Chemistry and Issues in the Environment
Exam Information

Spring 201

Exam 1: Thursday, March 3rd

  • Sample Questions for Exam 1

  • What to Study - some things to concentrate on for Chapters 1-2 and chapter 0. (also see sample questions):

    • Chapter 1: criteria pollutants, sources of these pollutants, problems associated with each of them, health effects of CO, naming compounds, general info about the atmosphere (pressure with altitude, major components, regions), combustion and incomplete combustion, photochemical smog, catalytic converters, Clean Air Act, converting ppm to % and % to ppm, scientific notation, AQI, balancing equations, writing combustion equations.

    • Chapter 2: ozone: formula, why is it important, Chapman cycle, how it protects us from UV radiation and in what range. The relationship between energy, frequency and wavelength, calculations regarding energy/frequency/wavelength, UV ranges. Ozone depletion (CFC role in), CFC properties, CFC code (i.e. the 12 in CFC-12), CFC alternatives, advantages and disadvantages of HCFCs and HFCs, how CFCs deplete ozone, how can one Cl atom destroy 100,000 ozone molecules. Lewis dot structures. Atomic number and mass number - also protons, nuetrons and electrons and how they relate to these. Main factors behind the formation of the ozone hole over Antarctica, Montreal Protocol.

    • Chapter 0: Sustainability, triple bottom line, principles of green chemistry, shifting baselines (We'll cover on Tuesday)

      Also, be sure to review the lewis dot practice sheets.

  • Solutions to homeworks 1-3 are/will be available on Blackboard. (1 and 2 are available now.)

Exam 2: Thursday, April 7th

  • Sample Questions

  • What to Study - some things to concentrate on (also see sample questions):
    • Chapter 3: molar mass, moles to grams, grams to moles, percent composition, molecular shape, greenhouse gases, sources of greenhouse gases, ir radiation, molecular vibrations, CO2 and temperature data, historical/current CO$_2$ values, forcings, feedbacks, IPCC conclusions
    • Chapter 4 (4.1-4.6): energy, power, unit conversions related to energy and power, formation of fossil fuels, composition and advantages and disadvantages of the three primary fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, petroleum), endothermic/exothermic reactions, calculating the heat of combustion from bond energies, coal burning power plants (general structure, calculating theoretical efficiency), methods for removing SO$_2$ from caol.
    • Not on this test: petroleum refining, gasoline, biofuels.

    Exam 3: Thursday, May 12th

    Exam 3 will include parts of chapters 4 and 5 and chapters 6-7, focusing on the topics covered in class. See the sample questions, what to study and some additional help links below.

    • Sample Questions

    • What to Study - some things to concentrate on (also see sample questions):

      • Structural isomers, petroleum, petroleum refining, cracking, catalytic reformation, gasoline additives, octane number, ethanol.

      • Chapter 5: ionic compounds, polyatomic ions (know names/formulas for ammonium, hydroxide, carbonate, sulfate, nitrate), water purification, hard and soft water, water purity (MCL and MCLG), solubility, solution concentration

      • Chapter 6: acid rain, how/where sulfur oxides are produced, sources of nitrogen oxides, the pH scale, definition of acids and bases, calculating pH from concentration, calculating concentration of H+ from pH, coal - sulfur composition and how to lower sulfur dioxide emissions (switching, washing, scrubbing), definition of acid rain, pH of "normal" rain, effects

      • Chapter 7: nuclear fission, isotopes, nuclear reactions, definitions of alpha and beta decay, writing nuclear equations, chain reactions, radioactivity, nuclear power plants - general features/components, U-235 composition (natural), U-235 composition (needed for power), U-235 composition (needed for weapons), sources of background radiation, definition of a half-life.

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