Question

Why are small quantities of chlorofluorocarbons so harmful to the ozone layer?

Answer 1

The answer to this is C.

CFC (F2CCl2) will decompose by release a chlorine atom. The free chlorine atom will bind to ozone to crear chlorine monoxide. The equation is

Cl + O3 —> ClO + O2

The ClO will then react with free oxygen molecules to create break the bond a form and other free oxygen molecule in this equation

ClO + O —> Cl + O2

The free chlorine atom can then come in contact with another ozone atom and continue the process which depletes more and more ozone. It’s said that one CFC can break 100,000 ozone molecules.

B is almost correct because chlorine does come from CFCs and stops ozone production but the free chlorine doesn’t react with free oxygen