Question 5 (Atkins P17D.5) Methane is a by-product of a number of natural processes (such as digestion of cellulose in ruminant anithats, and anaerobic decomposition of organic waste matter), and industrial processes (such as food production ans and anaerobic decomposition of organic wast reaction with the hydroxyl radical OH. is the main path by which CH4 is removed from the lower atmosphere. T. Gierczak et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 101, 3125(1997) ) measured the rate constants for the bimolecular gas-phase reaction CH4+OHCH3+H2O, and found A=1.13109dm3mol1s1 and Ea=14.1kJmol1 for the Arrhenius parameters. (a) Estimate the rate of consumption of CH4 under the following conditions: take the average OH. concentration to be 3.51015moldm3, that of CH4 to be 40nmoldm3, and the temperature to be. 10C (b) Estimate the global annual mass of CH4 consumed by this reaction (which is slightly less than the mass introduced to the atmosphere) given an effective volume for the Earth's lower atmosphere of 41021dm3