CHEM 181 Study Guide - Final Guide: Fritz Haber, Ammonium Nitrate, Pesticide

• School: McGill University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM 181
• Professor: David Harpp

Document Summary

Photosynthesis: plants take up water and carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and organic matter which makes up the plant. Without photosynthesis there would be no life. Agriculture is based upon photosynthesis: without agriculture no food to eat. Used to be that about 70% of the world"s population was involved in agriculture. Conventional agriculture reached a point where not enough food was supplied: now about 2% supply all the food to fulfill all needs (1800s, modern techniques allow us to produce enough food and of a great variety. Problems/controversies = use of pesticides, genetic modification. By about 2050 we will need to feed 10 billion people. Organic: growing crops without the use of synthetic fertilizers, synthetic. First chemist to look at fertilizers scientifically was justus von liebig (1803: determined that there were various kinds of nutrients required after. Three major nutrients required: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other elements in more smaller quantities.