01. Matter, Energy and Life

• Environmental science


  The systematic study of our environment and our proper place in it
• Environmental science


  • Highly interdisciplinary that integrates natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities in a broad, holistic study of the world around us
  • Mission-oriented because it seeks new, valid, contextual knowledge about the natural world and our impacts on it
• Environmental engineering


  A branch of engineering that aims to improve the quality of environment and promotes protection of people from adverse environmental effects like pollution
• The mission of environmental engineers is to improve recycling, waste disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control
• Ecology


  The scientific study of relationships between organisms and their environment
• Matter


  Everything that takes up space and has mass
• States of matter

  • Solid
  • Liquid
  • Gas
  • Plasma

  
• Water is the best example of matter as it can be in solid (ice), liquid (drinking water), or gas (water vapour)
• Examples of plasma are sun, lightning and very hot flames. It occurs when matter is intensely heated that causes electron released and particles are ionized (electrically charged)
• Conservation of matter


  Matter is neither created nor destroyed, rather, it is recycled over and over again
• The components of environmental systems are intricately connected that is all matter comes from somewhere, and all waste goes somewhere
• Elements responsible for more than 96% of the mass of most living organisms

  • Oxygen
  • Carbon
  • Hydrogen
  • Nitrogen
• Atoms


  Smallest particles that exhibit the characteristics of an element
• Atomic number


  Characteristic number of protons per atom
• Atomic mass


  Sum of protons and neutrons
• Isotopes


  Forms of an element that differ in atomic mass
• Compounds


  Substances composed of different kinds of atoms
• Molecules


  A pair or group of atoms that can exist as a single unit
• Ions


  Charged atoms
• Types of ions

  • Anions (negatively charged)
  • Cations (positively charged)
• Acids


  Substances that readily give up hydrogen ions in water
• Bases


  Substances that readily bond with H+ ions
• pH


  Describes the strength of an acid and base
• Major categories of organic compounds in living things

  • Lipids (including fats and oils)
  • Carbohydrates (including sugars, starches, and cellulose)
  • Proteins (composed of chains of subunits called amino acids)
  • Nucleic acids (complex organic substance present in living cells, especially DNA or RNA)
• Nucleotides


  Carry information between cells, tissues, and organs and the sources of intracellular energy. Nucleotides form long chains called ribo nucleic acid (RNA) or deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) that are essential for storing and expressing genetic information
• Nucleotides in DNA

  • Adenine
  • Guanine
  • Cytosine
  • Thymine
• Cells


  Minute compartments within which the processes of life are carried out
• All living organisms are composed of cells
• Bacteria, some algae, and protozoa are single celled organisms
• Higher organisms have many cells, usually with many different cell varieties. A human being is composed of several trillion cells of about two hundred distinct types
• Enzymes


  A special class of proteins that carry out all the chemical reactions required to create various structures. They also provide energy and materials to carry out cell functions, dispose of wastes, and perform other functions of life at the cellular level. Enzymes are molecular catalyst because they regulate chemical reactions without being used up or inactivated in the process
• Metabolism


  The multitude of enzymatic reactions performed by an organism
• Energy


  The ability to do work, such as moving matter over a distance or causing a heat transfer between two objects at different temperatures
• Types of energy

  • Kinetic Energy
  • Potential Energy
  • Chemical Energy
  • Heat
• Joule (J)


  The work done when one kg is accelerated at one meter per second per second
• Calorie


  The amount of energy needed to heat one gram of pure water one degree Celsius
• Thermodynamics


  A study that deals with the transfer of energy in natural processes
• First law of thermodynamics


  Energy is conserved. It is neither created nor destroyed under normal conditions
• Second law of thermodynamics


  With each successive energy transfer or transformation in a system, less energy is available to do work. Energy is degraded to lower-quality forms, or it dissipates and is lost, as it is used
• Chemosynthesis


  The process in which bacteria use chemical bonds between inorganic elements, such as hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or hydrogen gas (H2), to provide energy for synthesis of organic molecules