What are the major causes of water pollution? Explain.
Water pollution arises as a result of several human activities, which leads to the presence of several undesirable substances in water. Major water pollutants with their sources have been tabulated as follows:
Pollutant | Source |
Radioactive substances | Mining of uranium-containing minerals |
Heat | Water used for cooling in industries |
Plant nutrients
|
Chemical fertilizers |
Toxic heavy metals | Chemical factories and industries |
Sediments | Strip mining and soil erosion |
Pesticides | Chemicals used for killing fungi, weed, insects |
Micro-organisms |
Domestic sewage |
Organic wastes | Domestic sewage, decaying animals and plants, animal excreta and waste, discharge from food processing industries |
Roles played by major pollutants are:
1. Pathogens: These water pollutants include bacteria and other organisms. They enter water from animal excreta and domestic sewage. Bacteria present in human excreta (for example, Escherichia coli and Streptococcus faecalis) cause gastrointestinal diseases.
2. Organic wastes: These are biodegradable wastes that pollute water as a result of run off. The presence of excess organic wastes in water decreases the amount of oxygen held by water. This decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen inhibits aquatic life.
3. Chemical pollutants: These are water soluble chemicals like heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, nickel, etc. The presence of these chemicals (above the tolerance limit) can damage the kidneys, central nervous system, and liver.
Carbon monoxide gas is more dangerous than carbon dioxide gas. Why?
What are the harmful effects of photochemical smog and how can they be controlled?
Write down the reactions involved during the formation of photochemical smog.
Explain tropospheric pollution in 100 words.
What are the reactions involved for ozone layer depletion in the stratosphere?
What would have happened if the greenhouse gases were totally missing in the earth's atmosphere? Discuss.
Statues and monuments in India are affected by acid rain. How?
What do you mean by green chemistry? How will it help decrease environmental pollution?
What is smog? How is classical smog different from photochemical smog?
What do you mean by ozone hole? What are its consequences?
How do you account for the formation of ethane during chlorination of methane?
What are hybridisation states of each carbon atom in the following compounds ?
(i) CH2=C=O,
(ii) CH3CH=CH2,
(iii) (CH3)2CO,
(iv) CH2=CHCN,
(v) C6H6
What will be the minimum pressure required to compress 500 dm3 of air at 1 bar to 200 dm3 at 30°C?
What are the common physical and chemical features of alkali metals?
Calculate the molecular mass of the following:
(i) H2O
(ii) CO2
(iii) CH4
Assign oxidation number to the underlined elements in each of the following species:
(a) NaH2PO4
(b) NaHSO4
(c) H4P2O7
(d) K2MnO4
(e) CaO2
(f) NaBH4
(g) H2S2O7
(h) KAl(SO4)2.12 H2O
What is the basic theme of organisation in the periodic table?
Explain the formation of a chemical bond.
Choose the correct answer. A thermodynamic state function is a quantity
(i) used to determine heat changes
(ii) whose value is independent of path
(iii) used to determine pressure volume work
(iv) whose value depends on temperature only.
A liquid is in equilibrium with its vapour in a sealed container at a fixed temperature. The volume of the container is suddenly increased.
a) What is the initial effect of the change on vapour pressure?
b) How do rates of evaporation and condensation change initially?
c) What happens when equilibrium is restored finally and what will be the final vapour pressure?
Calculate the standard enthalpy of formation of CH3OH(l) from the following data:
CH3OH (l) + 3/2 O2(g) → CO2(g) + 2H2O(l) ; ΔrH0 = –726 kJ mol–1
C(g) + O2(g) → CO2(g) ; ΔcH0 = –393 kJ mol–1
H2(g) + 1/2 O2(g) → H2O(l) ; ΔfH0 = –286 kJ mol–1.
A welding fuel gas contains carbon and hydrogen only. Burning a small sample of it in oxygen gives 3.38 g carbon dioxide, 0.690 g of water and no other products. A volume of 10.0 L (measured at STP) of this welding gas is found to weigh 11.6 g. Calculate
(i) empirical formula,
(ii) molar mass of the gas, and
(iii) molecular formula.
What effect does branching of an alkane chain has on its boiling point?
The unpaired electrons in Al and Si are present in 3p orbital. Which electrons will experience more effective nuclear charge from the nucleus?
In terms of period and group where would you locate the element with Z =114?
Describe the hybridisation in case of PCl5. Why are the axial bonds longer as compared to equatorial bonds?
The enthalpy of combustion of methane, graphite and dihydrogen at 298 K are, –890.3 kJ mol–1 , –393.5 kJ mol–1, and –285.8 kJ mol–1 respectively. Enthalpy of formation of CH4(g) will be
(i) –74.8 kJ mol–1
(ii) –52.27 kJ mol–1
(iii) +74.8 kJ mol–1
(iv) +52.26 kJ mol–1
Define the bond length.
The ionization constant of HF, HCOOH and HCN at 298K are 6.8 × 10–4, 1.8 × 10–4 and 4.8 × 10–9 respectively.
Calculate the ionization constants of the corresponding conjugate base.
Calculate the total pressure in a mixture of 8 g of dioxygen and 4 g of dihydrogen confined in a vessel of 1 dm3 at 27°C. R = 0.083 bar dm3 K–1 mol–1.