CHEM 181 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Fritz Haber, Pesticide, Photosynthesis

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

Document Summary

Made to kill insects to protect the plants. They want to put an end to this: we have to use pesticides and fertilizers in order to make enough crops to feed the entire population, ideally we would grow everything organically. Difficult on a larger scale: we can use manure but there is not enough to fertilize all the crops, justus von liebig (1803-1873) Wondered what exactly it was in manure that allowed crops to grow. Different kinds of plants need a different ratio of those three: fritz haber (1868-1934) Found a way to combine hydrogen and nitrogen to make ammonia. One of the most widely used fertilizers. Could also be used as an explosive. Slowly decomposes to create nitrous oxide (laughing gas) Contributes to global warming: using fertilizer means not needing soil. Sometimes ground up coconut shells are used. What you need is a good ratio of the nutrients for the crops to grow.