Tuesday, January 15, 2008


Luckily that I still remember the password.So we can use this blog again.
Hope everyone has good luck in the new year!

all the bestz
xiwen here

Monday, September 10, 2007

Can ya do my quiz?Let's try! :) (:

Take My Quiz on

Can you Ace my quiz?
Let's Find Out!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide

The substances that pollute the air are called air pollutions.They come from both natural sources and from human activities.Volcanoes,forest fires and biological processes(eg. digestion in animals and decay of dead matter) are examples of natural sources of air pollutants.Pollution from human activities is mainly due to the burning of fuels in motor vehicles,factorises and power stations.

Air pollution

The most common source of air pollution is the combustion of fossil fuels. This usually happens in vehicle engines and power stations. The table below shows some of the common air pollutants formed.

Pollutant Typical effect
smoke Deposits soot on buildings and trees, causing them damage. Permeates the air, making it difficult for living creatures to breathe.
carbon monoxide poisonous gas
carbon dioxide greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming
sulfur dioxide contributes to acid rain

Factories can cause air pollution

Indicators of air pollution
Lichens are plants that grow in exposed places such as rocks or tree bark. They need to be very good at absorbing water and nutrients to grow there, and rainwater contains just enough nutrients to keep them alive. Air pollutants dissolved in rainwater, especially sulfur dioxide, can damage lichens, and prevent them from growing. This

makes lichens natural indicators of air pollution. For example:

  • Bushy lichens need really clean air.
  • Leafy lichens can survive a small amount of air pollution.
  • Crusty lichens can survive in more polluted air.

In places where no lichens are growing, it's often a sign that the air is heavily polluted with sulfur dioxide.

Harmful Affects of Sulphur Dioxide
Sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbe d by soils and plants, thus adversely effecting their growths. It is also captured within and below clouds and in certain circumstances may raise the acidity of the resultant rain which is known as acid rain.

In the atmosphere, sulphur dioxide mixes with water vapour producing sulphuric acid.

Exposure of the eyes to liquid sulfur dioxide, can cause severe burns, resulting in the loss of vision. Other health effects include headache, general discomfort and anxiety. Those with impaired heart or lung function and asthmatics are at increased risk. Repeated or prolonged exposure to moderate concentrations may cause inflammation of the respiratory tract , wheezing and lung damage which eventually cause breathing problems.

Sulphur dioxide (SO2) enters the atmosphere as a result of both natural phenomena and anthropogenic activities, such as coal and oil burning, and SO2 is therefore one of the atmospheric species related to air pollution. These emissions may have an impact on air quality and therefore it is useful to monitor these compounds.

For the Air Quality SO2 Service, a set of geographic regions covering industrialised has been defined and each of these regions is monitored. Concentrations of SO2 are derived from UV measurements by satellite based instruments.

Sulphur Dioxide As An Air Pollutant.

Ways of reducing Sulphur Dioxide
Alternative use of cleaner fuels

Cars and vehicles are needed to install a specail fuel tanks that can contain cleaner fuels such as compresses natural gas (CNG) or natural gas vehicles (NGV) which contain no sulp hur. These fuels are used instead of diesel as they are environment-friendly.

Reducing Sulphur Dioxide emissions from power stations

Powered limestone (calcium carbonate) is added to the hot gases produced from the burning of fuels at a coal or oil burning power station. The heat decomposes the limestone to give calcium oxide.

CaCO3 (s) -> CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
The calcium oxide then removes the sulphur dioxide as calcium sulphate.

CaO (s) + So2 (s) -> CaSO3 (s)
95% of the sulphur dioxide is removed by these reactions. The calcium sulphite,CaSO3, is reacted with air to convert it into unreactive calcium sulphate, CaSO4, and then it is dumped.

Sulphur Dioxide


sulphur dioxide

Sulfur dioxide can be prepared by burning sulphur:
S8(s) + O2(g) → SO2(g)

*additional information*

Nitrogen Oxides As An Air Pollutant.

Sources of Nitrogen Oxides

Under high pressure and temperature conditions in an engine, nitrogen and oxygen atoms react to form nitrogen oxides, NOx. Nitrogen oxides, like hydrocarbons, are precursors to the formation of ozone and contribute to acid rain. Catalytic converters in car exhaust systems break down heavier nitrogen gases, forming nitrous oxide (NO) - 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

Traffic is an important source of NITROGEN OXIDES.

Harmful effects of Nitrogen Oxides

Nitric oxide does not significantly affect human health. On the other hand,elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide cause damage to the mechanisms that protect the human respiratory tract and can increase a person's susceptibility to, and the severity of, respiratory infections and asthma. Long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause chronic lung disease. It may also affect sensory perception, for example, by reducing a person's ability to smell an odour.

NOx emissions contribute to the formation of fine particles and ozone smog that cost society billion of dollars annually from illnesses and deaths.

NOx emissions also contribute to haze air pollution in certain areas and a suite of year-round environmental problems,from acid rain in mountain regions, leading to oxygen depletion that degrades water quality and harms fish.

Way of reducing Nitrogen Oxides

The way of reducing NOx is through fitting cataylytic converters to cars. In the converters, nitrogen oxides(NO) react with cabon monoide(CO) as they pass through a catalyst then the air enters and oxidises unburnt hydrocarbons(HC) and carbon monoxide(CO) to form carbon dioxide(CO2) and water (H2O)

The main air pollutants are nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, which we call both of them NOx

nitrogen monoxide
At high temperatures, the nitrogen and oxygen in the air combine to form nitrogen monoxide, a colourless gas. N2(g) + O2(g) -> 2NO(g)

nitrogen dioxide

The nitrogen monoxide combines with more oxygen to become nitrogen dioxide, a brown gas.

2NO(g) + O2(g) -> 2NO2(g)

These oxides are produced during combustion, and are of interest as air pollution. If nitric oxide (NO) is in the presence of excess oxygen (O2) then it will be converted to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) depending on the concentration of air as shown below:




and some sources are from koravee :)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

About 'imranx'

Ｗelcome to'imranx'.

Mr Imran is one of my favourite teachers in our school.

HE's humorous,good-looking(it's true,i'm not a apple-polisher),strict sometimes but kind instead most of the time. :)

This blog is created for letting me know better about chemistry I guess.

And hope everyone enjoys it.And I can't wait for my second post.

xiwen was here to leave the 1st post.

ps:I did awful for this common test of chemistry,so it's the time for me to try hard now! =0=