Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 31, 2026
12:11
Computation of Atmospheric Concentrations of Molecular Clusters from ab initio Thermochemistry
Published on: April 8, 2020
Perspective: Water cluster mediated atmospheric chemistry.
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0215, USA. Vaida@colorado.edu
The Journal of Chemical Physics
|July 20, 2011
Summary
Water significantly influences atmospheric and environmental chemistry by catalyzing or inhibiting reactions through hydrogen bonding. Understanding the interplay between reaction and dissipation rates is crucial for elucidating water's complex chemical roles.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Chemistry
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
Background:
- Water's role in atmospheric and environmental chemistry is critical.
- Hydrogen bonding with water influences thermal and photochemical reactions.
- Quantum chemistry indicates water stabilizes transition states, lowering reaction energy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the catalytic, suppressive, and anti-catalytic effects of water on chemical reactions.
- To evaluate the competing rates of reaction and dissipation in water-mediated chemistry.
- To explore water clusters as models for gas-phase, condensed-phase, and surface reactions.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing quantum chemistry to study water's effect on transition states.
- Employing water clusters as model systems for diverse chemical environments.
- Analyzing experimental and theoretical chemical physics data.
Main Results:
- Water, even as a single molecule, can stabilize transition states and reduce activation energy.
- The interplay between reaction and dissipation rates is key to understanding water's chemical influence.
- Water clusters effectively model reactions across different phases and interfaces.
Conclusions:
- Water plays a multifaceted role in atmospheric and environmental chemistry.
- Further research is needed to fully elucidate the reaction-dissipation dynamics involving water.
- This field offers significant opportunities for fundamental discoveries in chemical physics.
Related Concept Videos
02:30Water: A Bronsted-Lowry Acid and Base
The reaction between a Brønsted-Lowry acid and water is called acid ionization. For example, when hydrogen fluoride dissolves in water and ionizes, protons are transferred from hydrogen fluoride molecules to water molecules, yielding hydronium ions and fluoride ions:
01:00The Water Cycle
The Earth’s hydrosphere includes all of the areas where the storage and movement of water occurs. Since water is the basis of all living processes, the cycling of water is extremely important to ecosystem dynamics.
01:27Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are pivotal agents in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, significantly influencing climate dynamics through their metabolic activities. These microbes modulate the levels of key greenhouse gases by both contributing to and helping mitigate climate change.Microbial Contributions to Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRising global temperatures accelerate microbial metabolism, which, in turn, speeds up the decomposition of organic matter. This process releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) through...
01:27Effects of Chemicals: Overview
Drugs, encompassing various chemical compounds from natural sources, lab synthesis, or genetic engineering, elicit different biological responses in living organisms. Some of these responses are desirable or therapeutic, while others are undesirable. The primary goal of administering a drug is to achieve a therapeutic effect, that is, to address a specific disease or health condition. Any concurrent effects outside of this therapeutic outcome are considered undesirable. These undesirable...
01:31Chemical Factors Affecting Respiration Centers
Chemical factors such as changing CO2, O2, and H+ levels in arterial blood play a critical role in influencing respiration depth and rates. These variations are detected by chemoreceptors—specialized sensors located in two primary body areas. Central chemoreceptors are found throughout the brain stem, including the ventrolateral medulla, while peripheral chemoreceptors are located in the aortic arch and carotid arteries.
CO2 has a potent influence on respiration and is strictly regulated. Under...
CO2 has a potent influence on respiration and is strictly regulated. Under...
03:10Precipitation Reactions
In a precipitation reaction, aqueous solutions of soluble salts react to give an insoluble ionic compound – the precipitate. The reaction occurs when oppositely charged ions in solution overcome their attraction for water and bind to each other, forming a precipitate that separates out from the solution. Since such reactions involve the exchange of ions between ionic compounds in aqueous solution, they are also referred to as double displacement, double replacement, exchange reactions, or...