Atmosphere and Potential of Change – Study Guide

1. Describe the following terms

a. Atmosphere

b. Global Climate Change

c. Greenhouse Effect

d. Greenhouse Gases

e. Ozone

f. Ozone Layer

g. Trace Gases

h. Water Vapor

2. List the heat trapping gases.

3. Describe the term heat trapping gases and their effect on the Earth.

4. Describe the purpose of the ozone layer. Then describe 3 things that could affect the ozone layer.

5. Create a pie chart to represent the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Be sure to list the percent, names, and all trace gases.

6. Use the graph to answer the following questions about carbon dioxide.

7. Use the graph to answer the following questions about emissions.

8. Describe the negative effects of the following human activities. a. When humans burn coal, oil and gas (fossil fuels) to generate electricity or drive our cars

b. Too much use of fertilizers which contain nitrous oxide

c. Refrigeration agents and other industrial processes emits halocarbons (CFCs)

d. People cut too many trees down for lumber to make paper and build houses

9. Why is it important to monitor the atmosphere during and after natural events, such as forest fires and volcanic eruptions?

10. List the gases of the atmosphere with their percent from the most abundant to the least abundant.

11. Describe how the increase in the production of cow’s milk would affect the earth’s atmosphere. Be sure to think about what heat trapping gas cow’s produce.

12. Label the parts of the following chemical equation. Use the following terms. Reactants Subscript Coefficient Yields Products Chemical Symbol Molecule

13. A student observes the following unbalanced chemical reaction

Aluminum (Al) + Oxygen (O2) yields Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3)

Identify which equation she should write for this reaction and explain why.

a. 2Al + 3O3 2Al2O3 c. 4Al + 2O2 3Al2O3

b. Al + O2 Al2O3 d. 4Al + 3O2 2Al2O3

14. Is the following statement true or false? Why/why not?

Chemical reactions rearrange molecules into different atoms.

15. Rust forms when iron metal (Fe) reacts with oxygen (O2) to produce iron oxide (Fe2O3). Suppose

a student found the mass of the iron object, let it rust, and measure the mass again. Explain why

the following are true.

c. The mass of the rusted object will be more than the mass of the iron before it rusted.

d. The mass of the rusted object will be equal to the mass of the iron plus the mass of the

oxygen that reacted.

e. The mass of the rusted iron object will be greater than the mass of the iron object.

16. How many grams of water (H2O) must decompose to produce 2 grams of hydrogen (H2) and 16

grams of oxygen (O2)?

a.16 grams b. 2 grams c. 14 grams d. 18 grams

17. Look at the reaction below. Explain how matter is conserved in this reaction.

18. Water vapor actually has more heat-trapping power than carbon dioxide. It is also more

abundant. But carbon dioxide and water vapor interact in crucial ways: More carbon dioxide means

the atmosphere gets warmer, which then creates more water vapor, which traps heat and warms

the atmosphere even more.

Use the information above to help you explain why there is more water vapor in the atmosphere

compared to carbon dioxide.

19. If this molecule was created (products) during a chemical reaction, what must be true about the

reactants? Think about the Law of Conservation of Mass and chemical reactions.

20. Which pie chart best represents the composition of the atmosphere of Earth? What does the

term “other gases” included?

21. Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Earth’s Atmosphere Over Time

An increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere contributes to an increase in global average

temperature. Describe the contribution that continually increasing the number of automobiles in

use would have on global average temperature and its rate of change.

22. Name the following biogeochemical cycles and then describe the effect of each on the Earth’s

atmosphere.