5.2. Transport Versus Equilibrium in Environmental Systems

Try these first

1. 1.

   What do partitioning constants measure?

   Hint

   Think about what happens to chemicals in different materials.

2. 2.

   Explain the concept of moisture content.

   Hint

   Consider how you measure water in soil.

3. 3.

   What is the purpose of partitioning constants?

   • To measure the solubility of a chemical
   • To describe the distribution of chemicals
   • To assess soil quality

   Hint

   Think about what partitioning means for chemicals.

4. 4.

   True or False: Mass balance is not needed in environmental engineering.

   • True
   • False

   Hint

   Consider how contaminants are tracked in systems.

5. 5.

   Calculate how much of Chemical A (100 kg) goes into water given Koc = 4 and the volume of water is 1000 m³ with a moisture content of 0.5.

   Hint

   Consider how to express the mass balance between water, solids, and undissolved chemicals.

6. 6.

   Discuss the implications of having high moisture content in soil when estimating contaminant transport in a contaminated site.

   Hint

   Think about how water saturation might influence contaminant behavior.