Links/Connections

WITHIN CHEMISTRY

1. Elements and compounds

2. Properties of gases (solubility, etc.)

3. Acid-base reactions

4. Chemical reactions

5. Equilibrium

6. Oxidation-reduction

7. Organic and biochemistry

BETWEEN CHEMISTRY AND OTHER DISCIPLINES

1. Biology: Photosynthesis, cellular respiration, microbiology, plant physiology

2. Geology/geochemistry: Agriculture, plant, and animal wastes

3. Ecology/environmental science: Pollution, global warming, deforestation, nitrogen

oxide emission/photochemical smog control, combustion

4. Business, economics, and politics: Urban planning/development; cleanup of

chemical dumping sites, oil spills; fossil fuel conservation; acid rain

Personal

1. Careers: Analytical chemist, biochemist, environmental chemist, field biologist,

forester, geochemist, medicine, petroleum engineering, recycling engineer, research

chemist, soil analyst, soil conservationist, teacher/professor, water chemist

TO THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD

Community

1. Field trips: Environmental testing laboratory, coal mine, petroleum refinery,

limestone cavern, local weather station, botanical garden, local water works laboratory

2. Knowledgeable individuals: Agronomists, environmental scientists, recycling

engineers, research chemists, water chemists, soil analysts, art conservators, airline

pilots

3. Virtually every part of this module has a link to community issues, concerns, and

problems. A discussion session with students highlighting these issues might be

fruitful.

Other

1. The successful aquarist wishing to raise tropical fish must understand how nitrifying

bacteria detoxify nitrogenous waste in a closed system. The biological “filter” afforded

by the gravel bed changes NH ₃ to NO ₂ ^– and NO ₂ ^– to NO ₃ ^– through bacterial action.

Also, circulation provided by a mechanical filter insures that CO ₂ will evaporate from

the surface of the water. (Idea contributed by Angie Matamoros.)

2. Secondary wastewater treatment relies on bacterial action - another chemical cycle.

(Idea contributed by Angie Matamoros.)

3. The “biological pump” of ocean bacteria transports carbon from the surface to the

deep ocean, thus enhancing the mixing of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The ocean

chemistry of carbon dioxide is unusual and has links to thermodynamics, kinetics,

equilibrium studies, irreversible processes, solubility of gases. See Sarmiento (1993)

in References.

4. The “Biosphere 2” two-year closed system “experiment” in Arizona was an attempt

to simulate a mini-set of biogeochemical cycles. What factors, both unintentional and

eventually necessary, made this “experiment” a limited open system? See Time

(September 30, 1991, pp. 65-66; September 24, 1990, pp. 72-73).