I finished reading a science fiction book series, and it was based on mars, where they were developing carbon dioxide generators to realase the gas into the air to create a thicker and sutainable enviroment to go out onto the surface without a space suit. Is this/ could this be theoretically possible?

Some sources say that carbon dioxide has no taste or smell but others say that it is acid/sour (this is the same word in German).

I think the latter are right in every aspect because if you open a bottle of sparkling water and let the gas above the water into your mouth it definitely tastes sour.

But why are there sources that say it has no taste or smell? Do they just mean you can't smell it in the concentration in which it is present in rather bad air? Or do they mean that the gas itself is neutral to our receptors, and they respond only to the carbic acid it forms with water? But it would be rather difficult to try to smell/taste DRY carbon dioxide, wouldn't it?

I was curious about the combustion of pure carbon, such as graphite or diamond. I know that in the presence of hydrogen, the biproduct is H2O, and in the presence of oxygen the biproduct is CO2. But what about the burning of pure carbon in a sealed chamber using, say, a bomb calorimeter. Also, I know that the incomplete combustion of carbon forms soot, which is, essentially, carbon. So what is the deal? How does pure carbon burn?

I thought it would be possible to get students to think about the difference between infra red light and heat by making a lens of water ice and using it as a burning glass. However, I wondered whether this would work if you made a lens of dry ice? I know that carbon dioxide absorbs strongly in the infra-red, so it would be a good way of demonstrating the link between carbon dioxide and global warming (although I guess nearly impossible to do in practice). All the dry ice I have been able to obtain for school is always pearly white.

Obviously there are other experiments I can do to demonstrate this using gaseous carbon dioxide.

It is agreed that making Porland cement releases CO2, for heating but also due to the chemical reaction. Now I am informed that the concrete in my building is being damaged due to a slow but steady attack by CO2. So will the concrete ruins of our time be a CO2 absorber for the next generation?

Lithium Peroxide has the capability to take in Carbon Dioxide and give out Oxygen. How much Lithium Peroxide would I need to perform the same job as a tree, and could it be regenerated (from Lithium Carbonate) to keep doing it, and would it be worth it in energy costs? Could it save the planet from climate change? Should we just plant more trees?

Best Regards,

Peter Finan

Haworth

West Yorkshire