Chemical

Reactions

Chemical Reactions I have chosen

Yeast fermentation

Formation of Ozone layer in the atmosphere

Acid and base

Catalytic converter in vehicles

These discoveries and chemical reactions have all helped mankind

develop its knowledge and shaped the world to what it is today.

Yeast Fermentation

C6H12O6 (glucose) 2 C2H5OH (ethanol) + 2 CO2 (carbon dioxide)

Yeast are microbes that break down sugars using alcoholic fermentation. They
are anaerobic (do not use oxygen) and break sugar down into CO2 and ethyl
alcohol (ethanol.)

The first solid evidence of the living nature of yeast appeared in 1837 when
three publications named C. Cagniard de la Tour, T. Swann, and F. Kuetzing,
each of them independently concluded as a result of microscopic
investigations that yeast is a living organism that reproduces by budding. It is
perhaps because wine, beer, and bread were each basic foods in Europe that
most of the early studies on fermentation were done on yeasts, with which
they were made.

Yeast Fermentation

Today, beer brewing and wine making are huge, enormously profitable
agricultural industries. These industries developed from ancient and empirical
knowledge from many different cultures around the world. Humankind has
benefited from fermentation products.

The yeast has a negative effect on the bacteria that normally produce
antibiotics to kill the parasite, so may affect the ants' health by allowing the
parasite to spread.

Formation of the Ozone Layer

O2(g) + O(g) O3(g)

When a CFC molecule absorbs ultraviolet radiation, a carbon-chlorine bond breaks.

One of the shared electrons goes with the released chlorine atom, while the other
stays with the remainder of the CFC molecule.

The ozone layer was discovered in 1913 by the French physicists Charles Fabry and
Henri Buisson. Its properties were explored in detail by the British meteorologist
G. M. B. Dobson, who developed a simple spectrophotometer (the Dobsonmeter)
that could be used to measure stratospheric ozone from the ground.

Formation of the Ozone Layer

Although the concentration of the ozone in the ozone layer is very small, it is
vitally important to life because it absorbs biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV)
radiation coming from the sun.

With the chlorine from CFCs destroying the ozone, more ultraviolet light is able to
reach the Earth's surface, with harmful effect to human and plant life. The harmful
radiation is known as UV-B. UV-B radiation can cause skin cancer, cataracts and
increased infections through the skin. This is a massive environmental issue which can
lead to massive consequences.

Ways to Protect the Ozone Layer:

Minimize high altitude aircraft flights (oxygen reduction and water vapor deposition).
Minimize rocket flights (water vapor deposition).
Encourage growth of plants that produce oxygen, discourage deforestation.
Decrease / control releases of high temperature steam / moisture to the atmosphere.
Eliminate production and release of known ozone depleting chemicals (such as CFCs and
HCFCs) where remotely possible.

Acid and Base

The enthalpy of neutralization is the change in enthalpy that occurs when one
equivalent of an acid and one equivalent of a base undergo a neutralization
reaction to form water and a salt. It is a special case of the enthalpy of
reaction. It is defined as the energy released with the formation of 1
molecule of water.

Antoine Lavoisier had a basic idea was that acidity was caused by the
presence of oxygen in the compound. In fact, Lavoisier (in September 1777)
created the word oxygen. From the Latin, it means "acid maker." This idea
turned out to be wrong, but it is historically important since it is the first
systematic attempt to chemically characterize acids and bases.

Acid and Base

Acids and bases function to balance the pH levels in the body. Acids and bases are found in
foods, the environment and in chemicals including pharmaceuticals. The pH levels in the
blood are required to stay neutral, which is at a level of 7. When a dieter eats acidic foods,
the body uses a buffering system to neutralize the positive ions released from the acids.
Conversely, bases are also controlled to keep the body from becoming too alkaline.

Acid rain looks, feels, and tastes just like clean rain. The harm to people from acid rain is
not direct. Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in an acid lake, is no more dangerous than
walking or swimming in clean water. However, the pollutants that cause acid rainsulfur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides do damage human health. These gases interact in the
atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles that can be transported long distances
by winds and inhaled deep into people's lungs. Fine particles can also penetrate indoors. This
can affect the people and the environment from acids and bases.

To solve the acid rain problem, people need to understand how acid rain damages the
environment. They also need to understand what changes could be made to the air pollution
sources that cause the problem. We can, Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes, Use
alternative energy sources and Restore a damaged environment. This can all help reduce the
amount of acid rain.

Catalytic Converter in Vehicles

Reduction of nitrogen oxides into elemental nitrogen and oxygen:

NOxNx+Ox

Oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide:

CO+O2CO2

Oxidation of hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water:

CxH4x+2xO2xCO2+2xH2O

As exhaust gasses pass through the catalyst a chemical reaction occurs which converts carbon
monoxide (CO), volatile organic compounds (VOCs, including hydrocarbons) and nitrogen
oxides (NOx) to less harmful compounds (water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide).

John J. Mooney (born c. 1929) is an American chemical engineer who was the inventor of the
three-way catalytic converter, which has played a dramatic role in reducing pollution from
motor vehicles since their introduction in the mid-1970s.

Catalytic Converter in Vehicles

Increasing the time allowed for a chemical reaction to occur increases its efficiency. In the case
of catalytic converters, this can be achieved by slowing down air flow or increasing the
converters surface area. While slowing the air flow is possible in industrial uses due to venting
controls, it is difficult to achieve in regards to transit as maintaining a certain level of air flow is
vital to increasing combustion efficiency in the engine which in turn reduces the amount of
carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. If the air flow in the system were slowed to augment the
pollutants time in the catalytic converter, engine combustion efficiency would decrease
thereby creating a higher need to use the converter so it would be self-defeating.

Catalytic converters are the most important component in a vehicle for controlling exhaust
emissions. A catalytic converter is the component in a vehicles exhaust system that eliminates
some harmful emissions. Without converter your vehicle pollutes much more and performance
of your vehicle is poor.

They primarily work by converting highly dangerous pollutants into benign substances or less
dangerous pollutants. They are not an ideal technical solution to air pollution as they cannot
fully eliminate contamination, just decrease its threat, but their expanded use may result in
lowering pollution levels. However, due to the energy intense and environmentally damaging
nature of refining the necessary materials and constructing catalytic converters, extensive
environmental life-cycle analyses must be done in order to determine if they have a net
environmental gain and should be encouraged to be spread to new applications.

Bibliography
Yeast Fermentation

http://baking911.com/quick-guide/how-baking-works/yeast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fermentation

http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/31746029/effect-different-sugars-rate-fermentation-yeast

http://www.slideshare.net/jovenpakistani/importance-of-yeast

http://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/yeast-fermentation-and-the-making-of-beer-14372813

Formation of the Ozone Layer

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/solutions-to-prevent-ozone-depletion.html

http://www.answers.com/Q/What_can_we_do_to_protect_the_ozone_layer

http://www.manicore.com/anglais/documentation_a/greenhouse/ozone_layer.html

http://www.bom.gov.au/uv/faq.shtml

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_layer

http://www.theozonehole.com/climate.htm

Bibliography
Acid & Base

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/reducing/

http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects/health.html

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chemical/acidbase.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enthalpy_of_neutralization

http://dwb4.unl.edu/Chem/CHEM869R/CHEM869RLinks/www.nidlink.com/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/43925-importance-acids-bases/

Catalytic Converter in Vehicles

http://www.pacemaker.com.au/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=category&virtuemart_category_id=42

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Kinetics/Case_Studies%3A_Kinetics/Catalytic_Converters

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question66.htm

http://indianhillmediaworks.typepad.com/energy_matters/2009/06/catalytic-converters-an-introduction-to-thescience-and-environmental-concerns.html

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Kinetics/