The colour

Ozone´s colour is blue, but the intensity varies throughout its states of matter. When it is gaseous the blue is light, in a liquid form it turns a darker blue, but in a solid shape Ozone has a deep blue and purple colour. Nevertheless, this is not why the sky appears blue to us. The sky is the colour blue, because the blue light has a shorter wavelength than the other colours of the rainbow, which are often called „the rainbow colours“. This light is then absorbed by gas molecules and after that, it is scattered in different directions of the atmosphere-> the sky has a blue colour.

Ozone in the Stratosphere

In the stratosphere (which we call the area between 16 and 48 km above the Earth´s surface) Ozone is the most concentrated  with around 90% of its amount. The Ozone Layer is found here as well. Ozone´s and Oxygen´s purpose is to absorb the UV radiation that is coming from the sun. However, Ozone absorbs the most and the most energetic types of UV radiation, called UV-B and -C, which both have short waves and UV-C being the one with the smallest wavelengths and most violent. That is why it is very important that the Ozone protects us from the sun´s radiation, because otherwise there would be allot of health issues e.g. eyes tissue damage or skin cancer. In addition, many scientists believe that life in the form it exists today would have been not able to form like this.

How Ozone can be destroyed

Chlorine atoms inform of very stable chloroflurocarbons (CFC´s), are the main particles that destroy ozone. Usually, CFC´s are found in the Troposphere, but when they rise into the Stratosphere, they get broken down by the sun´s UV radiation and the chlorine atoms are separated. The chlorine atom then attacks the Ozone molecule and destroys it. Furthermore, one single chlorine atom can destroy 100,000 Ozone molecules, which is why they are extremely aggressive against the Ozone. Nevertheless, the amount of the CFC´s has been increased four times its natural state. This is due to the excessive use of CFC´s in hair spray cans, refrigerators, air conditioners, fast food packaging or firefighting equipment in the 1980´s. Governments around the world have banned CFC´s in the late 1980´s but the recovery will take numerous decades, because some nations do not sustain their agreement.

The structure of Ozone

With this interactive demonstration, we are going to show you what the structure actually looks like. Please listen to the instructions and ask if you are not able to follow, we will then repeat the easy steps.

(This is the model that we wanted to construct together with the audience.)

Firstly, we need our ingredients for the structure of ozone or O3:

• three toothpicks-> show the covalent bonds (is a bond between at least two atoms that share electrons, to become a noble gas) between the Oxygen atoms
• three marshmallows-> each represents an Oxygen atom

 

 

 

Then we stick the first two toothpicks at roughly ninety degrees and only one centimetre apart into one of the marshmallows.

 

 

Next, we need to connect the marshmallow that has already the toothpicks inside with another “Oxygen atom”. Just stick the toothpicks with their sharp end into the other marshmallow. This should look like the photograph on the left.

 

 

 

 

Now there should only be one extra atom as well as one bond left. Stick the spare toothpick into the marshmallow and wait for further instructions.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, the two sets need to be combined. You should put the tooth stick with the one marshmallow inside one of the other atom at around 116/110 degrees (the exact number is 116.8 degrees). Now that it looks like the picture to the left, one has crafted their own ozone atom out of three marshmallows as atoms and equally as many toothpicks which are acting as our covalent bonds.

 

 

We have now build the structure and I will talk about the special feature of Ozone´s structure. The anomaly is that each Oxygen atom usually makes always two bonds, here however only one forms two covalent bonds. This is due to Ozone wanting to remain negative to send this signal throughout the molecule.

Closing words

In conclusion, we hope you learned allot of new interesting materials that helped you understand the molecule Ozone in general and the destruction of Ozone. Moreover, we addressed the issue of the hole in the Ozone layer and the importance of this problem. We hope that the diagram of Tropospheric Ozone supported our idea of Ozone in the Atmosphere.

9BL1// Iken Lohse

Ozone in the Troposphere                              Ozone is a reactive gas which acts as a greenhouse gas in the troposphere. The greenhouse effect does make living on earth comfortable but by burning fuels human reproduce more carbon dioxide than the greenhouse gases can trap. Due to the fact of burning these fossil fuels the earth warms up rapidly. The process consists out of gases trapping heat out of the sun trapping them in the atmosphere and releasing the heat causing the planet to heat up. The tropospheric ozone if formed by the exchanges of the sunlight, ultraviolet lights with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. The level of ozone is particularly higher in the summer and reaches its peak in the afternoon. Additionally, during inversions (warm air above cool air) pollutants tend to get stuck also resulting in a high concentration of ozone. But if the earth continues to trap more heat there will be serious consequences for example food shortages since the increasing climate will affect our agricultural. Specific animal species also will have to adapt to the weather or move around the globe. Greenhouse affects the climatic patterns which means that numerous cities could be flooded because from 1901 to 2010 the sea level already has risen by 19 cm.
How ozone affects the earth’s surface
Near the ground ozone contributes life threatening pollutants as well as life threatening conditions for humans and animals across the globe. Only a small amount of ozone occurs naturally at ground level released by some plants and the soil. Most of the threatening ozone that is found near the ground is produced by factories, power plants or vehicle. The ozone almost doubled on the earth’s surface produced by the industry. The amount of ozone reached a high of pollution damaging our environment. People will develop respiratory problems or when breathed in it can damage the lungs as well as many cells in our body. It will impact our athletic performance and contributes asthma, eye irritation, chest pain or heart diseases. Furthermore, the ozone could weaken the colour of certain paints or textile dyes along with the flexibility of rubbers and elastic materials.
Medical Report
The weakening of the stratospheric ozone layer caused the UV radiation to increase at the surface of the earth. This caused by a chemical called chlorofluorocarbons. This could have been harmful as well as beneficial effects on humans. The effects are mainly spread over the skin and eyes. While there are known risk factors for some type of diseases for example cataract (Grauer Star – loss of the eyesight ) there might develop some new ones. For the skin the most common side effect is skin cancer, the number of tumours has risen over the past few decades especially for people with a light skin colour the risk has risen drastically. High contribution to UV radiation also result in weakening vaccinations that control infectious diseases. Another side effect may be a common type of sun allergy creating sun triggered rash. A major health benefit it the rising production of vitamin D which is very important for our metabolism and protection against a wide variety of diseases. Moreover, there is some evidence that a high production of vitamin D could prevent certain types of internal cancers but that is not confirmed. But Vitamin D could ensure some protection against infectious and coronary diseases. The most common way to protect yourself from the harmful effects is to wear sun protection and shades that protect your eye from the radiation. However, scientists and doctors are developing a cream to repair damages made by the UV radiation and substances that lowers the risks of the affects.
Medical Report 2
Ozone can cause difficulties while breathing and a sore and scratchy throat. Other effects might be lung infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Even if the symptoms are vanishing the lung continuous to get damage. The side effects of ozone can lead to school absences, medication use or hospital charges. There also may occur long time effects for example asthma, atypical lung developments especially for small children or other abnormal developments. However the ozone pollution is increasing there are nearly no ways to protect yourself since the smog is affecting humanity itself. But there a medical treatments for the after effects of ozone, patients could get a medical treatment from specialists.

What is an aerosol?

An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid liquid particles in gas (smoke, fog and mist are aerosols). Aero  means air and sol solution, much means that it’s besically an air solution. Aerosols may be difned as disperse phase system, in which  very fine solid particules or liquid droplets get dispersed in the gas which acts as an continues phase.

Exsamples:

• • hair spray
  • aerosol medicine against asthma
  • shaving cream
  • dust particles
  • fog
  • dust
  • forest exudates
  • haze
  • paticulate air pollutants
  • smoke form fire

How the aerosol works:

In a typical aerosol dispencer the propellant exsists in the can a pressurized liquid face. The propellant, when the bottom is pressed down, forces the liquid concentrate out of the container through the dip tube and the valve which opens when the button is pressed. On this picture you can see the can of an aerosol from the inside.

Aerosols are being inhaled by you, they are tens of millions of solid particles and liquid droplets that are in the air they can be found in the air over oceans, deserts, mountains, forests, ice, and every ecosystem in between. They drift in Earth’s atmosphere from the stratosphere to the surface and range in size from a few nanometers, nanometers are less than the width of the smallest viruses. Despite their small size, they have major impacts on our climate and our health. Key aerosol groups include sulfates, organic carbon, black carbon, nitrates, mineral dust, and sea salt. Aerosols do tend to clump together to form complex mixtures. for exsample particles of black carbon from smoke then mix with nitrates and sulfates, or to coat the surfaces of dust, creating hybrid particles. Although there are many aersols that are produced in cans, there are also natural aerosols such as Vulcanic ash and also forest fires send partially burned organic carbon aloft. Sea salt and dust are two of the most abundant aerosols, as sandstorms whip small pieces of mineral dust from deserts into the atmosphere and wind-driven spray from ocean waves flings sea salt aloft. Both tend to be larger particles than their human-made counterparts. Fossil fuel combustion produces large amounts of sulfur dioxide, which reacts with water vapor and other gases in the atmosphere to create sulfate aerosols. Biomass burning, a common method of clearing land and consuming farm waste, yields smoke that’s comprised mainly of organic carbon and black carbon, which as a major impact on the enviornment which is also an contributing factor to climaate change.

On the picture you can see the different kinds and varites of aersols (from left to right) volcanic ash, pollen, sea salt, and soot.

Aerosols from space

From outer space you can see latitudes, for example, create a strong band of airborne salt north of Antarctica. A thinner and more evenly dispersed veil of aerosols which covers most of the earths surface. Over land, massive plumes of dust blow above deserts. The Sun provides the energy that drives Earth’s climate, but not all of the energy that reaches the top of the atmosphere finds its way to the surface. That’s because aerosols reflect about a quarter of the Sun’s energy back to space.

History about aerosol products

Aerosol products were invented for the first time in Norway in 1929, but thier marketing started just before 1940. During the Second World War they were used by the soliders for protection against insects. Today the aerosol products have more then two hundered applications.

 

Luisa Kupler, 9bl1

The Water Glass Trick 

For this experiment you will need a cup or a water bottle filled up with water and an index card which needs to be big enough to cover the mouth of the bottle. Once the bottle/cup is filled up lay your index card on the opening and hold your hand on the index card, then turn it around and the water will not spill.

The water is does not spill because the atmospheric pressure is all colliding with the bottom of the note card and that is what causes the pressure to hold the card up. And the reason why the water does not push the cup down is because although filling up the cup with water there will still be a small pocket of air. Actually, there isn’t much of an opportunity for air to get into that space, so what we’ve created is a small pocket of low pressure. There are more air molecules pushing up against the bottom of the note card, creating a higher-pressure area compared with the lower pressure area inside the air pocket in the glass. The force from the atmospheric pressure holds the card up and the low-pressure zone in the glass prevents the water’s weight from pushing the card down.

Ticy and Luana

The ozone layer is located between the Stratosphere and troposphere between 15 to 35 km in altitude. It absorbs most of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation which is potentially damaging to life on earth. It contains relatively high concentrations of ozone to protects everything living organism on our planet. Without the ozone layer, it would be very difficult for anything to survive on the earth. Plants cannot live and grow in heavy ultraviolet radiation, nor can the plankton that serve as food for most underwater animals.

The breaking of chemical bonds within the oxygen molecules by high energy solar photons is a process called photodissociation it is also the process of ozone in the stratosphere. Photodissociation concludes that single oxygen atoms are released and then connect with oxygen molecules this is how ozone is produced.

But now human activities are slowly starting to destroy the ozone layer. There is a term for this process called ozone depletion. And the ozone depletion is caused due to manufactured chemicals being transported into the stratosphere. Once these chemicals are in the stratosphere, they release halogen atoms through the process of photodissociation.

Ticy und Luana

Atmospheric pressure is the pressure of the layers that surround all planets atmospheres in the universe. The formula to measure the atmospheric pressure is force per unit area exerted by an atmospheric column. With help of the mercury barometer the height of a column of mercury is measured. This is then balanced out with the weight of an atmosphere’s column.

The atmospheric pressure can be changes due to the atmospheric tides. They are similar to the ocean tides. Meaning they can also be generated by regular day and night cycle in the Sun’s heating of the atmosphere, they have a gravitational field pull of the Moon, Non-linear interactions between tides and planetary waves and have a Large-scale latent heat release due to deep convection in the tropics.

On the Earth the Standard pressure is 101,325 Pascals. But there are five different layers in the Earth`s atmosphere the Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, Thermosphere and the Exosphere, the higher the altitude is the more the pressure decreases.

The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth`s atmosphere it means that there is highest amount of pressure in this layer. With the height up to 20 kilometers the pressure builds up from 100000 to 20000 pascals. A human body can withstand at the lowest pressure of 6300 Pascals. The stratosphere is the layer over the Troposphere in an average height of 50 kilometers. Leaving the pressure level at 0.1 kilo-pascals. The Mesosphere is the third Layer and has an altitude of 50 to 85 kilometers and has a pressure of 0.0005 kilo-pascals. Above the Mesosphere is the Thermosphere in this Layer of the Earth`s atmosphere the are less than 0.1 hecto-pascals. The exosphere is the upper most layer of the Earth`s atmosphere it is in 640 to 1,280 kilometers the atmospheric pressure out there is very low this means that the gas atoms are very wide spaced.

Ticy and Luana

I am going to start off our blog post, which we have had to split into three different post. These will be labeled and we hope you can see that we belong together. Louise will be doing Part 2 and Iken will be posting Part 3.

What is Ozone and why do we need it

Ozone is a gas that protects everything living from harmful UV rays. Most of it is found in the Stratosphere, where it acts as a protective layer from the suns harmful UV radiation. If this layer were weaker, we would be more vulnerable to skin cancer and would have not properly functioning immune systems, which would result in us being sick more often and more severely. Closer to Earth in the troposphere, ozone is a harmful pollutant that causes damage to lung tissue and plants.

How is Ozone created

In the stratosphere, ozone is created by ultraviolet radiation. When the high-energy ultraviolet rays strike ordinary oxygen molecules (O2), they split the molecule into two single oxygen atoms(O+O), known as atomic oxygen. A freed oxygen atom then combines with another oxygen molecule to form a molecule of ozone. The Diagramm below is a visual representation of what I just explained above.

Pros and cons

I believe that Ozone can’t be classified as either a positive or a negative attribute, since it is good for us and we actually need it to survive in the Stratosphere but on Earths surface we have proof that Ozone is actually very dangerous, causing cancer etc. That is why scientists distinguish between „good“ and „bad“ Ozone also known as ground-level and stratospheric Ozone.

The Ozone hole

The ozone „hole“ is really an area with low concentrations of Ozone high above the earth in the stratosphere. The ozone hole is defined geographically as the area in which the total ozone amount is less than 220 Dobson Units. The ozone hole has steadily grown in size (up to 27 million sq. km.). There is no doubt that we are responsible for this phenomenon and the main reason is because we use chlorofluorocarbons also known as CFCs. These atoms destroy the Ozone layer which results in a less dense layer which is not able to protect the Earth from UV radiation anymore. Since we are still polluting our environment and are using harmful substances our ozone layer will suffer further damage.

World of Change: Antarctic Ozone Hole

On this website you will find a simulation displaying how the Ozone hole has changed over the past years.

Anna Brammer (9BL1)

Keelings Curve

The Keelings Curve shows how much CO² has been released into the Atmosphere since the year 1985 (Only purpose of the Keelings Curve). The Keelings Curve was invented by Charles David Keeling. He was an American scientist, who started studying atmospheric carbon dioxide in the year 1956 by taking small air samples and analyzing them for how much CO² they contain. Moreover he was the first person to alert the world of the possible consequences of excessive contribution of CO²,

In the year 1958 Keeling obtained funding from the Weather Bureau. He was supposed to install infrared gas analyzers in different locations on the earth. One of those was the Mauna Loa, which erupted on the 15 of April 1984.

 9BL2 / Vincent Meier

Hey readers, in the following you will read and see some explanations and pictures of the different layers of the atmosphere.

What tells us the different layers of the atmosphere?

Below the is a picture of the different layers of the atmosphere that we drew by our selves. We will then explain some technical terms to you.

When you look at it and think this is complicated but let us explain it to you….

Y-axis: altitude definition: altitude is the height above the sea level. The higher the altitude the less oxygen there is therefore contain climbers use oxygen when they reach higher altitudes. The altitude in this graph is in kilo meters.

X-axis: on the x axes is the temperature in celsius shown. It is from -10degrees to 60 degrees. Celsius is the most common unit used for measuring temperatures.

Vertical – axis: on the vertical axis are the millibars. Millibaris unit used for measuring atmospheric pressure equal to one thousand of a bar.

Red line: The red line is called the temperature line. The line shows the temperature in different zones and in different heights.

Pressure: Standard atmospheric pressure at sea level is about 1,013 millibars. Air pressure is the weight of the air that pushes down on the earth. Air pressure decreases upward in the atmosphere. Thats because at higher level in the atmosphere there is less air above to cause the pressure.

In the following we will explain the different layers in an easy way.

What are even the different layers?

You may ask yourself: what even are the different layers of the atmosphere? Well, let us explain it to you. In the picture below we drew a picture of real life to compare.Now you have a picture to compare with.  Now we will explain the different spheres in detail to you. We will go from the bottom to the top.

Troposphere:  The first sphere is called Troposphere. The Troposphere begins at 0km and goes up to 10km. The pressure is about 1000 millibars. In this sphere weather happens so there is precipitation and clouds etc. The temperature starts at about 20 degrees and goes up to -60. In this sphere the temperature decreases with height.

Stratosphere: The stratosphere starts at 10km and goes up to50km. The pressure goes from 120 millibars to 1 millibar. In this sphere is the ozone maximus which means that in this sphere is the most amount of ozone. There is about 90% of ozone in this sphere. In the Stratosphere the temperature goes from about -60 to 0. This means the temperature increases in height.

Mesosphere: The Mesosphere starts at 50 km and goes up to 85 km. The pressure at the mesosphere goes from about 1 mb to about 0.01 mb. The temperature goes from about 0 to -90 celsius. The mesosphere is the place where meteors are destroyed.

Thermosphere: The Thermosphere starts at 85km and goes up to 120km. The pressure at this Sphere starts at 0.01 mb and goes to 0.001 mb. The temperature is from about -90 to even 1.500 celsius. In this layer space shuttles fly and the International space station orbits the earth. Moreover, in this layer Auroras happen. Auroras are photons of light wich are caused by charged particles that collide with atoms and molecules which makes them go into a higher state of energy.

In the next picture you see a bottle that we created that you have a better picture also from the atmosphere:

We hope that you know have an idea of the different layers of the atmosphere.:)

Emilia & Katharina 9BL2

Dear Reader,

this post is about convection and examples of convection.

 

So first and foremost, we must clarify what is convection?

The basic and simplest explanation is the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat.

 

Examples and applications of convection

Convection occurs on a large scale in atmospheres, oceans, planetary mantles, and it provides the mechanism of heat transfer for a large fraction of the outermost interiors of our sun and all stars. Fluid movement during convection may be invisibly slow, or it may be obvious and rapid, as in a hurricane. On astronomical scales, convection of gas and dust is thought to occur in the increase of disks of black holes, at speeds which may closely approach that of light.

Another example is in your home:

The air is heated by the radiator this causes the particles to become less dense meaning they rise because lots of particles are rising at the same time this means that there is a concentration gradient or air particles this means that the particles will diffuse across the room.

 

Convection Cells
A convection cell, also known as a Bénard cell is a characteristic fluid flow pattern in many convection systems. A rising body of fluid typically loses heat because it encounters a cold surface. In liquid, this occurs because it exchanges heat with colder liquid through direct exchange. In the example of the Earth’s atmosphere, this occurs because it radiates heat. Because of this heat loss the fluid becomes denser than the fluid underneath it, which is still rising. Since it cannot slide through the rising fluid, it moves to one side. At some distance, its downward force overcomes the rising force beneath it, and the fluid begins to descend. As it descends, it warms again, and the cycle repeats itself.

 

Other convection examples: Convection Oven

A convection oven is an oven that has fans to circulate air around food, using the convection mechanism to cook food faster than a conventional oven. Convection ovens distribute heat evenly around the food, removing the blanket of cooler air that surrounds food when it is first placed in an oven and allowing food to cook more evenly in less time and at a lower temperature than in a conventional oven. A convection oven has a fan with a heating element around it. A small fan circulates the air in the cooking chamber.

 

Experiment

The picture below, is an experiment we would have shown. This is a model of the real-life convection cycle. The blue colored food coloring represents the cold air and its descents because it is denser than the water and the red colored food coloring is warmer air, so it rises because it is less dense than the water. Then we would have heated up the red colored water. That means that the red colored water will rise and when it hits the top of the bucket it will spread out to the left and right because it will cool down as it rises. In other words, the cooled water at the top gets pushed away from the upcoming warm water. The cold water that is pushed asides then descents because cold water is denser. And when it hits the bottom its “refills” the rising warm water. That creates the cycle of convection.

Side Note:

Dear Mrs Schütte,

We apologize that our presentation does not meet the standards you were expecting from us. This is because we were in a basketball tournament as you announced it was due today (Tuesday  28/5). We found out later on that it was due today and we made a new presentation in a short period of time because all our materials for the presentation were at school and we had no chance to grab them because we were not there and we could not continue our old presentation.

By Can Özinal and Benjamin Eichmann 9BL1