Wesley Skinner Mrs.

Furr Chemistry (honors) 28 February 2013 Carbon Dioxide Honors Project

Carbon dioxide has been researched and talked about for a long time, since the 1600's chemists have been wondering about carbon dioxide. (5) Carbon dioxide is what we breathe out and what cars burn out, this gas sis very good for plants. The chemical formula of carbon dioxide is CO2. Carbon dioxide is made of three atoms, one carbon and two oxygen atoms. Carbon dioxide is the fourth most common and the fourth simplest molecule in the world. (3) At room temperature carbon dioxide takes form as a colorless, odorless gas. Carbon dioxide can be forced into a solid form known as dry ice. (5) Carbon dioxide is very helpful to our world even though it takes up less than one percent of our air. (3) Carbon dioxide is an inorganic chemical compound that has many uses. Carbon dioxide carbonates soft drinks and it is also used in some lasers. It is also used for things like creating a good environment for welders and also used for putting out fires. Carbon dioxide is considered to be a greenhouse gas. A greenhouse gas is a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation. Since carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas people have know about carbon dioxide for a long time. Scientists have been and still are concerned about what this gas is doing to our atmosphere. (5) Carbon dioxide gas gets caught in the atmosphere and could be

causing the worlds temperature to increase. It is considered the main cause of global warming. Carbon dioxide is released by volcanoes, and also through respiration, combustion, and decay. (1) Carbine dioxide also has an effect on water. Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in rain water, in the water of lakes, and streams. Carbon dioxide exists partly as carbonic acid making the water slightly acidic. (2) Carbon dioxide plays a huge role in a cycle called the Carbon Cycle. This involves the exchange of carbon dioxide between living things, land masses, water bodies, and the air. Carbon dioxide is taken in by green plants and made into oxygen that helps animals live. Animals also breathe out carbon dioxide. The more we breathe out, the more oxygen a plant makes for us to breathe in. (4) Carbon dioxides melting point is negative 55.6 degrees Celsius, and its boiling point is about negative 78.5 degrees Celsius. Carbon dioxide has a density of about 1.977, and it is soluble in water. Carbon dioxide is considered to be a linear covalent bond because its atoms share molecules to reach octets rule. The carbon dioxide molecule contains four bonds, two sharing double bonds and two free bonds. (6) The history of carbon dioxide dates back to as early as the 1600's. A Flemish chemist, Johannes van Helmont, discovered that when you burned charcoal the mass after was less than it initially was. He observed the forming of carbon dioxide gas, but at the time he did not know what it was. Later people discovered that it indeed was carbon dioxide gas that had formed.

Around the 1750's a Scottish chemist, Joseph Black, produced something called "Fixed Air" or carbon dioxide. Black is considered to be the first person to discover carbon dioxide gas. (4) Carbon dioxide is a very important molecule in our lives. It is used for many things, and we need it in order to live. This molecule can be found in many places, like being exhaled out of animals, or being burned out of cars. Carbon dioxide is always around, no matter what you think it's always in the air.