Chemistry Facts

What Are Aerosols?

Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air. Most occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms, forest and grassland fires, living vegetation, and sea spray (Figure 1). Human ... Continue reading

Multiple fires are burning across the sourthern part of the African continent in September 2000, as shown by data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on board the NOAA 14 satellite.

Ozone: Good Up High, Bad Nearby

Ozone is a gas that forms in the atmosphere when 3 atoms of oxygen are combined (03). It is not emitted directly into the air, but at ground level is created by a chemical reaction between oxides of ... Continue reading

The largest ozone hole ever recorded, roughly three times the size of the U.S., was detected September 6, 2000 by NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer.

Chemical Burning

Chemical burns are the result of very normal reactions that can occur between the offending material and living tissue components. People generally tend to regard their bodies as things outside of the ... Continue reading

Knocking the NOx Out of Coal

Nitrogen is the most common part of the air we breathe. In fact, about 80% of the air is nitrogen. Normally, nitrogen atoms float around joined to each other like chemical couples. But when air is ... Continue reading

Air is mostly nitrogen molecules (green in the above diagram) and oxygen molecules (purple). When heated hot enough (around 3000 degrees F), the molecules break apart and oxygen atoms link with the nitrogen atoms to form NOx, an air pollutant.

More Chemistry Facts

Atmospheric Chemistry:

Chemical Composition:

Liquid Glass Is All Wet

Chemical Properties:

Chemical Reactions:

Elements and Compounds:

Food:

Medicine:

Take Two And Call Me In The Morning

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