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?
Predict which of the following reaction will have appreciable concentration of reactants and products:
a) Cl2 (g) ↔ 2Cl (g) Kc = 5 ×10–39
b) Cl2 (g) + 2NO (g) ↔ 2NOCl (g) Kc = 3.7 × 108
c) Cl2 (g) + 2NO2 (g) ↔ 2NO2Cl (g) Kc = 1.8
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)
Kp = 0.04 atm at 899 K for the equilibrium shown below. What is the equilibrium concentration of C2H6 when it is placed in a flask at 4.0 atm pressure and allowed to come to equilibrium?
C2H6 (g) ↔ C2H4 (g) + H2 (g)
What do you understand by the terms:
(i) hydrogen economy
(ii) hydrogenation
(iii) 'syngas'
(iv) water-gas shift reaction
(v) fuel-cell ?
Use the data given in the following table to calculate the molar mass of naturally occurring argon isotopes:
Isotope |
Isotopic molar mass |
Abundance |
36Ar |
35.96755 gmol–1 |
0.337% |
38Ar |
37.96272 gmol–1 |
0.063% |
40Ar |
39.9624 gmol–1 |
99.600% |
What do you understand by (i) electron-deficient, (ii) electron-precise, and (iii) electron-rich compounds of hydrogen? Provide justification with suitable examples.
Compare the relative stability of the following species and indicate their magnetic properties:
O2,O2+,O2- (superoxide), O22-(peroxide)
What is the minimum volume of water required to dissolve 1g of calcium sulphate at 298 K? (For calcium sulphate, Ksp is 9.1 x 10-6).
(a) How many sub-shells are associated with n = 4?
(b) How many electrons will be present in the sub-shells having ms value of –1/2 for n = 4?
A 0.02 M solution of pyridinium hydrochloride has pH = 3.44. Calculate the ionization constant of pyridine