Search results for "Chemical models"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Oxygen depletion in dense molecular clouds: a clue to a low O2 abundance?
2011
Context: Dark cloud chemical models usually predict large amounts of O2, often above observational limits. Aims: We investigate the reason for this discrepancy from a theoretical point of view, inspired by the studies of Jenkins and Whittet on oxygen depletion. Methods: We use the gas-grain code Nautilus with an up-to-date gas-phase network to study the sensitivity of the molecular oxygen abundance to the oxygen elemental abundance. We use the rate coefficient for the reaction O + OH at 10 K recommended by the KIDA (KInetic Database for Astrochemistry) experts. Results: The updates of rate coefficients and branching ratios of the reactions of our gas-phase chemical network, especially N + C…
The 2014 KIDA network for interstellar chemistry
2015
Chemical models used to study the chemical composition of the gas and the ices in the interstellar medium are based on a network of chemical reactions and associated rate coefficients. These reactions and rate coefficients are partially compiled from data in the literature, when available. We present in this paper kida.uva.2014, a new updated version of the kida.uva public gas-phase network first released in 2012. In addition to a description of the many specific updates, we illustrate changes in the predicted abundances of molecules for cold dense cloud conditions as compared with the results of the previous version of our network, kida.uva.2011.
Building molecular models using screw-on bottle caps
2013
Chemical models can be built using screw-on bottle caps. Two identical caps can be joined together by thermal welding to form atoms, and the resulting atoms can be joined together by welding or by hot polymer glue to form molecules. The method is easy, can be applied at every level of chemical education, and gives access to an unlimited number of models at almost no cost. It inspires hands-on activity of pupils and can be used to show the dependence between the three-dimensional structure of molecules and their chemical, physical, and biological features.