The Chemical Basis of Industry

[AngelShare]

"The Chemical Basis of Industry"

Choose one of the industries listed below to research.

automobile
cleaning
clothing manufacture
computer
construction
cosmetic
dental
farming
food preparation
food processing
fuel
law enforcement
medical
photography
software

Your report should contain information on the following topics.

Identify chemical reactions upon which the industry relies.

Determine the role that each reaction plays in the industry.

How are the products of the reaction used by the industry?

What benefits does the process bring to the industry or to the larger society?

Obtain industry statistics regarding the annual consumption or production of the reaction species.

Has the industry made any recent advances that have chemical foundations?

Are there environmental concerns that arise as a result of the chemical processes?

Detail the nature of any environmental problems associated with the chemical processes.

What solutions and precautions are in place to prevent environmental accidents?


I can't find any information...I'd appreciate it if someone could link me to some really good, helpful sites. I haven't chosen what topic I'm going to do yet because I figured I'd just choose whichever one I found the easiest but, so far, I haven't been able to find anything so...

 

[Ouabache]

Can you think of any chemical reactions that are important to anyone of the industries you've listed?

 

[AngelShare]

Could you read what I posted and tell me how that's going to get my entire project done?

 

[Ouabache]

Yes, it is the first step.. Try a few and see where they lead.
You need to draw some relationships between one of those industries and chemical reactions upon which they rely. This can be a stepwise process. All those questions together may seem overwhelming. Try to break it down, not think about it all together.

 

[Bystander]

Since "paper" is not on the list, look through http://www.oldandsold.com/articles10/paper-making-6.shtml
for ideas on what the finished project should resemble.

Help any?

 

[AngelShare]

Eh, everything is rather overwhelming right now...however, I can't seem to get past the first question...which I know is stupid but my mind is simply drawing a blank...this is definitely reminiscent of not being able to remember something as simple as the word "jello" mid-conversation.:shy: :rofl:

 

[AngelShare]

Thanks, Bystander, I'll look over that and see if it helps any.

 

[Astronuc]

For each industry listed, one could list the primary product and then list what materials are used in that product. Every material is some form of chemical (metal alloy, compound or collection of compound). For example, the automobile industry produces cars - cars contain metal alloys such as steel which is an alloy of iron, carbon and other metals, plastics and polymers (some paneling and interior), glass (windshield, windows, and lamps/lights), and rubber (tires).

Metals are extracted from minerals (compounds of metal oxides, sulfides, silicates, . . . .), which must be thermochemically processed to separate metals from the other elements.

Industries such as computers and software overlap, since software enables computers to function and computers are used to 'write' software.

So, select an industry, a product of that industry, and then the chemicals making the product and those which are involved in the making of the product.

 

[Ouabache]

Here's another example ...

As you probably are away, software are programs written by humans. So you could actually focus on chemistry used to maintain human life or quality of life [nutrition, pharmaceuticals, quality of living space (heating, cooling), ambience of living space (music, art, plants, animals)].

Although you would be perfectly correct in focusing on the above chemistry, your instructor may not necessarily agree with you..

So if you wanted to expand more, another aspect of software is the media upon which it is distributed and stored; optical disks (CD, DVD), magnetic media (hard-drive, floppy disks, zip disks, portable flash RAM memory). Go into the chemistry of one or more of those storage media (organic polymers etc..).

Software is also stored at other locations and available electronically via the net (chemistry of materials needed to create and maintain the internet might be explored: optical fibers, modem, ethernet cards, wireless network cards, satellites, antennas, amplifiers, filters.. etc..)

 

[AngelShare]

Thanks you two, it doesn't seem too difficult now.