What is the Ozone?
What is the Ozone?
In 1839, a German scientist Christian Schobein was a professor of chemistry at the University of Basel in Switzerland. In addition to his teaching duties, he regularly performed secret experiments in hopes of finding out which substances make up the Earth's atmosphere. So Schonbein combined and separated a number of liquids and gases. During one of these experiments, Schonbein passed an electric charge thought a glass beaker of water, be noticed a very familiar odor. He first thought it was the result of electrically charge oxygen atoms but he last realized that he had found a new substance. He named this new substance ozone, after the Greek word ozein, meaning "to smell".
Ozone is a gas and is a form of oxygen. Each molecule of ozone contains three atoms of oxygen. Molecules are tiny building blocks that form all gases, liquids, and solids. Each one of these molecules can be broken down even smaller into tinier building blocks called atoms, which are the basic particles of all matter. Because each molecule of ozone is composed of three atoms, ozone is referred to 03. Ozone gas is colourless but has a strong odor. The "electrical" smell that often lingers after a summer thunderstorm is the smell of ozone. The ozone molecule is unstable; it has a tendency to break apart and join with other atoms. This process, which is called, oxidation, can be destructive. For Example, rust develops on iron when oxygen atoms in the ozone combine with iron atoms. Similarly, ozone can weaken other materials such as nylon or rubber. In large amounts can even kill living cells. For this reason, scientists have to monitor ozone levels constantly.
Schobein himself invented a very primitive way of measuring levels of ozone levels. First, he soaked a piece of paper with a chemical. As the chemical dried the ozone in the air oxidized it. This process turned the paper blue. The more ozone that was around the darker the paper turned. Schonbein placed a new piece of paper outside everyday in order to measure the levels of ozone in the air. In time, scientists came to refer to this technique as the Schonbein Paper Method (SPM). But unfortunately, this method shoes only if the ozone levels are light, moderate, or heavy, so it is not very precise.
A better method for measuring ozone...