Question

Hi! I can't figure this out, can you please help me?

The Question is:

Explain the following:

Nitrogen dioxide dissociates in the presence of solar radiation to produce free radicals of oxygen. Explain.

Thank you for helping me!

Accepted Answer

Molecule of NO2 needs some energy for breaking chemical bond betweenO
and N , and this energy can be given by sun.The most common radical in
the lower atmosphere is molecular dioxygen. Photodissociation of
source molecules produces other free radicals. In the lower
atmosphere, the most important examples of free radical production are
the photodissociation of nitrogen dioxide to give an oxygen atom and
nitric oxide, which plays a key role in smog formation—and the
photodissociation of ozone to give the excited oxygen atom O(1D). The
chemical reactions for this process are:

R1 = NO2 + hν → NO + O
R2 = O + O2 → O3
R1 + R2 = NO2 + O2 + hν → NO + O3 <-- Formation ozone at ground
level
R3 = NO + O3 → NO2 + O2 <-- Destruction of ozone

Question #22943

Expert's answer