I just learned about “Salt (NaCl) is actually a combination of a highly poisonous gas (Cl) and a hazardous metal (Na)”.

I’m sure there are lots of examples in life that this rule also applies to.

  • @[email protected]
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    fedilink
    11 year ago

    Not sure anymore. The lesson we were taught just basically said that it damages your lunge if you breath in too much. There were some other interesting thins in that lesson. Basically that cars release not only co2 but also pure c into the air which binds o3 elements into co2 and o2. Which is why in cities and region with more traffic less o3 can be found. O3 is also more common and really sunny days. But please take this with a grain of doubt as this was some years ago.

    • @cynar
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      English
      11 year ago

      O3 is an unstable molecule that acts effectively like bleach, it forces an Oxygen atom/ion onto another molecule. This tends to do significant damage to large hydrocarbons, like those making up our bodies and the cells’ internal machinery.

      It’s produced naturally by sunlight hitting oxygen molecules in the atmosphere, and by lightning. It’s also a byproduct of a number of processes, like some combustion engine designs. It then breaks down quite quickly into normal oxygen, either by reacting with something else, or by combining with a 2nd O3 (2O3 ==> 3O2). This has a short half life of around 20 minutes.