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.
The mass of an electron is 9.1 × 10–31 kg. If its K.E. is 3.0 × 10–25 J, calculate its wavelength.
Calculate the amount of carbon dioxide that could be produced when
(i) 1 mole of carbon is burnt in air.
(ii) 1 mole of carbon is burnt in 16 g of dioxygen.
(iii) 2 moles of carbon are burnt in 16 g of dioxygen.
Calculate the wavelength of an electron moving with a velocity of 2.05 × 107 ms–1.
Balance the following redox reactions by ion – electron method :
(a) MnO4 – (aq) + I – (aq) → MnO2 (s) + I2(s) (in basic medium)
(b) MnO4 – (aq) + SO2 (g) → Mn2+ (aq) + HSO4– (aq) (in acidic solution)
(c) H2O2 (aq) + Fe 2+ (aq) → Fe3+ (aq) + H2O (l) (in acidic solution)
(d) Cr2O7 2– + SO2(g) → Cr3+ (aq) + SO42– (aq) (in acidic solution)
In a process, 701 J of heat is absorbed by a system and 394 J ofwork is done by the system. What is the change in internal energy for the process?
What will be the minimum pressure required to compress 500 dm3 of air at 1 bar to 200 dm3 at 30°C?
In a reaction A + B2 → AB2 Identify the limiting reagent, if any, in the following reaction mixtures.
(i) 300 atoms of A + 200 molecules of B
(ii) 2 mol A + 3 mol B
(iii) 100 atoms of A + 100 molecules of B
(iv) 5 mol A + 2.5 mol B
(v) 2.5 mol A + 5 mol B
At 0°C, the density of a certain oxide of a gas at 2 bar is same as that of dinitrogen at 5 bar. What is the molecular mass of the oxide?
Which one of the following will have largest number of atoms?
(i) 1 g Au (s)
(ii) 1 g Na (s)
(iii) 1 g Li (s)
(iv) 1 g of Cl2(g)
Density of a gas is found to be 5.46 g/dm3 at 27 °C at 2 bar pressure. What will be its density at STP?
Write the significance of a plus and a minus sign shown in representing the orbitals.
Justify that the following reactions are redox reactions:
(a) CuO(s) + H2(g) → Cu(s) + H2O(g)
(b) Fe2O3(s) + 3CO(g) → 2Fe(s) + 3CO2(g)
(c) 4BCl3(g) + 3LiAlH4(s) → 2B2H6(g) + 3LiCl(s) + 3 AlCl3 (s)
(d) 2K(s) + F2(g) → 2K+F– (s)
(e) 4 NH3(g) + 5 O2(g) → 4NO(g) + 6H2O(g)
The ionization constant of dimethylamine is 5.4 x 10-4. Calculate its degree of ionization in its 0.02 M solution. What percentage of dimethylamine is ionized if the solution is also 0.1 M in NaOH?
What would have happened if the greenhouse gases were totally missing in the earth's atmosphere? Discuss.
Define electronegativity. How does it differ from electron gain enthalpy?
What is the wavelength of light emitted when the electron in a hydrogen atom undergoes transition from an energy level with n = 4 to an energy level with n = 2?
Arrange the following metals in the order in which they displace each other from the solution of their salts.
Al, Cu, Fe, Mg and Zn.
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?
Emission transitions in the Paschen series end at orbit n = 3 and start from orbit n and can be represented as v = 3.29 × 1015 (Hz) [1/32 – 1/n2]
Calculate the value of n if the transition is observed at 1285 nm. Find the region of the spectrum.
Explain why BeH2 molecule has a zero dipole moment although the Be–H bonds are polar.