Air and Water

Grade 8 Physical Science

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11.2 Air

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Air
Air is a mixture of gases.

Its composition varies slightly everyday due to humidity

and air pollution.

Air composition for

clean dry air
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Measuring percentage oxygen in air

Copper + Oxygen → Copper (II) Oxide

Example: Initial volume of air was 87 cm3. At the end of

the experiment only 69 cm3 of air was present. Calculate
the percentage oxygen in air.

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Measuring percentage oxygen in air

Iron + Oxygen → Iron (III) Oxide

Example: Initial volume of air was 98.0 cm3 in the

measuring cylinder. The water level had risen by 20.5
cm3. Calculate the percentage oxygen.

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 Uses of gases in air
Use
Oxygen  Respiration – diving, astronauts, hikers, hospitals
 Steel works to convert impure iron into steel
 oxy-acetylene torches for welding

Nitrogen  quick freezing in food factories, hospitals and

research to store tissue samples and cells long term.
 flush out food in packaging to preserve food

Noble  Argon: used in tungsten light bulbs

gases  Neon: advertising signs
 Helium: fill balloons and blimps

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Fractional distillation of air

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 Fractional distillation of air
1. The air is first filtered to remove dust particles.
2. Next water vapour, carbon dioxides and pollutants need to be removed, as they will freeze in
the very low temperatures and clog up the pipes later on.
a. As the air is cooled the water vapour condensed and liquid water is pumped away.
b. Then it is passed over absorbent beads which trap the carbon dioxide and pollutants.
3. The air is then compressed into a small space (heating it up slightly), then it is cooled again.
A jet then the lets the air rapidly into a larger space, this expansion cools the air down
further.
4. This is repeated several times. This cycle of compression and expansion makes the air very
cold. Eventually it reaches -200°C and the air is a liquid. The only gases still not a liquid now
are helium and neon. These two gases are removed and can be separated by their
adsorption on charcoal.
5. The liquid air is pumped into the fractionating column. There it is slowly warmed up, the
gases boil off one by one and are collected in tanks or cylinders. Nitrogen boils off first, it has
the lowest boiling point. Then argon, oxygen, krypton and finally xenon.

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Air pollution
The use of fossil fuels (coal, crude oil and natural gas) for
example in vehicle engines and power stations, causes air
pollution. Natural gas is mainly methane (CH4), whilst coal and
crude oil are mixtures of many compounds, most of which are
hydrocarbons – contain only carbon and hydrogen. However
these fuels also contain other elements, such as sulphur.

Fossil fuels are used because they are a ready-made rich source
of energy that can be used to generate electricity, heat homes,
cook and used for transport. However, one of the drawbacks is
that burning them releases harmful compounds

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 Air pollutants
Air pollutant Formation Harm
Carbon Incomplete combustion in internal It binds with haemoglobin in
monoxide combustion engines in vehicles and blood and prevents it from
factories carrying oxygen
Sulfur Heavy industry and power plants that It dissolves in water in clouds
dioxide burn hydrocarbons with sulfur to form sulfurous acid, which
impurities in them. To a lesser extent then is further oxidised to
they also are released from volcanoes. sulfuric acid which are
responsible for ACID RAIN.
Lead Released during the combustion of mental disability in children
compounds leaded fuels and cancer
Nitrogen Internal combustion engines. It is NOT Causes acidic rain,
oxides the fuel in the engine that creates the photochemical smog and
oxides, instead the high temperatures bronchospasm in asthmatics
generated by the engine that allow the
normally unreactive nitrogen and
oxygen to react in the atmosphere.

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 Methods for reducing air pollution
1. Waste gas (flue gas) released by
modern power stations is treated with
slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) which
removes sulphur dioxide. It does this
by reacting with it to form calcium
sulphate. This is called flue gas
desulphurisation.

2. Lead (Pb) has been banned in petrol in

most countries.
3. The exhausts from new cars are fitted
with catalytic converters – this
converts harmful chemicals into
harmless ones before they leave the
car’s exhaust system.

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 Catalytic Converter
When petrol burns in cars, it produces oxides of nitrogen, carbon
monoxide and there would also be some unburnt hydrocarbons.

A catalyst which speeds up a chemical reaction but does not get used in
the reaction is used in the reaction.

The gases entering the converter are adsorbed onto the surface of catalysts.
Adsorbed means the molecules of gas are held onto (or attach) to the surface of the
catalyst. The catalysts are usually the transition elements platinum, palladium and
rhodium. The catalysts are coated onto a ceramic honeycomb or ceramic beads. This
is to give them a larger surface area onto which the harmful gases can adsorb.

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Catalytic Converter

Catalyst used are platinum,

palladium or rhodium
Nitrogen oxides are reduced (the oxygen is removed).

Carbon monoxides are oxidised (oxygen is added)

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 Rusting

Rusting is a redox process and it occurs faster in salty water since the presence
of sodium chloride increases the electrical conductivity of the water
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Preventing rusting
Iron is the most widely used metal in the world, the rusting destroys things and
this is a real problem.
Steel is an alloy (combination) of iron and carbon. Stainless steel is an alloy of iron
and chromium. The chromium prevents the iron from rusting.

Methods of prevention Description

Barrier Methods

Sacrificial protection/ Coat the iron in a more reactive

Galvanising metal like zinc. Since the zinc is
more reactive it will react with the
oxygen and water instead of the iron.

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 Sacrificial protection
During the process of rusting, the iron reacts
with oxygen and water to form iron (III) oxide.
Many other metals are more reactive with
oxygen than iron.

Magnesium has a stronger drive to lose electrons

and will react with oxygen and water first if next
to a piece of iron.

This is put into practice by attaching a bar of

magnesium to the side of a steel ship of the leg
of an oil rig – the magnesium will corrode
instead of the iron. The magnesium dissolves
away; it has been sacrificed to protect the iron.
Another metal that could be used is zinc, as it
too is more reactive than iron. 16
Chemical test for water
Test 1:
CuSO4(s) + 5H2O(l) CuSO4.5H2O(s)
anhydrous copper(II) sulfate
white blue

Test 2:

CoCl2(s) + 6H2O(l) CoCl2.6H2O(s)

anhydrous cobalt(II) chloride
blue pink

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Water treatment

Kills microbes

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Water
Water in industry

 As a coolant to reduce the temperature of some industrial processes

e.g: in nuclear power plants
 Watering crops
 As a solvent in many chemical production processes
 Hydroelectric power stations to generate electricity
 As a first raw material for many processes e.g: the production of
ethanol from ethene and steam (water)

Water in homes

 Drinking, cooking and washing

 General sanitation.
 In car radiators, for gardens and plants
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Water
Many problems arise in the event of an
inadequate water supply, including:

• Food shortages and famine due to a lack of

crops which cannot grow without a clean
water supply
• Poor sanitation leads to the spread
of bacteria and disease (diarrhea, cholera
and typhoid) as drinking water becomes
infected.
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Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Water vapour, methane (natural gas) and carbon dioxide

Electromagnetic radiation at most wavelengths from the sun passes

through the Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth absorbs some radiation
and thus warms up (essential for life on Earth). But some heat is
radiated from the Earth as infrared radiation. Some of this IR
radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Atmosphere warms up leading to the greenhouse effect and global
warming

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Effects of global warming

Extinction of species

Raising sea levels due to the melting of polar ice caps

Increased risk of skin cancer due to more dangerous UV

rays hitting the surface of the Earth

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Sources of greenhouse gases
Carbon dioxide
 The complete combustion of carbon-containing substances
 Respiration
 The reaction between an acid and a carbonate
 The thermal decomposition of a carbonate

Methane
 digestive processes of animals
 decomposition of vegetation
 bacterial action in swamps and in rice paddy fields

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Cycle of carbon dioxide
CO2 is emitted from respiration and combustion

CO2 is absorbed to make carbohydrates in photosynthesis.

Animals eat these plants and the carbon consumed is released as

CO2 formed during respiration.

These animals and plants eventually die and decomposers feed

on these dead organisms, the carbon is returned to the
atmosphere as CO2

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