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Ch.18 - Chemistry of the Environment
All textbooksBrown 14th EditionCh.18 - Chemistry of the EnvironmentProblem 47
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Chapter 18, Problem 47

List the common products formed when an organic material containing the elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen decomposes (a) under aerobic conditions, (b) under anaerobic conditions.

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1
Step 1: Understand the decomposition process. Decomposition is the breakdown of organic material into simpler substances. It can occur under aerobic (with oxygen) or anaerobic (without oxygen) conditions.
Step 2: Identify the elements present in the organic material. The given elements are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), sulfur (S), and nitrogen (N).
Step 3: Determine the common products formed under aerobic conditions. In the presence of oxygen, organic material typically decomposes into carbon dioxide (CO2), water (H2O), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Step 4: Determine the common products formed under anaerobic conditions. Without oxygen, decomposition often results in methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and other reduced compounds.
Step 5: Consider the environmental and biological factors that influence the decomposition process, such as temperature, pH, and microbial activity, which can affect the specific products formed.
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Related Practice
Textbook Question

The Ogallala aquifer described in the Closer Look box in Section 18.3, provides 82% of the drinking water for the people who live in the region, although more than 75% of the water that is pumped from it is for irrigation. Irrigation withdrawals are approximately 18 billion gallons per day. (a) Assuming that 2% of the rainfall that falls on an area of 600,000 km2 recharges the aquifer, what average annual rainfall would be required to replace the water removed for irrigation?

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Textbook Question

The Ogallala aquifer described in the Closer Look box in Section 18.3, provides 82% of the drinking water for the people who live in the region, although more than 75% of the water that is pumped from it is for irrigation. Irrigation withdrawals are approximately 18 billion gallons per day. (b) What process or processes accounts for the presence of arsenic in well water?

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Open Question
Assume that a portable reverse-osmosis apparatus operates on seawater, whose concentrations of constituent ions are listed in Table 18.5, and that the desalinated water output has an effective molarity of about 0.02 M. What minimum pressure must be applied by hand pumping at 297 K to cause reverse osmosis to occur? (Hint: Refer to Section 13.5.)
Textbook Question

The organic anion

is found in most detergents. Assume that the anion under-goes aerobic decomposition in the following manner: C18H29SO3- + 51 O2 → 36 CO2(aq) + 28 H2O (l) + 2 H+(aq) + 2 SO42-(aq) What is the total mass of O2 required to biodegrade 10.0 g of this substance?

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Textbook Question

Magnesium ions are removed in water treatment by the addition of slaked lime, Ca(OH)2. Write a balanced chemical equation to describe what occurs in this process

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Textbook Question

In the lime soda process once used in large scale munici-pal water softening, calcium hydroxide prepared from lime and sodium carbonate are added to precipitate Ca2+ as CaCO3(s) and Mg2+ as Mg(OH)2(s): Ca2+(aq) + CO32-(aq) → CaCO3(s) Mg2+(aq) + 2 OH-(aq) → MgOH2(aq) How many moles of Ca(OH)2 and Na2CO3 should be added to soften (remove the Ca2+ and Mg2+) 1200 L of water in which [Ca2+] = 5.0x10-4 M and [Mg2+] = 7.0x10-4 M?

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