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Amy
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« on: March 18, 2011, 06:10:23 PM » |
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OK, hows this for a theory
All life on earth is carbon, we are a carbon based planet.
Coal and fossil fuel is carbon. Its the most abundant element on earth.
Coal, charcoal and oil burns well. Oxygen is vital for that combustion
CO2 is carbon and oxygen.
CO2 is a pain in the butt, so why dont we burn it and save the planet?
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qeipl
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« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2011, 06:13:51 PM » |
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Entropy.
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Take 3 minutes to find out where money comes from, why that means we will all end up in debt, and what we can do to fix the problem… http://www.positivemoney.org.uk |
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AlanM
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« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2011, 06:36:58 PM » |
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"All life on earth is carbon"
Oh no it isn't, Amy, there is sulphur based life present in the "black smokers", the undersea volcanic vents.
Alan
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Amy
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« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2011, 06:40:18 PM » |
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"All life on earth is carbon"
Oh no it isn't, Amy, there is sulphur based life present in the "black smokers", the undersea volcanic vents.
Alan
Ok, sure there are a few freaks but the rest of us are normal, we are all stardust after all. So whats to do with entropy? |
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mespilus
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« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2011, 07:10:55 PM » |
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CO2 IS burnt carbon.
(Or using the precise chemical term),
carbon when fully oxidised becomes CO2.
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Now in the HS2 blight zone
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Amy
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« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2011, 07:17:33 PM » |
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But its still got a C and an 02 in the name, suggesting there is still carbon and oxygen there to be burned some more
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mespilus
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« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2011, 07:32:38 PM » |
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But its still got a C and an 02 in the name, suggesting there is still carbon and oxygen there to be burned some more
The C and the O 2 are not just in the name, cohabiting and separate, but fully bonded. If we instead of using the chemical shorthand CO 2we wrote O=C=O and remember from school chemistry Carbon has four valencies, (think of hands to join to other atoms) in O=C=O all the carbons' hands are joined, there are no spare hands, and no additional hands to make CO 3, or CO 4 a possibility. To prove this to yourself burn some water H 2O. |
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johnrae
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« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2011, 07:39:07 PM » |
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From school chemistry days (a long long time ago) you I believe you can break out the components of CO2 but it takes a great deal of heat. A flask filled with CO2 has a piece of burning magnesium dropped into it and then sealed. The burning magnesium decomposes the CO2 and consumes the O2, leaving the carbon behind.
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AlanM
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« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2011, 07:42:17 PM » |
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" Its the most abundant element on earth"
Nope, its not, oxygen is, followed by silicon, aluminium etc.
Alan
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Ted
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« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2011, 10:20:45 PM » |
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I thought that the Earth was mainly iron - with the vast amount of it in the core.
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Stuart
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« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2011, 11:45:15 PM » |
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I thought it was too,
apparently the Earth is composed mostly of iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon (15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulfur (2.9%), nickel (1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%); with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace amounts of other elements
However the crust is oxygen 46.60%, silicon 27.72%, aluminium 8.13%, iron 5.00%, calcium 3.63%, sodium 2.83%, potassium 2.59%, magnesium 2.09%, titanium 0.44% and then the rest with carbon in 15th place with a tiny 0.03%
given its the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass, and there are more known carbon containing compounds than all the compounds of the other chemical elements altogether I was rather supprised.
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1968 landy that runs on anything and a currently wild meadow garden.
Nr. Tow Law
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noah
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« Reply #11 on: March 19, 2011, 08:45:35 AM » |
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Of course Amy is right, despite entropy. Combining carbon with oxygen liberates energy in an easily controllable form- fire. Seperating the carbon from Co2 so it can be recombined (along with a dash of hydrogen) is quite feasible if energy intensive. Of course we already have a massive free source of energy and large areas where it does nothing except heat up the sand.
The problem is not so much entropy as politics and its bastard child economics.
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Amy
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« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2011, 08:00:10 PM » |
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Praise be to CARBON, our scourge and our saviour.
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