yorkstanham said:
Fritz Haber’s discovery of a method to synthesise ammonia was extremely significant at that time in world history. It was during WWI that the British blockaded the German’s supply of nitrates from South America. This had devastating effects on Germany’s ammunition and crops. Haber’s process allowed Germany to produce up to 200 tonnes of ammonia a day, this allowed for fertilisers to be created which boosted crops and hence food for Germany and its troops, the ammonia was also used to create ammunition. Some historians say that the Haber process allowed Germany to prolong its time in the war by 2 years, significantly changing the course of history during the early 20<SUP>th</SUP> century.
NEXT Q:
The atmosphere contains acidic oxides of sulphur which have been increasing in concentration since the Industrial Revolution.fficeffice" /><O></O>
Discuss the evidence for this statement, and include relevant balanced chemical equations. (4 marks)<O></O>
SO2 is released into the atmosphere natually by volcanoes & industrially by the buring of fossil fuels containing sulfur as impurities.
S + O2--> SO2
Or the smelting of sulfide ores in order to extract a metal:
PbS(s) + O2(g) --> Pb(s) + SO2(g)
This reacts with water to form sulfurous acid:
SO2 + H2O --> H2SO3
And impurties in the air futher catalysie the conversion into Sulfuric acid:
H2SO3 + O2 --> H2SO4
In the 1960's many forests were serioulsy damaged due to acidic nature of the rain, such as germany;s 'black forest.'
Water ways increased in acidity (lower pH), killing fish and disrupting food chains, such as in canada where many lakes were found dead in an ecological sense, erosion of marble & limestone statues in rome and environmental damage around Queenstown, Tas, by the release of SO2 from the Mt Lyrell copper mine & smelter, which has still not recovered 20 years down the tract.