Elements of Environmental Chemistry

Elements of Environmental Chemistry

Volumn , Issue , 2006, Pages 1-204

  Hites, Ronald A ^a  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 84891032659     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.1002/9780470140451     Document Type: Book

References (32)

1. 0 = 4.7.
2. I know we should be dealing with pressure in units of Pascals (Pa), but I think it is convenient for environmental science purposes to retain the old unit of atmospheres-we instinctively know what that represents. For the purists among you, 1 atm = 101; 325 Pa (or for government work, 1 atm = 105 Pa.
3. J. Harte, Consider a Spherical Cow, University Science Books, Sausalito, CA, 1988, 283 pp.
4. Please do not be frightened by calculus. In this equation, d refers to difference, and it can be read as the difference in the amount of a pollutant divided by the difference per unit time. In other words, this is the flow rate at which the amount of the pollutant increases or decreases. A common derivative that we are all used to dealing with is dx/dt, which is the change in distance per unit time. This is called speed, and every car in the world is equipped with a gauge to measure this derivative. In fact, many political units make money by collecting fines if your car exceeds specified values of this derivative and if the policeman catches you. The posted limit of this derivative on the Eisenhower Interstate System is usually 65 or 70 miles/h.
5. A logarithm is the power to which some "base number" needs to be raised to get the number you are after in the first place. The "base number" is usually 10 or e (2.7182. . .). Let us first focus on
6. as a base. Let us assume that the number you have is 100. We know that 102 = 100; thus, the logarithm of 100 is 2. We usually write this as log(100) = 2. In the same way, the logarithm of 1 million is 6. Clearly, the logarithm of 2 is between 0 (100 = 1) and 1 (101 = 10), and it turns out that the logarithm of 2 is 0.301. Logarithms can also be negative. For example, log(0.01) = -2 and log(0.005) = -2.30. If the base is e, the abbreviation is ln (called the natural logarithm) not log (called the common logarithm). The numbers are, of course, different, but the same idea applies. For example, it turns out that e2.303 = 10; thus, the natural logarithm of 10 is 2.303 or ln(10) = 2.303. The logarithm of zero is impossible because you cannot raise any number to any power and get 0. Remember the inverse function of a logarithm is exponentiation. Your calculator will supply logarithms and exponents with either base number.
7. By the way, ds in differential equations do not cancel because they are not variables, but rather they are operators, meaning in this case that we are to take the difference before we take the ratio.
8. J.H. Seinfeld and S.N. Pandis, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1998, 1326 pp.
9. B. Finlayson-Pitts and J.N. Pitts, Atmospheric Chemistry: Fundamentals and Experimental Techniques, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1986, 1098 pp.
10. -8 cm.
11. With apologies to Paul Simon's song "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover."
12. As George Carlin says, "This is a device to frigerate again."
13. M.J. Molina and F.S. Rowland, Stratospheric sink for chlorofluorocarbons. Chlorine atom-catalyzed destruction of ozone. Nature, 249, 810-812 (1974).
14. Second order means that two atoms or molecules have to collide so that the reaction will happen. Obviously, if the concentration of one or both of the reactants is low, the reaction will be slow. Thus, the rate of the reaction is proportional to the concentration of both reactants times each other, and the proportionality constant is the rate constant k.
15. Incidentally, Professor Hites was forced to have lunch in Arrhenius' house on the campus of Stockholm University as penitence for thinking that Arrhenius was Danish-he was Swedish.
16. Although Boltzmann was from southern Germany, there is no truth to the rumor that his given name was Billy-Bob (although the alliteration is pleasing). His first name was actually Ludwig.
17. Or to quote Carl Sagan, "This is a lot-even for a chemist."
18. R.B. Stothers, The great Tambora eruption in 1815 and its aftermath. Science, 224, 1191-1198 (1984).
19. R.A. Kerr, No doubt about it, the world is warming. Science, 312, 825 (2006).
20. J.D. Mahlman, Uncertainties in projections of human-caused climate change. Science, 278, 1416-1417 (1997).
21. Thanks to Professor Flynn Picardal, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, for these data.
22. This question was designed in honor of Vice President Dick Cheney.
23. Do not confuse the lower case k (a rate constant) with the upper case K (an equilibrium constant). Given that a reaction has had sufficient time to come to completion or to equilibrium, nothing is changing with time and the concepts of kinetics do not apply.
24. Unlike the equilibria constants for CO2 and SO2, which are abbreviated as Ka, where "a" stands for acid, this equilibrium constant is for a base and is abbreviated as Kb, where "b" stands for base, but it is basically the same concept.
25. This problem, but not the solution, was from Consider a Spherical Cow by J. Harte; used with permission.
26. R.P. Schwarzenbach, P.M. Gschwend and D.M. Imboden, Environmental Organic Chemistry, 2nd edition, Wiley-Interscience, Hoboken, NJ, 1313 pp.
27. From R.P. Schwarzenbach et al., p. 94; used with permission.
28. R. Carson, Silent Spring, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1962.
29. A note for the Latin scholars among you: In these words, what does the "-icide" suffix mean? What would fratricide mean?
30. Some of these compounds have both generic and trade names. The trade names are the specific property of a company. In these cases, the generic name is given followed by the trade name in parentheses.
31. LD-50 is the dose that it would take to kill 50% of a population.
32. In some cases the 100 mL unit here is abbreviated as "dL" for deciliter. Physicians are particularly fond of this notation, so watch out for it.