What is the ozone layer?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist. And I'm not. And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast that helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay, Jam. Today, we're gonna talk about the ozone.
Jam:The ozone.
Melissa:The ozone layer.
Jam:Okay. Like a layer
Melissa:Do you know what the ozone and the ozone layer are?
Jam:So I know a little bit, but I don't know how accurate this is, and there's probably tons of things I don't know.
Melissa:Probably. Probably tons of things everyone doesn't know.
Jam:Yeah. Fair. Very true. So, I'm just like you guys. I don't know a lot.
Jam:Okay?
Melissa:But I remember There's so much not like, there's so much to know that we each have So much that we don't know.
Jam:Yeah. I wish there was a way to know all of it, and then we wouldn't have anything we didn't No.
Melissa:But then we can learn new things.
Jam:Okay. That's true.
Melissa:So
Jam:Okay. I'll take it.
Melissa:You'll take it. You'll take you'll take the way the world is already.
Jam:The the things that I remember about the ozone is that I feel like ozone is o 3. Like
Melissa:That's true.
Jam:3 atoms of oxygen. Right?
Melissa:I'm so impressed that you knew that.
Jam:And I remember hearing about that in, like, 7th Grade from my science teacher, mister Wise.
Melissa:Mister Wise?
Jam:Yes. The husband of miss Wise who talked about It'd be my biology teacher. Other times.
Melissa:That's so cool. Yeah. Just They're a a husband wife duo.
Jam:Yeah. Just a science couple. Actually, I think he taught a lot of stuff, not just science. But A science couple? Yeah.
Jam:I wish I could be
Melissa:in a science couple. I guess I'm in a STEM couple because Mason's an engineer.
Jam:Nice. Yeah. You guys got 2 of the letters in there.
Melissa:Yeah. Yes. We're kind of like a sciency cup, a STEM y couple.
Jam:So I remember learning about that and then also about Something I vaguely remember called chlorofluorocarpens. Okay. Is that in that right That is in
Melissa:the right direction. Yes.
Jam:However, those are I think are bad.
Melissa:Yes. They are bad. Well, I mean, for some things, they're useful for other things.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:And came.
Jam:That's kind of it. Also, the ozone layer is I think everybody knows at least. It's in the sky. It's part of our atmosphere.
Melissa:Yeah. Yep.
Jam:Mhmm. Okay.
Melissa:Wow. You know a lot more than I thought you're gonna know.
Jam:Well, I that last 1 was the hardest one.
Melissa:I tested I tested this out on Mason and asked him if he knew, and he did not.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:I was I was expecting your knowledge level to be close to that, but I'm impressed of how much you've retained. Good job.
Jam:Don't test me on the other things that I learned in 7th grade. I'll just say that much.
Melissa:Me either. I don't remember a lot. Okay. So Ozone is closely related this whole ozone ozone layer situation is closely related to something we've talked about before called equilibrium.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So equilibrium in chemistry, I want you to imagine it's like a scale. One of those old school Scales where you kinda have to balance each side like a teeter totter?
Jam:Yes. Yes.
Melissa:Okay. So that's kind of what equilibrium is in my mind. You have these 2 trays that need to be perfectly balanced.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So in a chemical reaction, you start with what we call reactants.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And that's whatever 1 or 2 or 3 things you're gonna react. And when they react together, you get products.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So that's whatever is formed, the products. So you start with reactants, and you go to products. But a lot of times, we've talked about this concept before too. It's not just like the reactants become the products and that's it.
Melissa:The reaction is over.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:The reverse reaction can sometimes happen. So if your reactants are a plus b and you're getting c. Sometimes c can break back down to b and a with the proper conditions, or they might react with something else and carry on.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Or a plus b might equal d and e on accident, not just c. Okay.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So there's a lot more that happens than just The simple what we write on the paper. And when you have the forward reaction and then it going backwards in reverse
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:When those 2 are happening at the same rate, then your scale starts to balance out and you get equilibrium.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So the forward reaction the reverse reaction are happening at the same rate. They've balanced each other out.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:And the ozone layer is like 1 big Balancing scale.
Jam:Okay. Tons of things happening forward reaction, tons of things happening backward.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So ozone is o 3. Like you said, it's 3 oxygen molecules.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And radiation from the sun Can break up. It's absorbed by the ozone, and it causes a bond to break to create o 2 and then 1 single oxygen atom.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And that single oxygen atom is not happy, it's gonna go try to react.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So then that single oxygen atom will go and find an o two molecule, and those will react to form Ozone again.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:The ozone breaks down to form o two. Uh-huh. That's called diatomic oxygen, 2 atoms.
Jam:K. And then
Melissa:a single oxygen atom, and then the diatomic form and the single form can come back together and make ozone again.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Forward reaction, backwards reaction.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And when the ozone absorbs the ultraviolet light from the sun and it breaks down. Mhmm. It also releases heat. Okay. And in that way, the ozone protects us from getting The ultraviolet light from the sun because before it can filter through the ozone layer, it's absorbed and then released as just heat.
Jam:Got it. Okay.
Melissa:Does that remind you of something else?
Jam:Kinda like sunscreen.
Melissa:It's exactly like sunscreen.
Jam:One big old sunscreen.
Melissa:We have a big layer of sunscreen basically in the sky.
Jam:Interesting. So, I mean, so obviously some of it still gets through, But it'll be much worse if we didn't have that layer.
Melissa:Yes. I think it's below a certain wavelength is where it absorbs, so it's the higher energy waves
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That are coming in. So the more high energy waves are stopped of ultraviolet light. And then the They're still dangerous, but I think the UVA and b are the less dangerous ones that come through and get to us.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:So that's what the ozone layer does.
Jam:K.
Melissa:And it is up in the sky protecting us, And it's also in this equilibrium balancing act.
Jam:Uh-huh. K. Interesting.
Melissa:So that is the ozone layer. It's not just a layer of O 3 molecules doing nothing. They're reacting. They're in equilibrium. And molecules are pretty spread far apart from each other, so I heard an interesting fact
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That the amount of ozone, the how much it's spread out, it takes up about 15 kilometers. Uh-huh. But if you condense it down to where all the ozone molecules are right next to each other, it'd be, Like, just a few millimeters.
Jam:Oh, yikes. Okay. That crazy? Yeah.
Melissa:So there's a lot of empty space up there too, but it's enough to where it's absorbing the UV radiation and having this whole reaction go.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:Okay. But, unfortunately, I Now you know about this part. Due to something called chlorofluorocarbons, which were often used in Freon that was part of refrigerants
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:In aerosol cans back in the day, which your 7th grade teacher told you about, like, in the seventies eighties Yeah. These have caused a hole in the ozone layer.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:And the reason why is because they're messing up that balancing act.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:If you have a chlorine atom or if you have chlorine in your chlorofluorocarbons Uh-huh. And it gets hit with something like UV light. Mhmm. It can form what's known as a radical.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:We've talked about those before. But what that basically means is it's an atom with 1 single unpaired on it. Mhmm. Electrons hate to be unpaired. Mhmm.
Melissa:So they get crazy and they wanna react as much as they can. Uh-huh. And sometimes they'll go and find another atom and steal one of its electrons, making that New atom, a radical.
Jam:Got it. Got it.
Melissa:So it'll go up into space, into the Atmospheric layer of the ozone layer.
Jam:Uh-huh. It's
Melissa:not quite space, I guess, but it'll go up in there, your chlorines. They'll form these radicals, and 1 chlorine radical can destroy up to thousands of molecules of ozone because they start this chain reaction where all these radicals are forming.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So, basically, you had this perfect balancing act of equilibrium going on, and then the Chlorofluorocarbons come in and Yeah. Mess up the equilibrium.
Jam:Interesting. And keep things from going back and forth like they should
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Keeping the ozone from still existing or whatever.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And becoming ozone again after it's become oxygen. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:It'll either destroy the ozone molecules or it could destroy o 2 molecules, but it basically just throws these radicals around that are making it to where the ozone reaction isn't going to happen. It's they call it scavenging. It's scavenging electrons.
Jam:Trunks. Yeah.
Melissa:Okay. Going in there and just messing everything up.
Jam:Yeah. Dang.
Melissa:I know. One chlorine radical can destroy Up to thousands of molecules boson.
Jam:Wow. Jeez.
Melissa:And the only way that you get rid of of a radical without it, You know, propagating itself as if it finds another radical, and then they these 2 radicals together would be happy.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:So that's it.
Jam:Dang it. If we can only help them find other radicals before they found, you know, the oxygen or or ozone Yeah. Molecules. Dang it, dude.
Melissa:So what they did instead of helping radicals find other radicals, because that would be challenging Yeah. Is, The scientists who discovered that this was going on, they were awarded the Nobel Prize, which is really cool.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And, the Montreal Protocol was established, which asked countries to limit their production of these chlorofluorocarbons.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And because of this work in reducing the amount of chlorofluorocarbons that are being produced and in our atmosphere, they estimate that the ozone layer is going to be restored to its pre 19 seventies levels by 2070.
Jam:Okay. Dang. That takes a while though.
Melissa:Takes a long time because chlorine can do so much damage for each chlorine atom that's released. Steam. That's a lot.
Jam:Yeah. Seriously. Gosh. Dang, dude. 2070.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Man, I'm glad that they made The change when they did, though, because you. What could have been, like, you know, 20, a 150 or whatever.
Melissa:I'm sorry. Yeah.
Jam:21, 50, 9.
Melissa:I know it ends up being, like, A 100 years total, but
Jam:they Seriously.
Melissa:When they I think they discovered it in the Montreal protocol was established in the I think it was the eighties. So it's takes all the way from the eighties to 20 seventies when they're estimating that the damage will be reversed.
Jam:Dang it, dude.
Melissa:I thought this is a timely episode because we're having similar conversations about climate change a lot lately with the report that just got put out. So Yeah. It just goes to show that a little bit of action on our part right now can, 1, start reversing the process, but, 2, All of that damage was done just in the seventies eighties when these freons were being used.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Dang. Man, that's crazy.
Melissa:I know.
Jam:And it's scary to think that, like, what if it had gone on even just 10 more years?
Melissa:I know.
Jam:Like, How much more damage would be done? How bigger would the
Melissa:Maybe it would take us all the way to to 22 2,170. Yeah.
Jam:It's hard for me to do that math on the fly. I know.
Melissa:Yeah. Another 100 years or 80 years of damage or whatever.
Jam:Yeah. Jeez, dude. That's crazy.
Melissa:So do you wanna take a stab at explaining the balancing scale of ozone back to me?
Jam:Yes. I'd love to. So up in the sky
Melissa:Up in the sky.
Jam:Is this wonderful layer where these ozone molecules
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Have been doing their thing for centuries, 1000 of years, millions of years, whatever.
Melissa:Assume. I don't know how when the ozone layer was formed.
Jam:But it has been mostly undisturbed Doing its thing, which is
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:This balancing act of becoming because UV is hitting it.
Melissa:UV is hitting it, so it's putting energy into the molecule.
Jam:And then it's taking the 3 oxygen molecules that make up Ozone? Mhmm. And it ends up somehow breaking them apart?
Melissa:Yeah. The energy that gets put into ozone, it's almost a good way to think of it is almost like too much for the molecule to handle. So as a result of that energy being put in
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:A bond breaks.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:And then you end up with this o 2 on one side and oxygen single oxygen on the other.
Jam:Got it. And, normally, yeah, oxygen likes to be 2 of them. Mhmm. Diatomic.
Melissa:Yes. Diatomic. Yeah. There's, like, 7 that we had to memorized that like to be diatoms. Uh-huh.
Melissa:I remember my teacher coloring them in in high school. So oxygen is one of those.
Jam:Okay. And so that happens, and then there's this lone oxygen
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Wandering around, and The loan auction really wants a buddy.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:At least at least 1 buddy because it's it would rather be 2 than 1.
Melissa:It would rather 2 then 1.
Jam:But, typically, what ends up finding is 2 that are together and joins them and becomes ozone once again.
Melissa:That's right. And I think it requires some energy for that reaction to happen. So, actually, the UV is creating the ozone Hand breaking it down.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Cool. So they have the energy available to get back together.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:But also it is what caused The split in the 1st place.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:But what ends up being the case is because it's happening in such a large scale with so many ozone molecules Breaking apart and co being that together
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That there's that equilibrium of it happening over and over and over. But for the most part, the scale is staying in balance Even though it's happening.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Because it's on this large scale happening as fast as they're breaking down, they're getting back together.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And so on and so on.
Melissa:And because it's doing that and breaking down, getting back together, and making new ozone It's what happens?
Jam:Shielding us from Some pretty harsh UV
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:That it is absorbing Mhmm. And then just the heat kind of is given off as energy. Yes. And
Melissa:It well, the the products of the reaction, we would say, are the o two, The single oxygen and the heat.
Jam:And heat. Okay. Got it. And not as much UV is hitting us down here.
Melissa:Thank goodness.
Jam:And we are grateful to you, Ozon Lair. But, unfortunately, we were not so grateful in seventies eighties, were we?
Melissa:No. We were not. We were grateful for AC and fridges, though.
Jam:Right. And it was In those coolants, those Freon, whatever formulas they're using then Mhmm. Add A higher amount of chlorofluorocarbons Mhmm. Which was sending these chlorine Mhmm. Molecules up into the air.
Jam:Yeah. And they were Was it because of the UV also that they're turning into free radicals? What what turned them into free radicals?
Melissa:Yes. So we use actually this As a reaction in chemistry labs, when you're trying to make something new, you can use chlorine, so c l two, and expose it to light, and it will break up into its radical form.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it'll absorb UV light and split into 2 separate chlorine atoms with a radical on it.
Jam:Okay. And the the downside, obviously, there's tons of reasons that radicals are bad Mhmm. In our bodies and in other areas and in
Melissa:Yeah. If they get on your face or in your body, you wanna have antioxidants.
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Which we talked about in a later or an earlier episode. Yeah.
Jam:Throwback to that was probably, like, pretty dang early, I would guess.
Melissa:Pretty early. Yeah.
Jam:Can't remember. But go check that one out. Get something about antioxidants In the title, I'm sure. I'm sure we put that in there.
Melissa:Yes. I'm sure.
Jam:And so those radicals are Finding their way up to the ozone layer.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And because they're this very reactive lone electron Mhmm. Mature electron, it's That does not is not happy.
Melissa:Not happy by itself.
Jam:It gets up in there and starts messing stuff up.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:Taking electrons from the ozone molecules and stuff. Yeah. And causing that nice Balance
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Of equilibrium to be thrown off
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:And causing lots of ozone to not end up reforming, Leaving these big old holes.
Melissa:Yes. And the hole actually appears in certain seasons, Which I wonder if that has to do with the way the sun is hitting the earth at different times. Oh, interesting. So that's interesting. But that's it.
Melissa:Yes. And the whole layer, I believe, has thinned, but there's one specific part over Antarctica, I think, where there is a hole in the ozone.
Jam:Interesting thing. I wonder why there.
Melissa:I don't know. That's why I wondered if it had to do So where the sun was hitting? Or Mhmm. I don't know.
Jam:That's crazy. Yeah. Is that it? Did I get everything?
Melissa:You got everything.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Good job. Dang. That's crazy. Very impressed.
Jam:Thanks, mister Wise, for that foundational Yeah. Those pieces building blocks that I somehow remembered. That's a miracle.
Melissa:Yeah. I thought this was a cool episode. A little bit shorter, but I like emphasizing the idea of Diatoms of equilibrium and radicals, which Mhmm. I think we haven't talked about diatoms before, but we've definitely talked about equilibrium and radical. And I thought this was a cool new application of it that I actually didn't know much about.
Melissa:So Yeah.
Jam:And I like that of all the times we talked about equilibrium, this was one very, very simple version Yes. That was a little bit easier for me to get my head around Yeah. Than some of the other ones. And that's just oxygen Changing forms and going back and stuff. You know?
Jam:But for the most part. But
Melissa:Yeah. Maybe I shoulda started with that instead of a the complicated equilibrium going on on our teeth.
Jam:Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that was cool too. I mean, think yeah.
Jam:It just it does help me understand that concept better, I think.
Melissa:Yeah. Well, that's it. That's all I have for you in your science lesson for today. But is there anything that you have for me? Anything fun in your wake that you wanna tell me about?
Melissa:I feel like I haven't seen you. Yeah. I was out. I was out sick, so I didn't we postponed recording, and I haven't Seen jam in a little while.
Jam:Yeah. Recorded on a Sunday, which feels so strange.
Melissa:It's so different. I don't
Jam:know if we've ever recorded on a Sunday.
Melissa:No. Yeah. It's It's been usually Thursdays Fridays, I think.
Jam:Yeah. So, unfortunately, this is not something new to you.
Melissa:Oh, bummer.
Jam:But I thought our listeners would be interested in hearing about it because I my wife and I had been trying for a while to to Figure out a good kind of some food storage solutions that are good for the environment.
Melissa:Oh, yes. I do know about this one.
Jam:Yeah. And so Mohsen and I have, like, swapped different things we found and stuff like that. And finally, Em and I bought some The wording they use is platinum silicone.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Platinum silicone bags. Reusable, basically, they're reusable baggies, ziplock bags. And this is sounds so so boring, but if you're someone who has been, like, trying to use less Things like that.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:And then you're also like, but dang it. You know? Ziploc bag, they're so helpful and convenient.
Melissa:They are so helpful and convenient.
Jam:Throw things in, Blah blah. Especially with, like, trying to take snacks with those different places for having a kid and whatnot.
Melissa:Yes. It's hard to get out of the habit
Jam:of
Melissa:that For sure.
Jam:A 100%. So this is not an ad. I won't tell you the brand name at the moment. If you are interested, you could message us on Instagram or email us. But I just we found some that we got, and we've used them a few times already this week.
Jam:And it is very nice, and they work are working great.
Melissa:And it
Jam:just feels good to have something that is better for the environment that is also not single use.
Melissa:Yes. So We got a similar thing The I don't they don't have anything disposable like it, so I feel like I have to use the name, but they're called food huggers.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Melissa:And you just Put your lemon and your lime down in there, and it makes an airtight seal. And we use them all the time, and it just makes you so happy because I would've been throwing that in a plastic baggy.
Jam:Yeah. And I definitely was one that tried to reuse baggies a few times if I could depending on what what I put in there, how gross it was or whatever. But still, you can only use them a couple times
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:Max. And so it just, it's one of those things that's just hard to break that habit.
Melissa:Yeah. Well, I'm happy for you. Welcome to the world of reusable baggies.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:We love our reusable Baggies, we love our Tupperwares. Our they're, I guess, they're glass, so they're not Tupperware. But
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:We live all of our reusable options, and we We are so excited whenever other people get on this.
Jam:A 100%. And we've just been doing without anything like that for, like, ever since we moved to this house. Yeah. We haven't had use? And so I'll put something in, like, a way too big of a container.
Melissa:Yeah. Yes.
Jam:Probably putting, like, a little snack in, like, a, like, a really large
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:You know, Pyrex, something like that. But Oh,
Melissa:also people should get in on beeswax straps. Mhmm.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:Those are very useful too.
Jam:Yes. We have some of those. We need to get more.
Melissa:And this has been welcome to Reusable Corner.
Jam:Yeah. Exactly. So now that we visited the the reasonable corner, what what happened in your week? What was new with you?
Melissa:Well, this is pretty exciting. So I am you guys know I teach organic chemistry. I usually am a teaching assistant of some kind
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Or I have covered for other people's classes. But for the 1st time ever, I'm having the opportunity as a graduate student, which is a pretty big deal Uh-huh. To make my own class. And I get to write a syllabus and make my test, and it's a whole lot of work.
Jam:Uh-huh. Uh-huh. But it's really Exciting to get
Melissa:to do that, and I get to meet my students tomorrow. So the people I've been preparing for and hoping for and Thinking about how can I balance giving them enough work to learn and not so much work that they're overwhelmed? You know? Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. They're coming. The people I've been preparing for are coming to my class, Awesome. I'm so excited.
Jam:Dude, that's awesome. Very cool.
Melissa:Yes. And then kinda scared because always before I had an instructor of record I could blame if something went wrong. Uh-huh. And now it's all on me.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I am the teacher.
Jam:You're the teacher. Well, you're gonna do great, and we are all behind you.
Melissa:Thank you. Thanks. You guys are awesome.
Jam:It also does sound like tons of work.
Melissa:So Yes. That
Jam:yeah. It does not sound easy at all. I definitely hear that.
Melissa:Yes. That plus Getting sick and trying to get all my stuff together was really rough this week. So Yeah.
Jam:I'm also ready to start teaching for that Just so that it's here. Yeah. Yeah. A 100%.
Melissa:Yay. Very excited about that. Well, thanks, Jam, for your support.
Jam:Anytime.
Melissa:And thanks for coming and learning about Ozone even though you already knew a lot about it.
Jam:I sorta did. I mean, I remembered some, but thank you for teaching me the the rest, the Especially most of the important stuff that if I ever did know, I forgot. You know?
Melissa:You are so welcome. And thanks to all of you listeners. Also, we could not do this without you. This is such a fun job that Jim and I get to do.
Jam:Absolutely. And if you have ideas or questions, things you wondered about that our chemistry, please ask us. Reach out to us on Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook at chem for your life. That's chem, f o r, your life to share your thoughts or ideas. If you'd like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, Go to kodashfi.com/chem for your life and donate the cost of a cup of coffee.
Jam:If you're not able to donate, you can still help us by subscribing in our favorite podcast app and rating and writing our review on Apple Podcasts. That also helps us to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jim Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes or on our website. Jim Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to a Colini and v Garza who reviewed this episode.
