AirCompositionandGasProperties – Worksheet

A. Vocabulary:
mixture Glowing splint Food packages
nitroge relight(s) Living cells
oxyge Hydrogen carbonate indicator alive
Carbon dioxide softdrinks
Water vapour limewater Fire extinguishers
Breathed air milky variable
Unbreathed air Dry cobalt chloride paper Remains the same

B. Complete the following passage by filling in the blanks

(Note:Some of the words may not be present in the above table,and you may need
to fill in the same word more than once.)
What is air made up of?
(1) (2) (3) (4)
Air is a mixture of gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide,and
(5)
water vapour. There are also other gases present in air, but their quantities are very small.
(6) (7)
Nitrogen is about 78% by volume in air.It is used to fill up food packages in order
(8)
to exclude oxygen and extend their shelf life. Liquid nitrogen is used to store living
cells. There is no simple test for nitrogen.
(9) (10)
Oxygen is about 21 % by volumein air. It keeps all living things alive. It can be
(11) (12)
tested with a piece of glowing splint, which relights in oxygen.
( 13) (14)
Carbon dioxide is about0.03 % by volume in air. It is used to make soft drinks
(15) (16) (17)
and fire extinguishers. It can be tested with a hydrogen carbonate indicator
(18)
limewater. The hydrogen carbonate indicator changes from red to yellow, and lime
(19)
water changes from colourless to milky in carbon dioxide.
(20) (21)
The amount of water vapour in air is variable. Water also keeps all living things
(22)
alive. Water or water vapour can be tested with a piece of dry cobalt chloride paper,
(23)
which changes from pink to blue in water.
(24) (25)
When we breathe, we take oxygen from air and release carbon dioxide and
(26) (27) (28) (29)
water vapour to air. There is less oxygen, more carbon dioxide, and more
water vapour in breathed air than unbreathed air. The amount of nitrogen in breathed
(30)
and unbreathed air remains the same.
1. Iron (or steel) unfortunately corrodes faster than most other transition metals and
readily does so in the presence of both oxygen (in air) andwater to form an iron oxide.
Iron corrosion is called rusting and the chemical change with oxygen is called
an oxidation reaction.

2. Iron and steel (an alloy of iron) are most easily protected by paint which provides a
barrier between the metal and air/water. Moving parts on machines can be protected by a
water repellent oil or grease layer.

3. This corrosion can be prevented by connecting iron to a more reactive metal (e.g. zinc
or magnesium). This is called sacrificial protection. By mixing iron with other metals such
as chromium you can make a non-rusting alloy called stainless steel. Coating iron or steel
with a zinc layer is called 'galvanising'. The zinc preferentially corrodes first to form a
zinc oxide layer that doesn't flake off. However if a less reactive metal is attached, the
iron then rusts first as it becomes the more reactive metal!