Using resources pt2 : using materials

Question 1

What materials make metals, glass, building materials, clay ceramics and most plastics?

Answer 1

limited raw materials

crude oil

Question 2

What is the main downside of mining and quarrying?

Answer 2

devastating environmental impact

Question 3

Why are materials reused or/and recycled whenever possible?

Answer 3

to :

• save money and energy sources
• reduce the use of limited resources
• reduce the number of waste products
• reduce damage to the environment caused by extinction

Question 4

How can metals be recycled?

Answer 4

by melting and recasting or reforming into different products

Question 5

How can glass be recycled?

Answer 5

crushed and melted to make different glass products

Question 6

What can some plastics be recycled into?

Answer 6

fleece materials

Question 7

Why is recycling good for the environment?

Answer 7

• uses less energy than the initial extraction and production processes
• less fossil fuel is burned and fewer greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere
• preserves our reserves of raw materials of the future

Question 8

What are life cycle assessments (LCA) used to do?

Answer 8

assess the environmental impact of a product has over its whole lifetime

Question 9

What are the stages of LCA?

Answer 9

1) extracting and processing
2) manufacturing and packaging

3) use and operation during its lifetime
(how long the product is used for and what damage it does to the environment)

4) product disposal

Question 10

What does manufacturing and packaging in LCA assess

Answer 10

how much energy is used and how much pollution is caused when the product is being made

Question 11

What does product disposal in LCA assess

Answer 11

• whether the product is disposed of in a landfill site which takes up space and pollutes land and water
• how much energy is used to transport waste to landfill, which causes air pollutants
• whether the product will be incinerated which causes air pollution

Question 12

What does extracting and processing in LCA assess

Answer 12

• how much damage is caused when raw materials are extracted

- whether the extraction causes pollution due to the amount of energy needed

Question 13

How useful are LCAs

Answer 13

• use of water resources, energy sources and production of some wastes can be fairly easily quantified
• allocating numerical values to pollutant effect is less straightforward and requires value judgement, so LCA is not a purely objective process
• selected and abbreviated LCAs cab ve devised ti evaluate a product but these can be misused to reach pre-determined conclusions

Question 14

• analysing a sample of water

Answer 14

• use the universal indicator paper to measure the PH of the water sampleaccurately weigh an empty evaporating basin and record to two decimal placespour 10cm cubed of a water sample into the evaporating basinheat the evaporating basin again and calculate the mass of the solids that were dissolved in the water. record your results in a table

Question 15

• purifying a sample of water by distillation

Answer 15

place the water sample in the conical flask. set up the apparatus for distillation.

heat the water using the bunsen burner until it boils. the reduce the heat so that the water boils gently 

the distilled water will collect in the cooled test tube. collect about 1cm depth of water in the way then stop heating 

analyze the water you have distilled by determining its boiling point