Part of the notes are not clear, e.g. a slide with a figure without label or any description. Since there will be no lecture during the lesson, it will be great to have an informative notes which also will be beneficial to the student who have no background of Chemistry. Other than that, it will be good to have a short review lecture in every week, easy for the student to revise on each of the units.
Author Archives: #WONG SOO LIN#
Assignment: Team Questions Session 3
Team Question Session 3
- Understanding Earth’s energy balance is essential to understanding the issue of global warming. For example, the solar energy striking Earth’s surface averages 168 watts per square meter (W/m2). But the energy leaving Earth’s surface averages 390 W/m2. Why isn’t Earth cooling rapidly?
Apart from absorbing heat from the Sun, the Earth also has the ability to radiate heat itself. Thus, although a significant portion of the solar energy that strikes the Earth’s surface eventually leaves, the additional amount of heat radiated by the Earth causes the energy leaving the Earth’s surface to exceed 300W/m2. The overall effect is a gain in thermal energy for Earth.
Even though the rate of solar energy striking the earth’s surface is 168W/m2 and the energy leaving Earth’s surface is 390Wm-2, there is also the effects of greenhouse gases such as CO2, water vapour and methane which was not taken into account in the question. These greenhouse gases trap a significant portion of the heat that is leaving the Earth’s surface which therefore causes the rate of cooling of Earth to be slowed down.
- Do you think the statement made by cartoon is justified? Explain.
“This winter has lowered my concerns about global warming …”
Global warming could lead to issues such as changes in the amount of rainfall and other weather patterns e.g. excessive snow or unexpectedly low temperatures during winter. Thus, a extreme winter season proves that global warming is a problem and not otherwise.
- One of the first radar devices developed during World War II used microwave radiation of a specific wave range that triggers the rotation of water molecules. Why was the design not successful?
At different temperatures, the movement of water molecules changes. Thus, using a specific wavelength to trigger the rotation of water molecules may not work at all places due to different weather conditions i.e. in different countries
If radiation is absorbed by water it will have limited range as well as heat up anything containing water molecules in its range of action
- Now that you have studied air quality (Unit 1), stratospheric ozone depletion (Unit 2) and global warming (Unit 3), which do you believe poses the most serious problem for you in the short run? In the long run?
| Short Run | Long Run |
| Air Quality → health effects are felt almost immediately. For example, during a haze, when PSI levels are high, it causes people to feel unwell almost immediately. | Global Warming → lead to melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. In the long run, if these ice sheets melted completely, the world’s sea level would rise by about 66 meters. Polar animals will lose their habitats which could result in their extinction.With the ice sheets melting, the global temperature will keep increases to as the amount of heat reflected by the ice sheets will be greatly reduced. |
Meeting 2
Location – Outside LT27, 11 February 2015
Team Members Present – All
Team Members Absent – None
Topic(s) Discussed – Discussion of Ideas for Video
1:30 Video: Introduce Fats, their monomer unit (lipid), where they can be found and the chemical difference between saturated and unsaturated fats.
3:00 Video: Survey people, test their knowledge on fats, educate them on how different fats impact our bodies differently in our daily life and also the practical uses of fats.
Meeting 1
Location – Virtual (on WhatsApp), 6 February 2015
Team Members Present – All
Team Members Absent – None
Topic(s) Discussed – Discussion of Possible Topics based on Unit 9
After extensive discussion on which topic to choose from Unit 9 of CM8001, the team decided to choose Fats as our main chemical concept. More specifically, we shall be discussing the differences between saturated & unsaturated fats in terms of their chemical structure, chemical properties as well as how the impact the human body differently.
Tasks Assigned:
1. LAM JIONG LE – Set up the blog.
2. WEE HUI ZI ELIZABETH – Update pages on the blog based on headings given by Professor Felipe.
3. LAKHOTIA SUYASH – Update the blog based on specifications by Professor Felipe as well as input meeting minutes.
4. XIA LU – E-Mail Professor Felipe for confirmation on chosen topic.
5. LEE LI MING SHARLOTTE – Create Introduction page for Blog (including “Topic” and “Why is it important”)
Plan of Action:
1. Mail Professor Felipe by Saturday.
2. Update Blog.
3. Next Meeting: Before next lecture.