Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-4-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-id/2/c/solution
Past exam of the chemistry course of the year 4 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Interdisciplinary paper IDP1 2 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
The lost ozone-column photolysis shielding is , so its optical-depth decrement is . Under the stipulated effective-cross-section Beer-Lambert model, the transmitted photodissociation flux increases by .
The short-lived oxygen singlet D atom satisfies when quenching dominates. At fixed local ozone, water and air density, hydroxyl radical production is proportional to . ConsequentlyA linear optical-depth approximation would give . A realistic calculation integrates the wavelength-dependent absorption cross section, quantum yield and actinic flux; clouds and multiple scattering modify the simple transmitted-beam model.
Ozone change can also alter the radiative temperature structure, water vapor and circulation, thereby changing the water reaction channel and the supply of ozone/precursors to the troposphere. If the held-fixed tropospheric ozone assumption is relaxed, altered ozone itself changes the photochemical source of oxygen singlet D atom. These are additional feedbacks, distinct from the isolated UV-transmission calculation above.
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