[mattc]

I am attempting to write a book and need some assistance with a chemical question I am having. The question is basically this; could a chemical agent introduced into the atmosphere with extreme heat create a chain reaction changing the chemical makeup of the air to make it toxic? This is completely theoretical and it wouldn't even need to be an existing chemical I am just concerned with the basic premise being feasible.

[Arkcon]

There's two problems here, I'll help with the first one, and then mention the second one. 

First of all, you'll have to Google a bit, and try to understand:  how big is the Earth, what volume of atmosphere Earth has, how much gas it is, and things like that.  Basically, if you can account for the volume of gas you have to cover, you might be able to write something plausible.

Which brings us to the second problems.  We face it often, on these boards.  You want to generate selective verisimilitude -- a subtle falseness that make people believe something more.  More "accuracy" or scientific realism will make for a boring story that is less believable.  We've covered it before:

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=71035.msg256455#msg256455

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=57196.msg205832#msg205832

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=54493.msg198606#msg198606

[billnotgatez]

Here are some flights of fancy
----------------------------
Some space creatures flying low around the world are so flatulent that the methane permeates the entire atmosphere.
A volcano ignites the methane and it combines with all the oxygen in the atmosphere to produce carbon dioxide.
All life that relies on oxygen to respire perishes
----------------------------
Some space creatures flying low around the world deposit copious amounts of bacteria that convert nitrogen and oxygen to Nitrous oxide in large amounts.
The animals of the earth laugh themselves to death.
----------------------------
I am trying to think of other ways nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere would combine to form nitric oxide or nitrogen dioxide or some other nitrogen oxygen compound, but I ran out of creative juices and space creatures.

[mattc]

Hey, first I wanted to thank you for responding. Second I wanted to let you know that the information is just to see if the concept is plausible. This is going to be a Dystopian, sci-fi book and this is going to have already happened about 100 years ago. So I am not going to be injecting a lot of the science of that into the book; except maybe a few things here and there. Mainly I am looking to see if it is plausible because that would mean that the end to the book would also be plausible. I wasn't sure by your last answer if you said that the basic premise that a chemical introduced into air with extreme heat could cause a chain reaction modifying the atmosphere? my thought for how right now is a meteor breaking up in the atmosphere before touching down and the chemical is released from the meteor as it breaks up.

[billnotgatez]

@mattc
Can we assume you know about the theory of dinosaur extinction due to a meteor or comet collision with the earth. I suppose that a very large meteor or comet could be composed of something that could cause chemical reactions.
Let us see if there are any one else that has flights of fancy.

[Corribus]

It doesn't necessarily need to be plausible to be interesting. Look what Vonnegut did with Ice Nine in Cat's Cradle.