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Uses of Carbon dioxide

The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is essential for the earth's atmospheric conditions. It holds some particular physical and chemical properties. Let us look at and understand the properties of Carbon dioxide in detail with this article.

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound occurring naturally in the environment, which plays a significant role in Earth’s biosphere. Carbon dioxide is also abbreviated as CO2, which is acidic and a colourless gas with more than 53% density compared to dry air. A compound of carbon dioxide consists of two double-bonded oxygen atoms and a single bonded atom of carbon. In this article, we’ll tell you about the uses of carbon dioxide in everyday life, carbon dioxide, and the uses of carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odourless gas at a very low concentration, stable gas at room temperature. Every living creature in this universe produces carbon dioxide due to a waste outcome of respiration, which plants utilise to form their food for photosynthesis, by which they can survive. In context to chemistry, carbon dioxide is abbreviated as CO2. Carbon dioxide is often referred to as a greenhouse gas, as it lets sunlight enter through it but does not permit the same to leave. It also helps to regulate the atmospheric temperature and temperature of plants and plays a significant role in regulating the climate’s temperature globally. There are several uses of carbon dioxide in everyday life apart from global uses. Carbon dioxide helps trap the heat close to the Earth’s surface, resulting in that very less energy escaping into space and driving the carbon cycle, which is the main reason for the existence on Earth.

Increase in the concentration of Carbon Dioxide

Due to human activities, clearing forests and burning fossil fuels leads to a higher gas concentration. In burning fossil fuel, carbon dioxide is released into the Earth’s atmosphere, and after it is stored very deep in the subsurface over megs of years. On the other hand, when deforestation takes place, it reduces the number of plants that absorb carbon dioxide. Contempt to this compared to the artificial ones, the natural resources of carbon dioxide, and more.

The different uses of carbon dioxide in everyday life, it is presumed, cause many negative health effects on the individual body in very large concentrations, but making or living with the low-level concentration of carbon dioxide has not been analysed extensively. Many scientists presume that inhaling air with more concentration of carbon dioxide can be dangerous to the lives of humans.

Co2 as a Greenhouse Gas

Carbon dioxide or CO2 is very important in the greenhouse gas, which helps to trap the heat from the atmosphere, but it is a very minor component as compared to the Earth’s atmosphere. Atmospheric carbon dioxide can be obtained from many natural resources, namely volcanic outgassing, respiration activity of living aerobiotic organisms, combustion of organic matter, and the resources which are obtained manually or man-made sources of carbon dioxide such as the burning of fossil fuels which are used in transportation and power generation use. When carbon dioxide reacts with water, it produces carbonic acid. 

When carbon dioxide reacts with alkalis; as a result, it gives bicarbonate and carbonates as its outcomes. Carbon dioxide can also be obtained by cellular respiration and fermentation.

Properties of CO2

There are many properties of Carbon Dioxide which are mentioned below:

  • Carbon dioxide is odourless and colourless in nature 
  • Carbon dioxide is incombustible gas
  • Carbon dioxide is very slenderly toxic 
  • Carbon dioxide is denser than air 
  • Carbon dioxide is soluble in water 

What are the uses of carbon dioxide in large scale industries?

The two uses of carbon dioxide as industrial requirements are:

  • Pharmaceutical and Chemical industries 
  • Electronics assembly cleaner

Apart from these two uses of carbon dioxide, several other small and large scale uses are discussed below.

Use of carbon dioxide in everyday life 

There are many uses of carbon dioxide in our everyday life mentioned below:

  • Carbon dioxide is also used as a refrigerating material.
  • Carbon dioxide is used as a fire extinguisher. 
  • Carbon dioxide is used in many medical gases because it advances expiration.
  • The carbon dioxide used in the form of dry ice is manifested in the use of a very large proportion of refrigeration.
  • Carbon dioxide is used in baking powder in the making of the yeast for the batter of the cake to rise.
  • Carbon dioxide is used in Pharmaceutical and chemical applications 
  • Carbon dioxide is used in electronic applications 
  • Carbon Dioxide is used in the oil industry 
  • Carbon dioxide is habituated in industrial applications.

Conclusion

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas with an odourless and colourless nature at room temperature. The applications and uses of carbon dioxide range in every industry like pharmaceutical and chemical industries, beverages industry, oil industry and large scale industrial applications. The increased rate of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not good for both atmospheric health and sustainable life on earth. In this article, we shed light on several uses of carbon dioxide in everyday life and the properties of Carbon dioxide.

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