Description of the Physical and Chemical Properties of Carbon Dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound of a naturally occurring nature. This gas has a crucial role in maintaining the earth’s ecosystem as you are aware of photosynthesis, which includes the food processing of plants with the help of carbon dioxide and releases oxygen for other requirements of human beings and other animals. Carbon dioxide is a gas that helps regulate the temperature and atmosphere of the earth, and it is the reason it is referred to as a greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide allows sunlight to enter, but it does not allow the sunlight to leave, eventually resulting in lower atmosphere heating. In this article, we will discuss the properties of carbon dioxide, including the physical and chemical properties, and the methods to answer questions like “how will you verify the properties of carbon dioxide?”.

Introduction to Carbon Dioxide 

Carbon dioxide is an odourless and colourless gas at atmospheric pressure and temperature with a relatively less non-combustible and non-toxic nature. In terms of mass, carbon dioxide is heavier than air, and it is soluble in water. Suppose we talk about the chemical formula of carbon dioxide. It is represented as CO2, which illustrates that it is a one-carbon compound attached to two oxygen atoms with the help of a double bond. The main source of carbon dioxide production is during the respiration of several organisms like fungi, microorganisms, animals, and humans. 

Properties of Carbon Dioxide 

Now that you have understood and become familiar with the basic whereabouts of carbon dioxide let us move on to understand the physical properties of Carbon dioxide.

Physical Properties of Carbon Dioxide:

• Carbon dioxide has carbon as the main element, which occurs in several forms like coal and soot.
• In terms of appearance, carbon is soft in nature and black or grey.
• Whenever the carbon is heated without air, it releases the most important compound of carbon known as charcoal.
• Various allotropic forms of carbon refer to the same element with different forms with slightly different physical and chemical properties.
• The density varies in different carbon compounds as it depends on the nature of the carbon compound. There are different natures of carbon compounds like pure and unpaired pure carbon compounds are strictly made up of carbon, whereas the impure carbon compounds have a mixture of hydrogen and carbon.

Chemical Properties:

• Generally, there are four types of chemical reactions shown by carbon compounds, namely combustion reactions, addition reactions, substitution reactions, and oxidation reactions.
• Carbon has a basic oxygen requirement in all forms, with heat and light as an ingredient to form carbon dioxide. The formation of carbon dioxide includes burning in the air, referred to as combustion.
• Carbon dioxide is soluble in water, and it shows a constant decrement of solubility with the rise of temperature.
• The melting point of carbon dioxide is -55.6 degrees Celsius, and the boiling point ranges at -78.5 degrees Celsius. 

Uses of Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a useful gas in widespread use in several industries and daily life. The most important use of carbon dioxide stands as oxygen production during photosynthesis. Now that you have understood and become familiar with the physical and chemical properties of Carbon dioxide, it has become slightly easier to understand the uses of carbon dioxide and relate them to their physical and chemical properties. Below given awesome basic and important carbon dioxide uses:

1. It is used as a refrigerant.
2. Carbon dioxide also functions in fire extinguishing.
3. Carbon Dioxide is also used in soft drinks and carbonated beverages to make them fizzy.
4. Larger scale refrigeration involves using solid carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice.
5. It also has significant use in the medical industry as well.
6. Carbon dioxide is also used in cooking for baking cakes.

A guide to answering “how will you verify the properties of carbon dioxide?”

There are three ways of property verification of carbon dioxide. Here is a detailed guide of these three carbon dioxide properties verification methods.

The first method includes an aqueous sodium carbonate solution, which turns into sodium bicarbonate when carbon dioxide is passed through it. The chemical reactions taking place in this process are given below.

Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2 -> 2NaHCO3

The second method includes an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution, which turns into sodium carbonate when carbon dioxide passes through sodium hydroxide. The chemical reaction taking place in this method is given below.

2NaOH + CO2 -> Na2CO3 + H2O

The third method includes lime water, which turns milky when carbon dioxide is passed through it. The chemical reaction taking place in this method is given below.

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 -> CaCO3 + H2O

Conclusion

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas with several effects and uses in our day-to-day life and industrial processes. It is one of the most important utilities for photosynthesis which eventually generates oxygen to be used by other living organisms like humans, animals, and other microorganisms. Carbon dioxide holds significant importance as it maintains the earth’s ecosystem. It has some specific physical and chemical properties, which we have discussed in this article.