 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/3/c/solution

Use the transmitted-flux form of the Beer-Lambert law. The optical depth falls from

0.25

0.225

, so

\frac{F ^{'}}{F} = \frac{e ^{- 0.225}}{e ^{- 0.25}} = e^{0.025}, 100 (\frac{F ^{'}}{F} - 1) = 2.532% increase .

A ten-percent loss of ozone therefore does not imply a ten-percent increase of transmitted UV. The response depends on the initial optical depth, wavelength and path geometry. This calculation uses the stated effective optical depth and holds the incident flux and other absorbers/scatterers fixed.

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