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2 Production of Materials
1. Fossil Fuels provide both energy and raw materials such as ethylene, for the production of other substances
Identify the industrial source of ethylene from the cracking of some of the fractions from the refining of petroleum Petroleum is a mixture of crude oil and natural gas which consist of long hydro-carbon chain that undergoes separation through fractional distillation and catalytic cracking. Petroleum undergoes fractional distillation to separate crude oil and other mixtures, like petrol and LPG. Afterwards, the crude oil that has been separated, it undergoes the second separation process which is catalytic cracking. This process is to break long hydro-carbon chains into smaller ones. The major product of catalytic cracking is ethylene, which is the starting material for plastic. Identify that ethylene, because of the high reactivity of its double bond, is readily transformed into many useful products Ethylene is a type of alkene. Alkene, unlike alkane has a double bond thus it is more reactive than alkane. As ethylene is an extremely reactive monomer and has the present of a double bond, it can be used for the production of many materials, for example, plastic Identify that ethylene serves as a monomer from which polymers are made Monomers are simple, short-chained compound, which will link together to make a polymer through a process of polymerisation. Polymerisation is a process to describe numerous monomers that are chemically bonded together to make a polymer. As ethylene is short-chained and reactive, it can act easily as a monomer and joins with other ethylene molecule to make polyethylene. Identify polyethylene as an addition polymer and explain the meaning of this term Ethylene monomers are joined together to make polyethylene. Polyethylene is known as addition polymer. Addition Polymer is formed when many monomers are chemically bonded together to make a polymer without the loss of atoms or molecules. This process is known as Addition Polymerisation. Addition Polymer can only be formed by monomers that have a double bond. Outline the steps in the production of polyethylene as an example of a commercially and industrially polymer The polymerisation process for addition polymers involves: Initiation The process starts by breaking the double bond of the first monomer Propagation Joining numerous monomers to form a chain of the desired length Termination Ending the process when the desired chain has been produced Polymerisation process of ethylene can either make low density polyethylene (LDPE) or high density polyethylene (HDPE). Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) This is created in high pressure (2000 ATM) and high temperature (300 C) conditions. The catalyst used is a free radical initiator (organic peroxide). The polymer has side branching, therefore it is not packed closely. It is more flexible and soft. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) This is created in normal pressure (3-4 ATM) and low temperature (60 C) conditions.
Process information from secondary sources to describe recent discoveries of elements Newly discovered elements has a prefix of unun on the periodic table that are not confirmed. This is because it is only detected for mere seconds before disintegrating. The discovery of Copernicium: In 1996, Element 112 was discovered by Sigurd Hufmann and his team. This is created by using a 1-2m long particle accelerator to fire a beam of zinc ions at lead atoms. However, the element only lasted a few seconds and was unable to be verified. Its original name was ununbium by IUPAC. In June 2009, IUPAC verified this element an d was renamed to Copernicium. Use available evidence to analyse benefits and problems associated with the use of radioactive isotopes in identified industries and medicine Although radiation is useful for both medical and industrial uses. It can cause harm to the body due to high ionising power and frequency. This can cause electrons to be removed from atoms and molecules in DNA and protein and can lead to cancer. Strontium-90 is chemically similar to calcium which can replace them in bones and cause bone cancer.