In thiis I/GCSE Chemistry blog post, we will be looking at the characteristics as well as the different features of CO2, let's get to it!
Carbon dioxide - the good and the bad
CO2 is used to make fizzy drinks, as its slights soluble in water and dissolves when under pressure which produces carbonic acid: CO2 + H2O - H2CO3
When you open a bottle the bubbles escaping are CO2. It is also used in fire extinguishers, as its denser than air so it sinks into the flames and stops the oxygen the fire needs to burn.
Carbon dioxide is also a green house gas.
- The temperature of the earth is a balance between the heat from the sun and the heat radiated back out into space.
- Some gases act like a natural insulating later (greenhouse gases)
- They absorb most of the heat that would be radiated out into space, and re radiate it back to earth. Human activity affects the amount of carbon dioxde:
Deforestation: fewer trees means less CO2 is removed vía photosynthesis
Burning fossil fuels: carbon that was locked up in these fuels is being released.
- It is because of these activities the concentration has been increasing
- Increasing levels of CO2 and the gradual heating of the atmosphere is correlated.
Global warming is a type of climate change that causes other types of climate change
- changing rainfall patterns = severe flooding due to polar ice caps melting and sea level rising.
That is all for this post!
References:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fclimatechange.lta.org%2Fget-started%2Flearn%2Fco2-methane-greenhouse-effect%2F&psig=AOvVaw1r9vqXw50rauy9Ope6SUHN&ust=1627959025995000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCICFwo6qkfICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD