E325, Fall 2014

Computing for Environmental Scientists

TAKE HOME EXAM FOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2014
This week the assignment is the first take-home exam. Please e-mail your two spreadsheets
directly me and my assistants with the subject Exam I by 9:00 AM on September 28,
2014. This message should have the two spreadsheets attached as separate files. Be sure
to put the question number and your name in the file names as in Question 1 Nguyen.ods,
and be sure to put you name in an uppermost cell in each spreadsheet. Do not hand in a
printed copy of anything. Be sure the spreadsheets are actually attached to the message that
you send to us and that they open correctly. Be sure to back-up your spread-sheets in some
permanent form. Please put the following statement into every exam spread-sheet you hand
in throughout this course: I have neither given nor received assistance on this exam; it is my
work and my work alone. Although this will not be signed, it will be considered binding.
You will be graded on your ability to follow and implement all of the directions in this exam.
1. (50%) The first order rate law is:
C
t
=C
0
e
kt

where C
t
is the concentration at time t, C
0
is the concentration at time zero, and k is the
rate constant. This equation can be used to describe the concentrations of polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) in lake trout taken from Lake Michigan. Using the following data,
please plot these data and fit a line to them using the above equation. Be sure you report
the value of the rate constant (and its standard error, see below) in the plot header (title),
and be sure to label the axes with the proper units. Your graph should have the above data
plotted as symbols and the line plotted as a line.
Year PCB conc. (ng/g) Year PCB conc. (ng/g)
1974 22.91
1975 22.28
1976 18.68
1977 11.58
1978 8.18
1979 8.82
1980 9.93
1981 6.49
1982 5.63
1984 4.48
1986 2.59
1988 3.15
1990 2.72
1992 3.49
1994 2.717
1996 1.937
1998 1.821
2000 1.614
2002 2.373
2004 1.474
2006 0.878
2008 0.936
2010 0.861
Use the regression analysis tool to fit a straight line to the logarithmically transformed
concentrations. In this case, the equation will be
ln(C
t
) =ln(C
0
) kt
Be careful to take the natural logarithms not the common logarithms. From this regression
output, read the standard error of the rate constant, and enter it in the plot header in the
format of 0.022 0.005 (for example).
2. (50%) The elevation angle, , of the sun above the local horizon can be calculated using
the following equation:
2 ( 4)
arcsin sin( )sin( ) cos( )cos( )cos
24
+ (
=
`
(
)
s s
t

where is latitude, is longitude,
s
is the solar declination angle, and t is the local time.
For Ha Noi, Viet Nam, the latitude () is approximately 21.00 degrees, and the longi -
tude () is approximately 105.85 degrees.
The solar declination angle,
s
, describes the angle between the equator and the Earths or-
bit around the sun. You can estimate this for any day of the year as follows:
2 ( )
cos
r
s r
y
d d
d

=
(
(

where
r
is the tilt of the Earths axis and is equal to 0.409 radians, d is the date in J ulian
Days (32 for Feb. 1, for example), d
r
is the J ulian date of the summer solstice (also called
the first day of summer), and d
y
is the number of days per year. This is an estimate be-
cause it assumes the Earths orbit is circular, but you can use it anyway.
a) Plot versus t for t =1 to 24 hours for 924September 2014 in Ha Noi, Viet Nam.
Usea time increment of 0.5 hours. Title the plot Solar Elevation on 24 September.
b) According to your plot, about what time will the sun set on this day? Indicate this time
in the header of your plot.
Hint: Remember that the sine and cosine functions assume that the angle is in radians, not
degrees. Thus, you may what to make appropriate conversions using the RADIANS func-
tion. The function for arcsin is ASIN(x).
Source: Stull, R. B. Meteorology Today for Scientists and Engineers. West Publishing Company, St. Paul, MN 1995.