal was officially to combat crime and corruption but it soon became clear that their main aim was to take control of the diamond mines. The RUF would take prisoners and enslave them to work in the diamond mines. The work conditions were horrible and they were punished for the slightest things. Anyone opposed to the RUF’s methods and practices would be brutally punished. All this was unknown to – or perhaps ignored by – the outside world for many years. UN studies estimate that about $125 million worth of rough diamonds were bought by the diamond industry in Europe alone! The equivalent of this money is tens of thousands of people killed and even more hurt. It was only in 1999 that the UN deployed a mission to Sierra Leone to deal with the problem of Sierra Leone Conflcit Diamonds. Since then, sanctions have been put in place so as to curb such illegal activities. The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme requires a paper trail that certifies the origin of rough diamonds. This aims to cut off the flow of diamonds from countries like Sierra Leone.

The question that remains to be answered today is whether the paper trail that accompanies each diamond shipment is for real. Certificates can be forged. Rough diamonds can be smuggled into a “clean” country. After that, there would be no way of knowing where the gems came from. There is always a willing market somewhere in another country. Traders and buyers don’t always ask questions. They are just happy to buy and line their pockets. In an area inflicted with suffering and poverty, there is always an official who would be willing to accept bribes. All it takes is one person to overlook a shipment of blood diamonds. For all we know, there might still be a steady flow of rough conflict diamonds coming from the mines of Sierra Leone today. We do not know any of these facts and figures exactly as the Government is reluctant to let media or aid into the country. In 2000 the BBC published a moving article and photo about diamonds in Sierra Leone.

Effects of the BBC Article and Photo

The BBC article had a resounding effect on the rest f the world not only did people become more interested in where their diamonds came from, but starting to buy ethical diamonds. Also Kanye West (singer) released a controversial song about diamonds in Sierra Leone which caused more and more people to take an interest of the origins of the diamonds. Also Kanye West refused to wear any type of ‘bling’ which influenced many children.

Artificial/Man made Diamonds

‘Science have finally found a way to make diamonds-Bad News for Sierra Leone’ this was a news headline a few years ago form the BBC. Everyone knew the time would come when science would be able to find a way to make diamonds. There is a plus side and down side for this, firstly the up side. If more people buy synthetic diamonds because they are cheaper, then more people would stop buying diamonds that have been sold but rebel forces. However on the down side the economy of Sierra Leone is plummeting to all time low because more and more people are buying synthetic diamonds because of the recession.

The Kimberly Process

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (Kimberley Process) is an international governmental certification scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds that fund conflict. Launched in January 2003, the scheme requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from blood diamonds.

Case Study-Water (Across the Globe)

Water is a world resource as we rely on it thoroughly and if we didn’t have the sad reality is we would die. Water is not at the moment is shortage, but the way consumption is going in the West in the next one hundred years it could well become shortage. We have a good supply of water in the West, however in LEDCs, water is quite hard to lay hands on. Water is one of the prime essentials for life as we know it. The plain fact is – no water, no life! This becomes all the more worrying when we realise that the worlds supply of drinkable water will soon diminish quite rapidly. In fact a recent report commissioned by the United Nations has emphasised that by the year 2025 at least 66% of the worlds population will be without an adequate water supply.

Incalculable damage.

As a disaster in the making water shortage ranks in the top category. Without water we are finished, and it is thus imperative that we protect the mechanism through which we derive our supply of this life giving fluid. Unfortunately the exact opposite is the case. We are doing incalculable damage to the planets capacity to generate water and this will have far ranging consequences for the not too distant future.

Bleak future

The United Nations has warned that burning of fossil fuels is the prime cause of water shortage. While there may be other reasons such as increased solar activity it is clear that this is a situation over which we can exert a great deal of control. If not then the future will be very bleak indeed! Already the warning signs are there.

Droughts

The last year has seen devastating heatwaves in many parts of the world including the USA where the state of Texas experienced its worst drought on record. Elsewhere in the United States forest fires raged out of control, while other regions of the globe experienced drought conditions that were even more severe. Parts of Iran, Afgahnistan, China and other neighbouring countries experienced their worst droughts on record. These conditions also extended throughout many parts of Africa and it is clear that if

circumstances remain unchanged we are facing a disaster of epic proportions. Moreover it will be one for which there is no easy answer.

Dangers.

The spectre of a world water shortage evokes a truly frightening scenario. In fact the United Nations warns that disputes over water will become the prime source of conflict in the not too distant future. Where these shortages become ever more acute it could forseeably lead to the brink of nuclear conflict. On a lesser scale water, and the price of it, will acquire an importance somewhat like the current value placed on oil. The difference of course is that while oil is not vital for life, water most certainly is!

Power shift.

It seems clear then that in future years countries rich in water will enjoy an importance that perhaps they do not have today. In these circumstances power shifts are inevitable, and this will undoubtedly create its own strife and tension. Nightmare situation.

In the long term the implications do not look encouraging. It is a two edged sword. First the shortage of water, and then the increased stresses this will impose upon an already stressed world of politics. It means that answers need to be found immediately. Answers that will both improve the damage to the environment, and also find new sources of water for future consumption. If not, and the problem is left unresolved there will eventually come the day when we shall find ourselves with a nightmare situation for which there will be no obvious answer.

Conclusion

Overall I feel that we should be optimistic about the resource management in the future however we should guard about being complacent and consequently wasteful. Science is developing quickly and in the future there will be a system of some sort to enable better management of the resources. However again this doesn’t mean we can be wasteful, also we have to make sure that we use certain resources more conservatively to ensure future generations live happily.

On the other hand however if we implant many more alternative energy resources (i.e. wind power instead of coal) then future generations will use them as the norm, rather than the present day generation who have to deal with this cross over stage that we are undergoing now-the Government encouraging other sources of energy, however when we look at these the prices are sky high. To ensure that we manage resources so that it is more sustainable, I propose certain plans:

1) Increase price of electricity and gas, decrease price of alternative energy sources (for example solar panels). This would hopefully on the economic side of things encourage people to use alternative fuel.

2) Carry out a major distribution project of the world resources, ensuring each country has roughly the same amount.

3) Set up a kind of police to make sure diamonds are not being sold or mined illegally, through slavery or through violence. This will ensure the decrease the amount of conflict or blood diamonds.

Finally, I have outlined five strategies for using more sustainability in my daily life:

1) Have a shower, rather than a bath. This will decrease the amount of water I use, reduce the water bills and make it more efficient cleaning process.

2) When shopping with my parents, I should encourage them to look at the label and check where the product comes from, and therefore try to get the product, which has the least food miles.

3) Encourage my parents to buy energy saving bulbs, which last longer, and are more sustainable.

4) When going out turn off my computer rather than leaving it on standby.

5) When making a cup of tea, don’t fill the kettle right to the top, as that wastes, water and energy.

Environmental problems Of all the global environmental problems, desertification is, perhaps, the most threatening for poor rural people. The most accepted definition of desertification states that it is land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. Drylands cover almost 40 percent of the total land surface of the world and are inhabited by approximately 1 billion humans dispersed over more than 100 countries. These people include many of the world’s most vulnerable, marginalized, and politically weak citizens.

In spite of the progress in the understanding of the ecological dimension of this phenomenon, few communities’ wellbeing has improved by the myriad action plans and activities carried out by local, regional, or national organizations, particularly in Africa. A growing body of evidence suggests that a closer look at the social system and the role of its components is critical to understanding this frequent outcome. Drylands are characterized by water scarcity stemming from the conjunction of low water offer (i. e. , precipitation) and high water demand (i. . , water lost to the atmosphere as water vapor from soil via evaporation and from plants through transpiration). Drylands’ precipitation is highly variable through the year and occurs in infrequent, discrete, and largely unpredictable events. In turn, the high evaporative demand of the atmosphere, resulting from high air temperatures, low humidity, and abundant solar radiation, determines that water availability is the dominant controlling factor for biological processes such as plant growth and herbivore productivity.

Thus drylands, though not barren, are ecosystems of low and highly variable productivity capable of limited human settlement and vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance. The proximate causes of desertification are complex and vary from region to region. The European Mediterranean region has a long history of human misuse. War, urbanization, farming, and tourism have, over the years, altered vegetation to such an extent that, at present, virtually no natural vegetation exists there and soil erosion is ubiquitous.

In contrast, Australian drylands have experienced extensive degradation only recently. The introduction of domestic livestock by Europeans in the late 1880s, together with the fences used to concentrate these animals and the suppression of fire, drastically reduced the abundance of perennial grasses, leaving more soil exposed to erosion by water or wind, and triggered shrub encroachment.

In the Sahelian region of Africa, where the concept of desertification was first coined at the beginning of the 20th century, the replacement of the original vegetation by crops, the increase of grazing pressure over the remaining lands, and the collection of wood for fuel resulted in a reduction of the biological or economic productivity of the land. In particular, inappropriate use of heavy machinery, deficient irrigation schemes, and grazing management practices led to soil erosion, salinization, and overgrazing.

Any attempt to assess the impact of desertification on human societies should first acknowledge the difference between the ways water-limited ecosystems shape the functioning of social systems and the effects of desertification itself. Desertification imposes an additional constraint on human well-being by further reducing the limited ecosystem goods (e. g. , food, timber, water) and services (e. g. , soil maintenance, erosion control, carbon sequestration) that drylands provide.

Failure to address this difference would lead to an overestimation of the desertification effects. Additionally, the manifestations of desertification vary widely, depending on the capacity of each country to mitigate its impacts. For example, in Africa it resulted in declining productivity and intensifying food insecurity and widespread famines, whereas in the Mediterranean region desertification seriously threatens water supply, while many regions of northern Europe are experiencing an increase in dust deposition due to north African soil erosion.

In poor countries with a large proportion of their territory in arid and semiarid regions, desertification may trigger a downward spiral where a significant amount of a nation’s human and financial resources are devoted to combating past desertification effects, leaving less available to invest in health, education, industry, and governmental institutions. The ultimate precarious social conditions thus developed generally lead to migrations, exacerbating urban sprawl, and may bring about internal and cross-boundary social, ethnic, and political strife.

Approaches to the desertification problem broadly fall into two competing perspectives: the predominant global environmental management (GEM) discourse and the populist discourse. Whereas the former discourse rests on neoliberal values and Malthusian thinking, the latter has its philosophical roots in the self-reliant advocacy derived from the dependency schools of the 1970s and 1980s. The GEM discourse depicts overpopulation in drylands as the main problem leading to the degradation of the ecosystems on which they depend. As seen in the GEM discourse, the global problem of desertification requires a global solution.

Therefore, GEM supporters promote topdown, interventionist and technocentrist solutions implemented through international institutions and conventions, such as the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. On the contrary, the populist discourse–populist in the sense that it positively portrays the acts of local people–emphasizes that the marginalization of smallholders and pastoralists started during the colonial period and was subsequently deepened by global capitalism, transnational corporations, and northern consumers as the principal causes of land overexploitation and degradation.

International assistance in the form of debt per nature exchanges or technological transferences is regarded as part of the problem itself. Rather, the populist discourse focuses on local or traditional knowledge and community-based action as major sources to overcome environmental problems. However, despite its diametrically opposed explanations of the desertification problem, neither discourse denies an impending crisis caused by desertification.

Why, almost a century after its first detection, does desertification continue to be among the most important environmental problems faced by humankind? Though no single answer exists, there are some arguments to sketch an answer. Undoubtedly the inherent complexity of the desertification phenomenon hampers almost every phase of the sequence leading to the mitigation or control of an environmental problem (i. e. , first detection, general recognition, agreement on regulation).

For instance, a long period elapsed between when French foresters first perceived what they called “the desert advance” and the widespread diffusion of the desertification tragedy that took place in the Sahelian region of Africa after a series of drought years at the beginning of the 1970s; today improvements in our understanding of rangelands functioning and climatic variability allow for faster detection and prevention.

These advances show that vegetation dynamics in drylands may remain seemingly unaffected by an increase in land use pressure until there is a sudden shift to a lower-productivity stable state, with stochastic climate events, such as severe droughts, acting as triggers. Additionally, incomplete or inadequate scientific knowledge, together with the urgent need of integrative solutions for the Sahelian drama, may have driven actors to resort to the first workable options, leading to erroneous regulations at that time.

However, regulations of this kind are not dependent on scientific knowledge alone but also on political pressure mechanisms. Thus an explanation of the failure to achieve sound regulation needs to consider political issues as well. The predominance of the GEM discourse, despite the poor performance of top-down solutions to “unsustainable” resource management, can be explained by its convenience for the interests of three main groups involved in the desertification issue: national governments, international aid donors, and scientists.

National governments benefit not only from foreign financial aid but also from the use of desertification as the basis for severely repressive social control. International donors and institutions find the problem of desertification a reason unto itself for their involvement, whereas scientists may highlight the global nature and severity of the desertification problem as a means to obtain research funds.

On the contrary, the bottom-up approaches promoted by the populist discourse do not fit the terms and conditions of bilateral and multilateral funding and instead stress the principles of participation and decentralization. It is apparent that the progress achieved in our comprehension of desertification has not been matched by an improvement in the regulations aimed at mitigating its consequences. While the accumulation of knowledge generated during the past decades provides evidence against both discourses’ main tenets, they nonetheless remain influential in the political and scientific arenas.

Future contributions to the solution of the desertification problem require the synthesis of recent social and ecological advances into a new synthetic framework that overcomes the constraints upon the solutions imposed by the GEM and populist discourses. Social scientists hope that a new desertification paradigm–that is, the dryland development paradigm, which represents a convergence of insights from both discourses–is emerging. Bibliography: 1) Adger, W. Neil, Tor A. Benjaminsen, Katrina Brown, and Hanne Svarstad. 2001. Advancing a Political Ecology of Global Environmental Discourses. ” Development and Change 32:681-715. 2) Herrmann, Stefanie M. and Charles F. Hutchinson. 2005. “The Changing Contexts of the Desertification Debate. ” Journal of Arid Environments 63:538-55. 3) Reynolds, James F. and D. Mark Stafford-Smith. 2002. Global Desertification: Do Humans Create Deserts? Berlin: Dahlem University Press. 4) Veron, Santiago R. , Jose M. Paruelo, and Martin Oesterheld. 2006. “Assessing Desertification. ” Journal of Arid Environments 66:751-63.

>The results of the lab were very accurate because the r action of the enzymes in hot water were actually very quick and in cold water the enzyme mess seemed to react very slow. Background: So far from what we have learned from 3. 2. 1 about enzymes is that they are substances that produce a living organism that acts as a catalyst to bring a SP specific biochemical reaction. Enzymes are very important because they control the s peed of chemical reactions in the body, but also enzymes are made out of amino acid s and have a lock and key basics.

What this does is that it lock the enzymes and the key substance and the only way it will react is by inducing the correct substrate, which plays a role in determining the final shape of the enzyme and so the enzyme partially flexible. Chemical digestion is a process in which food is being broken down by chemic in our bodies like saliva and enzymes. Besides their being enzymes there are also consumes which support the functions of enzymes, they loosely bind to enzyme mess to help them complete their activities, they are nonprofit, and they are organic molecules.

Our goal in the experiment was to see the different reaction that happen to enzymes while being at different temperatures. For an example when we did the lab we saw that the pressure in warm water was high which lets us know that enzyme nature at a warm temperature, and we placed some ice on the beaker the temperature began to decrease and when we took the pressure, the result SSH owed that the enzymes reacted very slow which seems to give us a very obvious result. When enzymes are in a cold temperature they tend to have less energy and have a I ate reaction.

Hypothesis: My hypothesis on this experiment was that enzymes would move very fast in warm temperature and that in a cold temperature the enzymes would be MO vying slow or like being stiff and that their reaction would decrease from what it would reach at a high temperature. Materials and Methods: 1. Use a 600 ml beaker and fill it up with warm water up 250 ml. 2. Use a thermometer that measures in Celsius, take the temperature of the water, results should be around 19 co 3. SE a hot plate and heat it up to a low temperature and then place the beaker with the thermometer on the hot plate and let it sit their for 5 minutes 4. After 5 minutes have passed remove the beaker from the hot plate take a look at your experiment, the temperature of the water should’ve gone up unlike the group, their results were chic 5. Avian the beaker removed from the hot plate, make sure you get a flask that is 125 ml. 6. Fill the flask with 50 ml of hydrogen peroxide and place it inside the 600 ml beaker. 7. Once you have done that use the fernier to measure the gas pressure 8. You need to connect the USB cable to your computer and the other end of the cable connect it to the labiates box and connect the cable to channel 1 9. After connecting the gas pressure sensor open the program on your computer and make sure you’re starting off with a blank graph 10. Then grab the gas pressure sensor and connect it to labiates box with a lack cable. After doing that grab the valve and the rubber stopper. 11. Once you have everything connected the fernier use a microcomputer that measures 2020041 12. SE a pipette and put it on the microcomputer and absorb 10041 of catalyst 13. Poor the amount of catalyst in the in the flask and quickly and cover the flask with the rubber stopper. 14. Make sure you put pressure on the rubber stopper and click the green button on the computer which begins to graph. 15. You should only do this for 200 seconds and wants you’re done you click on the red icon which means stop and then print out your results. 16. You Should now do a cold water bath and to be able to do this you need ice and fresh new enzymes and hydrogen peroxide.

Make sure you dump out all the liquids you used and get fresh ones. 17. Remember thou should fill the beaker with 250 ml of cold water and pour 50 ml of hydrogen peroxide in the flask. You should have some ice and put some in the beaker and take the temperature of the cold ice water, you should NOT use the hydrogen peroxide yet. 18. After 5 minutes the temperature that the group recorded at first, was ICC Make sure you record your results 20. After taking the temperature of the water. Owe you should take the hydrogen peroxide and get it close to the temperature of the water. 1 . 19. Get the flask that contains the hydrogen peroxide and place it back In the beaker, let it sit there for about 10 minutes. 22. When 10 minutes have passed you should now use the fernier and repeat steps 715 again. Rest Its: The results of this experiment was that the enzymes react very slow in cold w eater and that in hot water the enzymes have more energy and are able to move m such faster. The slope in the graph for hot water was y=0. 0119 and so that was the change e for every second and the slope for cold water was 0. 03 which lets you know that the c hanger in both slopes was decreased from what you can see, Results of the different temperatures in Celsius cold water coco hot water coco cold ice water cold ice water beaker/flask Discussion: We already know that enzymes denature do to the type of temperature there at The results of the graph for hot and cold water show that the pressure thee r is when the enzyme is found at a hot or cold temperature. The important liquids that we used in this experiment was O 2 ( hydrogen peroxide) and the catalyst. The enzymes destroy hydrogen peroxide by breaking it down.

A chemical substance (typically, a corrosive or sour-tasting liquid) that neutralizes alkalis, dissolves some metals, and turns litmus red. Ionic Dissociation: Dissociation in chemistry and biochemistry is a general process in which ionic compounds (complexes, or salts) separate or split into smaller particles, ions, or radicals, usually in a reversible manner. Strength of Acids: The strength of an acid refers to its ability or tendency to lose a proton. There are very few strong acids. A strong acid is one that completely ionizes in water. In contrast a weak acid only partially dissociates.

Examples of strong acids are hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydroiodic acid (HI), hydrobromic acid (HBr), perchloric acid (HClO4), nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4). In water each of these essentially ionizes 100%. The stronger an acid is, the more easily it loses a proton, H+. Two key factors that contribute to the ease of deprotonation are the polarity of the H—A bond and the size of atom A, which determines the strength of the H—A bond. Acid strengths are also often discussed in terms of the stability of the conjugate base. Sulfonic acids, which are organic oxyacids, are a class of strong acids.

A common example is toluenesulfonic acid (tosylic acid). Unlike sulfuric acid itself, sulfonic acids can be solids. Superacids are acids stronger than 100% sulfuric acid. Examples of superacids arefluoroantimonic acid, magic acid and perchloric acid. Superacids can permanently protonate water to give ionic, crystalline hydronium “salts”. Basicity of an Acid: Basicity of an acid refers to the number of replaceable hydrogen atoms in one molecule of the acid. 3 common types of Basicity of an acid Monobasic Definition: 1 molecule produce 1 H+ ion upon dissociation Example: HCl, HNO3 Dissociation Equation: HCl(aq) –> H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)

Dibasic Definition: 1 molecule produce 2 H+ ion upon dissociation Example: H2SO4 Dissociation Equation: Figure it out yourself!! Tribasic Definition: 1 molecule produce 3 H+ ion upon dissociation Example: H3PO4 Dissociation Equation: H3PO4(aq) –> 3H+(aq) + PO4 3-(aq) Alkali: An alkali is a base in an aqueous solution or a chemical compound which is water soluble and neutralizes or effervesces with acids and turns litmus blue; typically, a caustic or corrosive substance of this kind such as lime or soda. Examples of alkalis include NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide), NH3(Ammonia) and KOH (Potassium Hydroxide).

Salt: Any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid with a base, with all or part of the hydrogen of the acid replaced by a metal or other cation. Bases: A base in chemistry is a substance that can accept hydrogen ions (protons) or more generally, donate electron pairs. A soluble base is referred to as an alkali if it contains and releases hydroxide ions (OH? ) quantitatively. The Bronsted-Lowry theory defines bases as proton(hydrogen ion) acceptors, while the more general Lewis theory defines bases as electron pair donors, allowing other Lewis acids than protons to be included.

Bases can be thought of as the chemical opposite of acids. A reaction between an acid and base is called neutralization. Bases and acids are seen as opposites because the effect of an acid is to increase the hydronium ion (H3O+) concentration in water, whereas bases reduce this concentration. Bases and acids are typically found in aqueous solution forms. Aqueous solutions of bases react with aqueous solutions of acids to produce water and salts

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet’s surface or crust, which allows hot magma, volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The lifep of a volcano can be about from a few months to a million years. A very popular way of classifying the volcanoes based on the frequency of their eruptions. Magma is molten rock within the earth’s crust. When magma erupts through the earth’s surface it is called lava. Lava can be thick and slow-moving or thin and fast-moving.

Rocks also come from volcanoes in other forms, including ash (finely powdered rock that looks like dark smoke coming from the volcanoes), cinders (bits of fragmented lava), and pumice (light-weight rock that is full of air bubbles and is formed in explosive volcanic eruptions – this type of rock can float on water). The largest volcano on the earth is Mauna Loa located in Hawaii. This volcano is about 10,000m from the sea floor to the summit. It rises 4000m above sea level. The most active volcano is Mount St. Helens located in Washington state.

Types of Volcanoes

1.  Active volcanoes
2. Dormant volcanoes
3. Extinct volcanoes

Active Volcanoes

Volcanoes which erupt frequently are called active volcanoes. Active volcanoes are those which erupted lava, gases, pumice, cinder etc in the recent historic periods. Presently there are about 500 active volcanoes around the earth of which most of them are located in the pacific ring of fire. E: g Mauna Loa which erupted recently in Hawaii in the year 1984. Augustine volcano which is located in Alaska and erupted in the year 1991. Mount St. Helens in Washington which erupted from 1980-1986 and again in the year 2004.

It is normally difficult to distinguish dormant and extinct volcanoes from each other. Dormant volcanoes are those which erupted in the past and are likely to erupt again after remaining inactive for fairly long periods. These volcanoes are also called sleeping volcanoes which may become active once again. Volcanoes are becoming dormant because the earth’s plates are continuously shifting above volcanic hotspots. Each time the hotspot reaches the surface, it creates a new volcano.

The tectonic plate continues to shift above the hotspot, and eventually the volcano is shut off from the magma chamber beneath. And so the magma finds a new source to the surface, creating a new active volcano. The older volcano stops erupting and becomes dormant. E: g Mount Rainer in Washington, Mount Fujiyama on Honshu, in Japan and Mount Etna in Greece. Mount Fujiyama, Japan.

Extinct Volcanoes

Extinct volcanoes are ones which scientists consider unlikely to erupt again, because the volcano has no lava supply. Extinct volcanoes are those which were active in the remote geological periods.

It’s very hard to differentiate between extinct and dormant volcanoes. For example Mount Vesuvius hadn’t erupted in a very long that the Romans of the 79 A. D. had no warning of its eruption, and no defense against its destruction of the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. E:g Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Warning in Australia, Elburus in Russia. Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

Conical Volcanoes

The most common type of eruption takes at a point on the earth’s surface. Magma and other materials get erupted through a narrow conduit or pipe and get accumulated around the point of eruption. Such accumulation of erupted materials leads to formation of a conical hill. Shield Volcanoes A second type of eruption takes place along a narrow fissure in the crust. Large quantities of magma are erupted and these spread over a large area. The magma gets solidified as thick sheets of lava to form extensive lava plateau e. g. Deccan plateau, Idaho Plateau in the USA. LAVA Lava is the word for magma (melted rock) which comes out of the volcano onto the earth’s surface.

When lava comes out, it cools and forms rocks. On the basis of composition of lava it is divided into two basic types of lava. Lava is exactly the same thing as magma, except magma is found inside the volcano. The form of the cone depends on the type of lava which comes out of that particular volcano. TYPES OF LAVA 1. Acidic lava 2. Basic lava ACIDIC LAVA – Acidic lava comes from the composite cones, it is slow moving and viscous. The acid lava cone has a narrow base, but it is high with conical shape. Acidic lava is rich in Silica but poor is iron and magnesium. It has a low density but, high melting point.

When the volcano erupts with a heavy explosion, this type of lava forms high, steep-sided cones and solidifies in the vent, which in turn creates a plug through which it may erupt again. An example of an acid lava dome is Mount Lassen in California. Mount Lassen, California BASIC LAVA – It is the hottest lava at about 1000 degrees Celsius and is highly fluid. It is normally dark in color like basalt it is rich in iron and magnesium but poor is silica. It is not very explosive and flows quietly at about a speed of 10 – 20 km/hr. When the lava is basic in composition it flows down the slope of land and gets solidified away from the vent.

In such cases, the volcanic cone obtains a broad summit with gentle slopes around it, these are called lava shields because the shape of the volcano looks like a shield lying on the ground.

Craters – Craters are formed when a volcano erupts explosively, a portion of the summit gets blown off to form a depression called a crater, crater lakes are also results of volcanic activities. Crater Lake, Kutmai national Park Caldera– In some volcanoes, the summit of the volcano blows up during a violent explosion resulting in the formation of a large depression called a Caldera. Some calderas are occupied by large lakes. In the state of Oregon, United States, there is a large caldera which has a diameter of 9km. Calderas are normally considered to be large than a crater.

Intrusive Volcanic Forms

Intrusive igneous landforms result from the cooling and crystallization of magmas beneath the surface, followed by erosion of overlying rock so that the intrusive landform is exposed at Earth’s surface. The study of intrusive landforms is important in that rocks contained within them provide important information about internal earth igneous processes which cannot be directly observed.  Batholiths – Typically, are composed of multiple smaller intrusive bodies containing a variety of igneous rock types. They are gigantic intrusions of coarse grained igneous mass formed when a huge reservoir of magma cools and solidifies in an irregular shape. They form the core of old mountains. They are dome-shaped with no definite base. Smaller versions of batholiths are also called stocks or bosses. Stocks – It is an irregular igneous intrusion of magma, usually an offshoot of a batholith.

Sills – These are intrusions of magma/lava of horizontal shape which get solidified between layers of horizontal sedimentary rock. They form terraces or benches on hill-slopes.  Laccoliths – similar to a sill but magma collects as a lens shaped mass that arches the overlying layers upward. Magma viscosity is slightly higher than that for a sill.  Dykes – It is a sheet like intrusive body. They are normally vertical in shape. They are usually narrow but may extend several kilometers in length. Dykes are more resistant, because of their igneous origin.

Looking for a Gas Gas is everywhere. There is something called the atmosphere. That’s a big layer of gas that surrounds the Earth. Gases are random groups of atoms. In solids, atoms and molecules are compact and close together. Liquids have atoms that are spread out a little more. Gases are really spread out and the atoms and molecules are full of energy. They are bouncing around constantly. Gases can fill a container of any size or shape. It doesn’t even matter how big the container is. The molecules still spread out to fill the whole space equally.

That is one of their physical characteristics. Think about a balloon. No matter what shape you make the balloon, it will be evenly filled with gas molecules. The molecules are spread equally throughout the entire balloon. Liquids can only fill the bottom of the container, while gases can fill it entirely. The shape of liquids is really dependent on the force of gravity, while gases are light enough to have a little more freedom to move. Compressing Gases Gases hold huge amounts of energy, and their molecules are spread out as much as possible.

With very little pressure, when compared to liquids and solids, those molecules can be compressed. It happens all of the time. Combinations of pressure and decreasing temperature force gases into tubes that we use every day. You might see compressed air in a spray bottle or feel the carbon dioxide rush out of a can of soda. Those are both examples of gas forced into a smaller space than it would want, and the gas escapes the first chance it gets. The gas molecules move from an area of high pressure to one of low pressure.

What is the kinetic-molecular theory? The kinetic-molecular theory states: 1) All matter is composed of very small particles called atoms, ions, or molecules. 2) All of these small particles are in constant motion, even at the coldest temperature whether vibratory or translatory. 3)The kinetic energy of the particles is a measure of temperature. The greater the number of impacts the greater will be the pressure and vice-versa. 4) These particles collide but the total energy remains the same. Properties

The Link Between P and the pressure of gas results from collisions between the gas particles and the walls of the container. Each time a gas particle hits the wall, it exerts a force on the wall. An increase in the number of gas particles in the container increases the frequency of collisions with the walls and therefore the pressure of the gas. Amontons’ Law (PT)The last postulate of the kinetic molecular theory states that the average kinetic energy of a gas particle depends only on the temperature of the gas.

Thus, the average kinetic energy of the gas particles increases as the gas becomes warmer. Because the mass of these particles is constant, their kinetic energy can only increase if the average velocity of the particles increases. The faster these particles are moving when they hit the wall, the greater the force they exert on the wall. Since the force per collision becomes larger as the temperature increases, the pressure of the gas must increase as well. Boyle’s Law (P = 1/v)Gases can be compressed because most of the volume of a gas is empty space.

If we compress a gas without changing its temperature, the average kinetic energy of the gas particles stays the same. There is no change in the speed with which the particles move, but the container is smaller. Thus, the particles travel from one end of the container to the other in a shorter period of time. This means that they hit the walls more often. Any increase in the frequency of collisions with the walls must lead to an increase in the pressure of the gas. Thus, the pressure of gas becomes larger as the volume of the gas becomes smaller.

Charles’ Law (V  T)The average kinetic energy of the particles in a gas is proportional to the temperature of the gas. Because the mass of these particles is constant, the particles must move faster as the gas becomes warmer. If they move faster, the particles will exert a greater force on the container each time they hit the walls, which leads to an increase in the pressure of the gas. If the walls of the container are flexible, it will expand until the pressure of the gas once more balances the pressure of the atmosphere.

The volume of the gas, therefore, becomes larger as the temperature of the gas increases. Avogadro’s Hypothesis (V  N)As the number of gas particles increases, the frequency of collisions with the walls of the container must increase. This, in turn, leads to an increase in the pressure of the gas. Flexible containers, such as a balloon, will expand until the pressure of the gas inside the balloon once again balances the pressure of the gas outside. Thus, the volume of the gas is proportional to the number of gas particles. Dalton’s Law of Partial Pressures (Pt = P1 + P2 + P3 + … Imagine what would happen if six ball bearings of a different size were added to the molecular dynamics simulator. The total pressure would increase because there would be more collisions with the walls of the container. But the pressure due to the collisions between the original ball bearings and the walls of the container would remain the same. There is so much empty space in the container that each type of ball bearing hits the walls of the container as often in the mixture as it did when there was only one kind of ball bearing on the glass plate.

The total number of collisions with the wall in this mixture is therefore equal to the sum of the collisions that would occur when each size of ball bearing is present by itself. In other words, the total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases. Graham’s law of effusion can be demonstrated with the apparatus in the figure below. A thick-walled filter flask is evacuated with a vacuum pump. A syringe is filled with 25 mL of gas and the time required for the gas to escape through the syringe needle into the evacuated filter flask is measured with a stop watch.

Everday we hear more bad news about our planet. Reports tell us that wildlife and forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. Newscasts give the latest word on how quickly earth is losing its protective shirld and warming up. Newspapers lament the pollution of our air, water, and soil. What can we do in the face of such widespread gloom? In fact, we do not have to feel helpless. We can each learn practical ways to better our environment. For example, saving and recycling newspapers has a number of positive results. First, recycling newspaper saves trees.

The average American consumes about 120 pounds of newsprint a year-enough to use up one tree. That means close to 250 million trees each year are destroyed for paper in this country alone. If we recycled only one-tenth of our newpaper, we would save 25 million trees a year. Second, making new paper from old paper uses up much less energy than making paper from trees. Finally, this process also reduces the air pollution of paper-making by 95 percent. Another earth saving habit is “precycling” waste. This means buying food and other products packaged only in materials that will decay naturally or that can be recycled.

The idea is to prevent unrecyclable materials from even entering the home. For instance, 60 of the 190 pounds of plastic-especially styrofoam-each American uses a year are thrown out as soon as packages are opened. Be kind to your planet by buying eggs, fast food, and other products in cardboard instead of styrofoam cartons. Buy beverages in glass or aluminum containers instead of plastic ones. Buy in bulk to reduce the amount of packaging, you will save money too. Finally, when you can, buy products whose packing shows the “recycled” logo. Materials that have been recycled once can be recycled again.

Wise management of hazardous household wastes is yet another way of taking action for the planet. Hazardous wastes include paint, old car batteries, oven and drain cleaners, mothballs, floor and furniture polish, pesticides, and even toilet bowl cleaners. First of all, we should store hazardous materials properly by keeping them in their original containers, making sure they are clearly labeled, and keeping them in a cool, dry place that is out of the reach of children. Second, we can reduce our use of these products by buying only what we need and by sharing anything that might be left over.

Third, we should take great care in disposing of hazardous wastes. Certain wastes such as old car batteries and motor oil can be refined and reused, and in some cities can be turned in for special burning. However, local authorities have to be contacted because disposal practices vary so much from place to place. These personal actions may not seem important. At the very least, though, they can relieve some of the helplessness we all feel when faced with the threats of global disaster. If carried out on a larger scale by millions of individuals, they could greatly improve our environment and lives.