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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Photochemical smog?

Definition 14.18 University Chemistry — Year 3 · Chapter 14 — Photochemistry

Photochemical smog is the mixture of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, aldehydes, peroxyacyl nitrates and fine particles formed in sunlit air polluted by nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds.

A city under photochemical smog on a hot afternoon. The brown tint comes from NO2; the ozone, which irritates the lungs, is invisible.
A city under photochemical smog on a hot afternoon. The brown tint comes from NOX2\ce{NO2}; the ozone, which irritates the lungs, is invisible.
The ozone column over the southern hemisphere on 1 October 1998, from satellite measurements: the ozone hole over Antarctica (purple) falls to about 100 Dobson units, against about 300 elsewhere.
The ozone column over the southern hemisphere on 1 October 1998, from satellite measurements: the ozone hole over Antarctica (purple) falls to about 100 Dobson units, against about 300 elsewhere.
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