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Lower Atmosphere

basics

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1. Oxidants & Observation

- oxidation & OH

- night & nitrate

- observation spectroscopy

* Worksheet 1

* Worksheet 2

2. Radiation & greenhouse gases

3. Ozone & fire

4. Gases in the atmosphere

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Lower Atmosphere

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Worksheet 1

Test yourself:

Quiz about the "detergents" of the atmosphere

This is an interactive web-page.

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To answer these questions you should have read the background text "night & nitrate " and "oxidation & OH" very well.

Find the right answers!

1) Which of the four radicals / molecules does not belong to the "detergents"
in the atmosphere?

a) OH
b) CO
c) NO₃
d) O₃

2) In the atmosphere the lifetime of OH radicals is

a) about a second or less
b) on the average between 1 and 10 seconds.
c) between 10 seconds and 1 minute.
d) well above 1 minute.

3) The lifetime of OH radicals is essentially dependent on

a) the sunlight.
b) the place of formation of the radicals: latitude.
c) the place of formation of the radicals: height above sea level.
d) the amount of CO and organic substances in the air.

4)In northern summer between which latitudes can you find on average more than
2 000 000 OH radicals per cm³ air at a height of 1000 meters?

a) 0° - 15° N
b) 0° - 15° S
c) 15° - 40° N
d) 15° - 40° S

5) Which of the following reactions yields OH radicals even without light?

a ) HONO react to and back NO + OH
b) ) O₃+ H₂O react to O₂ + 2 OH
c) HO₂ + NO react to NO₂ + OH

6) Nevertheless there is hardly any OH formed in a starry night. The reason for this is:

a) at night it is too cold, so the activation energy cannot be reached.
b) there is not sufficient light to build the precursors or the OH itself.
c) at night there is a great number of OH-decomposing substances in the air.
d) OH radicals are afraid of darkness.

7) In which way does the "detergent" NO₃ affect small alkenes in the dark?

a) Not at all because this reaction is driven by light.
b) It abstracts a hydrogen atom from one of the carbon atoms of the double bond.
c) It directly adds to the double bond.
d) It directly splits the double bond.

8) Which wavelength is basically not absorbed at all by NO₃ molecules?

a) 589 nm
b) 664 nm
c) 622 nm
d) 649 nm

Attention: This quiz is optimised for internet explorer or new versions of Netscape!
If the little solution window disappears, just reopen it from the task row!

About this page:

Authors: M. Seesing, M. Tausch - Universität Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg / Germany
Scientific reviewing: Dr. Mark Lawrence - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz - 2004-05-05

Last update: 2004-05-13

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