Environmental Chemistry Terms

Chemistry – the study of matter and how it changes.

Nutrients – molecules or elements required by an organism

Molecules – two or more elements boded together

Elements – a pure substance made of one type of particle

Organic Molecules – carbon-based molecules (often can biodegrade and are ‘natural’)

Inorganic Molecules – not carbon-based (often metals)

Carbohydrates – organic molecules used as energy sources in nutrition.

Proteins – organic molecules used for structure and repair.

Lipids – organic molecules used as energy storage.

Vitamins – organic molecules used in enzyme function

Minerals – inorganic molecules that make enzymes among other functions

Enzymes – natural chemicals that speed up the metabolic reaction

Metabolism – the bodies processing and using of food.

Macro – large [as in macromolecule (large molecule) or macromineral (large mineral)]

Micro – small

Nitrogen – elemental nutrient. In plants used for

Potassium – elemental nutrient. In plants used for

Phosphorus – elemental nutrient. In plants used for

Fertilizer – chemicals and nutrients added to soil to enhance plant growth.

Pesticides – Chemicals used to kill of unwanted organisms

Herbicides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted plants

Insecticides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted insects

Fungicides – chemicals used to specifically eradicate unwanted fungae

Ppm / ppb – parts per million / billion – amount of a chemical found in an ecosystem.

Equivalent to 1mg / 1000L

DDT – specific example of a pesticide having drastic affects on the environment.

Biological Magnification or Biomagnification – the increase of concentration of

a chemical as it moves through a food chain.

Food Chain – a pathway showing “what eats what” and the direction of energy flow.

Pesticide Resistance – the ability of pests to resist chemicals over time.

Organic Agriculture – growing crops or maintaining livestock without the use of

chemicals.

Acids – chemicals with a pH lower than 7 and produce hydrogen ions

Base – chemicals with a pH higher than 7 and produce hydroxide ions.

Neutral pH – exactly 7 on the pH scale

pH Scale – measuring scale that determines chemicals as acidic or basic

Indicators – tools used to highlight

pH indicators – indicators determining acids and bases

Litmus – plant compounds used in acid/base indicating (blue means base)

Acid Precipitation – when sulfate, nitrate and carbonate molecules combine with water in

the atmosphere and fall as precipitation with a lower pH than normal

precipitation.

Neutralization – combining acids and bases and gaining a pH of 7.

Catalyst – Molecules used to speed up chemical reactions

Oxidation – when oxygen combines with of chemicals to produce other molecules

Catalytic Converter – mechanisms in vehicles to reduce pollution

Scrubbers – in factory stacks used to clean pollutants

Sorbent – substances that absorb or capture oxides.