Applet Name: CFCs in the Atmosphere
Version/Date: 3.0.5, 07/21/2016
Authors: Marc-Olivier Lajeunesse, Tyler deBoon, Rachel Hislop-Hook, Mckenzie Oliver, Dr. Brian Martin, Dr. Peter Mahaffy.
Contact: kcvshelp@gmail.com or visit www.kcvs.ca for more information
The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into different regions, determined by relative energy/wavelength.
This simulation illustrates the effect of different types of electromagnetic radiation on a molecule. The representative molecule used is an important chlorofluorcarbon (CFC – dichlorodifluoromethane, Freon-12). This substance was previously used as a refrigerant and aerosol spray propellant that has caused substantial damage to the stratospheric ozone layer.
When moving the slider, notice the characteristic effect that photons of different energies have on the molecule. The main goal of this applet is to demonstrate the effect certain categories of electromagnetic radiation can have on a molecule.
• In the IR and microwave sections of the Electromagnetic Spectrum, vibrational and rotational energies are quantized and each molecule will do so at characteristic regions of the spectrum. The simulation simplifies by showing excitation across the full IR and microwave spectral regions, so as to emphasize the characteristic effects different types of EM radiation have on a given molecule.
• For simplification purposes, we chose to illustrate the effects of vibrational excitation on only the C-Cl bond stretching modes in the representative CFC molecule.
• The wavelength is not to scale.
• When a molecule is excited it can relax back to ground state by simulated or spontaneous emission of radiation. We have removed both of these processes to simplify the simulation, although they happen in the atmosphere.
|
- Carbon - Chlorine - Fluorine |