Now, I know that the process of recycling actually leaves a bigger carbon footprint than just making a new plastic bottleWhat I want to know is how big is that footprint? Either we don't recycle, still have a carbon footprint, but a smaller one and take up more of our natural land for PURE GARBAGE that benefits no one.Or we recycle, have a bigger carbon footprint, but less space on earth is used for pure waste.What should we do?
well, since aluminum is in group 13 on the periodic table, that means it has 3 orbitals, 2 electrons in the first orbital, 8 in the second orbital, and finally 3 electrons in the third orbitalThis makes a total of 13 electrons all togetherThe 3 valence electrons just means there are 3 electrons in the outer shell of the aluminum atomTherefore, just remember that each orbital holds a different number of maximum electrons 1st orbital -holds 2 maxelectrons 2nd orbital -holds 8 maxelectrons3rd orbital-holds 8 maxelectronsand so on.
Recycling is a huge fadUnfortunately the entire movement started around the time New Jersey sent it's trash on a barge down the east coast looking for a cheaper place to dump itThat image was perceived as New Jersey not having the room to dispose of their own rubbishThe truth of the matter is simple economicsSend it somewhere cheaper to save moneySince that time the US has turned into a brain washed recycle everything regardless of the consequences mentalityRecycling is ONLY useful with one type of material, aluminumWhy else would private companies pay you to give them your trash? If recycling any other product was profitable, there would be more than just the government trying to cash in on itThe only reason it's free is because it's subsidized through feel good legislationSo why can't companies make money on it? Because it's cheaper to make it newWhy is it cheaper then? Because recycling takes an ungodly amount of energy, time, and resourcesOn top of that, even if you put that extra energy (a.k.amore carbon emissions) you can only recycle certain types of plastics, glass, etcAnd then from there, you can only recycle it so many times before it becomes unusable and ends up in a land fill Land fills aren't a bad thing eitherThey are regulated, and many neighborhoods across the country are built on top of them and you'd never even know itThey take up much less area than the average joe would thinkIf you took every single land fill in the US and put it in one central location, you'd have an area roughly 1/100th the size of KansasNot too bad eh? On a side, land fills these days sort out their materials from organics to solids that don't breakdownOrganics promote decomposition and create bacterial growth which further promotes growth in future parks, gardens, golf courses, whatever is built there, as well as generating oxygenI would encourage everyone to really read into the true benefits of recyclingIt's not nearly as useful as most would have you think.
Aluminum has atom number 13, so it has 13 electrons in total: 2 in the inner shell, 8 in the shell surrounding that one and 3 more (the valence electrons) in the outermost shellChlorine is atom number 17, so it has an electron configuration of 2-8-7 (17 in total; the 7 last electrons are the valence electrons)Aluminum is more reactive than chlorine (due to it having fewer valence electrons)At the same time, chlorine only needs one more electron to become stable (8 electrons in the outermost shell mean an atom is stable)Thus, the two atoms start sharing electrons With the 3 electrons each chlorine atom has acquired from aluminum, they have become stable, while on the other side, aluminum's loss of three electrons have made that atom stable tooThe result is a chemical bond (in this case, an ionic bond)The substance hence created is AlCl3 (aluminum(III)chloride)
Chemical bonding is as follows: Aluminum (Al) has 3 electrons in the outer shell Chlorine (Cl) has 7 in the outer shell THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 8 you always want to have 8 in the outer most shell chlorine has the most electrons so we will transfer one from aluminum to make 8 We still have 2 left over in the outer most shell of Aluminum so you give 1 from aluminum to another atom of Chlorine and repeat this again 1 more time the formula becomes: AlCl3 ps the 3 is a subscript
Well, it makes aluminum trichlorideAlCl3 Since aluminum has three extra electrons, it shares them with the chlorineI'm assuming you understand valence electrons and electron shell theoryEach chlorine atom gets an electron and each aluminum atom loses an electronThe electron shell likes to be filled so by using one aluminum atom (+3 from Al) and 3 chlorine atoms, (-3 from Cl) the shell fills and the charge balancesIt will look like Al in the center with three branches of Cl.
