Teaching Physics with the Physics Suite Edward F. Redish Home | Action Research Kit| Sample Problems | Resources | Product Information
	Problems Sorted by Type | Problems Sorted by Subject | Problems Sorted by Chapter in UP

A. Trees extract carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the air and bind the carbon into their structure. Growing trees is therefore one way of reducing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere (and burning them is a way of increasing the amount of CO₂ in the atmosphere). About 45% of a tree’s dry mass is carbon and about 25% of the mass of a CO₂ molecule is carbon. Estimate the mass of CO₂ that is removed from the atmosphere by a single full-grown tree.

B. One report states that the human population of the earth was responsible for emitting 2.4 x 10¹³ kg of CO₂ into the atmosphere in the year 2000 as a result of the burning of fossil fuels. If we decided to capture all the CO₂ emitted from burning of fossil fuels by planting new forests, estimate how many square kilometers we would have to convert to forest each year to achieve this goal.

Page last modified March 2, 2009: G36