Smog in Jar: Investigating Air Pollution
Posted by David Wetzel
Smog Components
Almost all large cities in the world deal with smog - pollution. Some cities have so much smog that they need to declare smog alerts. This is when smog is so dense that it poses health problems for people who live in the city.
What is Smog?
Smog is photochemical reaction between sunlight and industrial emissions; and the burning carbon-based materials.
- Smog also comes from the exhaust of cars.
- Some cities have hundreds of thousands of cars that pollute the air.
- Smog is a mixture of photochemical pollutants, smoke, and carbon dioxide.
- Smog forms a thick, dirty, and smelly atmosphere.
Smog is a mixture of highly reactive chemicals that leave airborne particles which air dangerous to people and the environment. These highly reactive chemicals mix with tiny water droplets in the air to form pollution.
Smog also occurs due to the interaction of ozone is formed when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants, industrial boilers, refineries, chemical plants, and other sources react chemically in the presence of sunlight.
Sometimes smog comes from the burning of natural carbon-based materials, such as vegetation in forests - trees and brush.
Smog Investigation
The following experiment allows students to visualize the burning carbon-based materials.
Materials (per group)
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One glass jar
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10 ML of water
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6 inch square piece of aluminum foil
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3 ice cubes
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Rubber band
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Scissors
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Box of matches
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6 inch by 1 inch strip of paper
Procedures
- Fold the strip of paper in half and twist it together (not too tight of a twist)
- Place the water into the jar, swirl it around to get the inside wet and pour the excess water out.
- Light the piece of paper and drop it and the match into the jar.
- Place the aluminum foil over the opening of the jar and seal it with the rubber band quickly.
- Place the 3 ice cubes on top the aluminum foil.
- Record your observations.
Making Connections
Smoke from the burning paper (carbon-based material) interacts with water droplets in the bottle to form smog. The water droplets are caused by water vapor (water in bottom and side of jar turns to vapor when heated by the burning paper) making contact with the aluminum foil cooled by the ice cubes (similar to water vapor in the air reaching earth’s cold upper atmosphere and condensing into water droplets).
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