-
Because crimes are public injuries, they are punishable by the government. It is the government’s responsibility to bring charges against criminals. In fact, private citizens may not prosecute each other for crimes. When a crime has been committed, the government collects the evidence and files charges against the defendant. When someone is charged with committing a crime, he or she is charged by the government in an
indictment
.
Our civil tort system allows victims to bring a civil suit against someone for injuries inflicted upon them. Indeed, criminal laws and torts often have parallel causes of action. Sometimes these claims have the same or similar names. For instance, a victim of fraud may bring a civil action for fraud and may also be a witness for the government during the criminal trial for fraud.
Burden of Proof
In a criminal case, the defendant is presumed to be innocent unless he or she is proven guilty. This
presumption of innocence
means that the government must prove the case against the defendant before it can impose punishment. If the government cannot prove its case, then the person charged with the crime must be
acquitted
. This means that the defendant will be released, and he or she may not be tried for that crime again. This important protection from
double jeopardy
is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
The prosecution has the burden to prove its case
beyond a reasonable doubt
. This means that the evidence must be so compelling that no reasonable doubt exists as to the defendant’s guilt. The defendant does not have to prove anything, because the burden is on the government to prove its case. It is useful to think of the criminal standard of proof—beyond a reasonable doubt—as something like 95 percent certainty, with 5 percent doubt. Perhaps there is some doubt about the precise time of day or the victim’s exact words to the defendant. However, there is no doubt about the essential elements of the crime, such as the defendant’s identity as the perpetrator of the crime, his or her mens rea, and the actus reus.
Figure 8.1 Burden of Proof in Criminal Trials
Compare this to the standard of proof in a civil trial, which requires the plaintiff to prove the case only by a
preponderance of the evidence
. This means that the evidence to support the plaintiff’s civil case is greater than the evidence that does not. Preponderance of the evidence could mean 51 percent in favor of the plaintiff’s case, and 49 percent in doubt. Therefore, it is much more difficult to prosecute a criminal defendant than to bring a successful civil claim. Since a criminal action and a civil action may be brought against a defendant for the same incident, these differences in burdens of proof can result in verdicts that seem, at first glance, to contradict each other. For example, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder in a criminal trial because the government did not prove to the jury that he committed the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. However, a different jury found O.J. Simpson liable for wrongful death in a subsequent civil action.
Figure 8.2 Burden of Proof in Civil Trials
This extra burden reflects the fact that the defendant in a criminal case stands to lose much more than a defendant in a civil case. Although no one wants to lose assets in a civil case, the loss of liberty through imprisonment is a more significant loss. Therefore, more protections are given to a criminal defendant than are given to defendants in civil proceedings. Because so much is at stake in a criminal case, our Constitutional due process requirements are very high for defendants in criminal proceedings.
Due process
procedures vary depending on the type of penalty that can be levied against someone. For example, in a civil case, the due process requirements might simply be notice and an opportunity to be heard. If the government intends to revoke a professional license, then the defendant might receive notice by way of a letter, and the opportunity to be heard might exist by way of written appeal. In a criminal case, however, the due process requirements are higher. For example, a criminal defendant is entitled to confront all witnesses against him or her, and to see the evidence the prosecution intends to introduce at trial. More protections must be in place because a criminal case carries the potential for the most serious penalties.
Classification of Crimes
Felonies versus Misdemeanors
Crimes are generally classified as either felonies or misdemeanors.
Felonies
are serious crimes punishable by a year or more in prison. These type of crimes include fraud, arson, homicide, and most other crimes that are mentioned in news headlines.
Misdemeanors
are less serious crimes that are often punishable by fines, probation or time served in jail pending conviction. Examples of misdemeanors include trespassing, vandalism, and failure to report for jury duty.
White-Collar Crime Versus Blue-Collar Crime
White-collar crime
is a term used to describe nonviolent crimes committed by people in their professional capacity, or by organizations. These crimes are committed for financial gain, often through deception. White-collar crimes are not typical street crimes, like burglary or robbery, and they are not personal crimes, like murder or rape. White-collar criminals frequently commit their crimes on the job, in broad daylight, while sitting at a desk. For example, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for stealing $20 billion in a Ponzi scheme that had $65 billion in fabricated gains.
Blue-collar crime
is a generic term used to describe crimes that are more traditional street crimes. In business, property crimes (rather than crimes against people) are a primary concern. A property crime is a crime involving damage to property, while a person crime is a crime involving injury to a person’s body. Examples of blue-collar crime that often affect businesses include shoplifting, vandalism and destruction of property.
8.3 Constitutional Rights and Defenses
A person accused of a crime has rights guaranteed by the US Constitution to ensure the federal government does not unfairly prosecute them. The Bill of Rights–especially the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments–list the rights of criminal defendants. The Fourteenth Amendment makes these rights applicable to defendants accused of crimes by state governments. In addition, most states have constitutions that have similar protections.
Fourth Amendment
Figure 8.3 Language of the Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment prohibits illegal searches and seizures. If evidence is obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment, it cannot be used against the defendant in a court of law. For Fourth Amendment requirements to be met, law enforcement officers (the Executive Branch) must obtain a search warrant from a judge (the Judicial Branch) to search a specific area or person for specific items. A search warrant is issued only when a judge determines that probable cause exists.
Probable cause
exists when the known facts and circumstances would lead a reasonable person to believe that an item sought by the warrant is contraband, is stolen, or is evidence of a crime.
If a valid search warrant is issued, then law enforcement may search the area identified in the warrant for the named item(s) or person. Even if there was no warrant, the items found may still be admissible as evidence. This is because several exceptions to the requirements for a search warrant exist to help law enforcement protect the public and stop crimes as they occur.
|
Warrant Exception
|
Example
|
-
Two other common exceptions are the automobile exception and stop and frisk exception. The
automobile exception
means that the passenger compartment of an automobile may be searched if the car has been lawfully stopped. When a police officer approaches a stopped car at night and shines a light into the interior of the car, the car has been searched. No warrant is required. If the police officer spots something that is incriminating, it may be seized without a warrant. Similarly, if someone is stopped lawfully, that person may be frisked without a warrant. This is the
stop and frisk exception
to the warrant requirement. Both of these exceptions are based on officer safety, but are often labeled based on the circumstances of the search.
In the business context, it is also important to note that some administrative agencies may conduct warrantless searches of closely regulated businesses, such as junkyards, where stolen cars may be disassembled for parts that can be sold.
Fifth Amendment
Figure 8.4 Language of the Fifth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment guarantees four important rights:
-
The right to avoid self-incrimination;
-
The right to due process so that all court proceedings are fundamentally fair;
-
The right to be indicted by a grand jury for capital offenses and infamous crimes; and
-
The right to be free from double jeopardy.
The Fifth Amendment guarantees that people can choose to remain silent. No one can be compelled to testify against himself or herself or to make self-incriminating statements. If a person does not want to cooperate with the government’s investigation and prosecution of a crime, he or she does not have to. During trial, the prosecution cannot comment on a defendant’s silence and it cannot be used as evidence of guilt against the defendant.
The prohibition against
double jeopardy
means that a person cannot be tried twice for the same offense by the same governmental body. This prevents the government from harassing individuals with endless prosecutions until they find the “right” jury that is willing to convict. It also requires the government to do its job well the first time it prosecutes a case.
Sixth Amendment
Figure 8.5 Language of the Sixth Amendment
The Sixth Amendment entitles a criminal defendant to:
-
A speedy trial;
-
A trial by jury;
-
A public trial;
-
An attorney; and
-
The right to confront witnesses.
The purpose of the Sixth Amendment is to ensure transparency in criminal proceedings so the government cannot selectively prosecute dissidents or employ unfair tactics. Defendants are entitled to an attorney during any phase of a criminal proceeding where there is a possibility of incarceration. This means that if a defendant cannot afford an attorney, then one is appointed for him or her at the government’s expense.
Eighth Amendment
Figure 8.6 Language of the Eighth Amendment
The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and excessive fines and bail. Simply put, the Eighth Amendment is an anti-torture amendment. It also prohibits jails from being used against the poor as was commonly practiced in Europe at the time the Constitution was written.
Defenses
Under the
exclusionary rule
, any evidence the government acquires illegally may not be used at trial. This rule prevents governmental misconduct during the investigation of crimes. The theory is simple: if law enforcement and prosecutors know that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court, they will not be tempted to make improper searches or engage in other illegal behavior. The exclusionary rule is one of the most powerful limits on the police power of the government.
Because the exclusionary rule is intended to prevent law enforcement from intentionally overstepping its authority, an exception exists to the rule for when the police act in good faith. Therefore, the exclusionary rule does not protect individuals and businesses from all governmental errors. Instead, it prevents intentional misconduct.
If someone is subject to a custodial interrogation, he or she must first be informed of their
Miranda rights
. These rights are usually stated as:
You have the right to remain silent. Anything that you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you by the state. Do you understand your rights?
The purpose of the Miranda warnings is to ensure that people understand their constitutional rights so they make informed decisions about whether to speak with law enforcement.
Entrapment is another defense available to people accused of crimes.
Entrapment
means that the criminal intent originated with the police, and therefore the mens rea of the crime cannot be placed on the defendant. Essentially, the rule against entrapment limits the ability of the police to play the role of criminals during undercover investigations. For example, if the police provide a drug dealer with the opportunity to sell drugs to an undercover agent, there is no defense of entrapment because the dealer had the mens rea to commit a crime regardless of the identity of the buyer. However, if the police knock on someone’s door who is not known to be a drug dealer and continues to demand drugs until the person cannot resist and sells the police drugs, then entrapment occurs.
8.4 Common Business Crimes
Each jurisdiction has the power to define what a crime is. Therefore, criminal laws can vary between states and federal governments. However, there are some common crimes that affect businesses across jurisdictions.
Fraud
is the use of deception to acquire money or property.
Securities fraud
is when someone uses deception to circumvent the regulations or statutes interpreted by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to acquire money or property. Goldman Sachs was charged with securities fraud when it misrepresented material facts to investors to gain financially.
Financial institution fraud
is fraud against banks and other similar institutions, such as credit unions. The IRS investigates financial institution fraud. Cases of financial institution fraud can involve people who commit money laundering and those who falsify tax documents, or profit and loss statements, to gain funding from banks.
A
Ponzi scheme
is a fraudulent pyramid scheme, where innocent people pay in to participate. Those at the top of the pyramid may receive something that appears to be a return on their investment (ROI), but those at the bottom do not. Those who operate Ponzi schemes generally solicit investors, and those who invest in such schemes are expecting a legitimate ROI. However, the head of the Ponzi scheme keeps his early investors happy by bringing in new investors, whose money he gives to the old investors as their ROI. This allows the Ponzi scheme to continue, because it appears from the outside that investors are receiving a legitimate ROI. The problem is that the capital contributions eventually disappear, since they are never invested but are simply used by the head for his own purposes, including paying investors with fake ROI payments as necessary. Pyramids will eventually collapse under their own unsustainable structure. Bernie Madoff was convicted of running the largest known Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of approximately $65 billion.
Embezzlement
occurs when someone takes property that was in his or her possession lawfully and then converts it to his or her own use. Embezzlement often happens by people who are in a position of trust over the assets of another person. This includes financial advisors, brokers, accountants, lawyers, and guardians. Embezzlement strategies can involve
forgery
, which is counterfeiting a document or someone else’s signature.
Embezzlement differs from larceny, because
larceny
requires the trespassory taking of property with the intent to deprive the owner of the property. In other words, in a larceny, the thief is not supposed to have possession of the property to begin with. For example, larceny includes shoplifting and basic theft of personal property.
It is illegal to make false statements or engage in a cover up during dealings with the federal government.
Making False Statements
is a crime that is often easier to prove against a defendant than a more complex crime that is being investigated. For example, Martha Stewart was investigated for insider trading. Although the insider trading charges were dismissed, Martha Stewart was convicted by a jury of making false statements because she lied to officers during the investigation. As a result, she served five months in prison.
RICO
The
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)
is a federal statute that was passed to prevent gangsters from taking money earned illegally and investing it in legitimate businesses. Although RICO was written to target traditional organized crime, less than 10 percent of RICO cases filed have been against the mafia. Instead, 75 percent of RICO cases involve business fraud.
A
racket
is a dishonest or fraudulent scheme, which usually is an organized criminal activity. The two most common rackets are protection rackets and fencing rackets. In a
protection racket
, a criminal offers to protect the victim from violence or destruction of property. If the victim refuses to pay for protection, then the criminal will engage in violence against the victim or destroy his or her property. In a
fencing racket
, a criminal will steal property from a victim then offer to resell it to them. The victim must pay for the return of his or her own property.
RICO punishes those engaged in three or more racketeering activities over a ten-year period when funds from those activities were used to maintain, operate, or acquire a legitimate business.
Racketeering activities
include embezzlement, mail fraud, wire fraud, loan-sharking, bookmaking, money laundering, counterfeiting, smuggling, blackmailing, arson, and other similar crimes. RICO is now used against insurance companies, stock brokerages, tobacco companies, banks, and other large commercial enterprises. If convicted, a defendant can be punished with large fines and a prison sentence of up to twenty years.
RICO also has a civil provision allowing a competitor to file RICO charges, which come with triple damages if the suit is successful. In other words, a civil plaintiff can recover a judgment for three times the harm actually suffered, as well as attorneys’ fees.
Art Cohen vs. Donald J. Trump
was a civil RICO class action lawsuit filed in 2013, accusing Donald Trump of fraudulently misrepresenting the nature of Trump University. Within weeks of winning the presidential election in 2016, Trump settled this case and two others for $25 million in damages to the plaintiffs.
Many states also have organized crime statutes. State penalties often are much more severe under the organized crime statutes than they would be if the accused worked alone. For this reason, businesses and individuals need to be careful to protect themselves from another’s wrongful conduct.
8.5 Concluding Thoughts
Crime has an enormous impact on society, including business. Crime is a very important consideration in the business world. Businesses can be both victims and perpetrators of crime. Although jurisdictions may define crimes differently, there are some types of crime that businesses often face, including fraud, embezzlement, and larceny. Successful businesses must be vigilant to protect themselves from those who wish to harm them, both from inside and out.
Crime is a public injury. Criminal law can be classified both by the nature of the punishment and the type of offense it is. Criminal law differs from civil law in important ways, including who brings the claim, the burden of proof, due process, and penalties. The most important distinction is the elevated burden of proof in criminal cases. The prosecution must prove that a defendant committed a crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
Those who are accused of committing a crime are protected by the US Constitution. Important constitutional protections include the prohibition against illegal searches and seizures, self-incrimination, and cruel and unusual punishment. If the government obtains evidence illegally, it cannot use it against a defendant in a criminal trial. Criminal defendants have the right to a public and speedy trial, an attorney, and to remain silent.
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24 .
Explain how single gene disorders differ from chromosomal disorders.
25 .
Describe at least two options for individuals who deal with infertility.
26 .
Briefly outline the path sperm take from production to ejaculation.
27 .
Describe three behaviors or activities that promote a healthy pregnancy and explain why they matter.
28 .
What are two possible causes of spontaneous abortion?
29 .
How is fetal development monitored and chromosomal or genetic issues assessed?
30 .
Explain the role of oxytocin in childbirth, specifically how it is involved in labor.
31 .
Briefly discuss potential causes and consequences associated with low birth weight.
32 .
Briefly discuss potential causes and consequences associated with premature birth.
33 .
What is the difference between baby blues and postpartum depression?
34 .
How does swaddling help a newborn?


23.3: Applications
If \(vert A \vert = n\text{,}\) then the number of ways to partition \(A\) into \(m\) disjoint subsets \(A_1, A_2, \ldots, A_m\text{,}\) with each subset of predetermined size \(\vert A_j \vert = i_j\text{,}\) is
\begin{equation*} \binom{n}{i_1,i_2,\ldots,i_m} \text{.} \end{equation*}
- Proof Idea.
-
There are \(C^n_{i_1}\) possibilities for \(A_1\text{.}\) After choosing \(A_1\text{,}\) there are \(C^{n - i_1}_{i_2}\) possibilities for \(A_2\text{.}\) After choosing \(A_2\text{,}\) there are \(C^{n - i_1 - i_2}_{i_3}\) possibilities for \(A_2\text{.}\) Continue in this fashion, all the way to \(A_m\text{,}\) then multiply all the combination formula expressions together.
- Alternative Proof Idea.
-
Going back to basic counting principles, we can approach this in the same way that we came up with the factorial formula for the choose function. Choosing a permutation of \(A\) (\(n!\) ways) gives us an instance of the desired partition of \(A\) by setting \(A_1\) to be the subset consisting of the first \(i_1\) objects in the permutation, then setting \(A_2\) to be the subset consisting of the next \(i_2\) objects in the permutation, and so on. However, the ordering of the elements inside any such subset \(A_j\) does not matter, and we would get the same partition if we took our permutation of \(A\) and again permuted the “clusters” corresponding to each subset \(A_j\text{.}\) Since there are \(i_j!\) ways to permute subset \(A_j\text{,}\) we should divide \(n!\) by each of the factorials \(i_j!\text{.}\)
In the above theorem, the order \(A_1, A_2, \ldots, A_m\) matters!
Suppose \(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_m\) are distinct letters in the alphabet \(\Sigma\text{.}\) For \(i_1 + i_2 + \cdots + i_m = n\text{,}\) the number of words in \(\Sigma ^{\ast}\) of length \(n\) which consist of exactly \(i_1\) \(x_1\)'s, \(i_2\) \(x_2\)'s, \(\ldots\text{,}\) and \(i_m\) \(x_m\)'s is the multinomial coefficient
\begin{equation*} \binom{n}{i_1,i_2,\ldots,i_m} \text{.} \end{equation*}
- Proof Idea.
-
If we view each letter \(x_i\) as a variable and each word made up of the letters \(x_1,\ldots,x_m\) as a product of these variables, then each of the words we want to count gives us one way to achieve a term of \(x_1^{i_1} \cdots x_m^{i_m}\) in the expansion of \((x_1 + \cdots + x_m)^n\text{.}\) The number of such ways is the multinomial coefficient.
How many different \(9\)-digit integers can we form from three \(3\)s, four \(6\)s and two \(9\)s?
Solution
The number of integers of the desired digit composition is the multinomial coefficient
\begin{equation*} \binom{9}{3,4,2} = \dfrac{9!}{3!4!2!} = \dfrac{9 \cdot 8 \cdot 7 \cdot 6 \cdot 5}{3 \cdot 2 \cdot 2} = 9 \cdot 4 \cdot 7 \cdot 5 = 1,260\text{.} \end{equation*}


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Menkin, J. A., Robles, T. F., Wiley, J. F., & Gonzaga, G. C. (2015). Online dating across the life span: Users’ relationship goals. Psychology and Aging, 30 (4), 987-993.
Miller, B. C., Benson, B., & Galbraith, K. A. (2001). Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: A research synthesis. Developmental Review, 21(1), 1-38. doi:10.1006/drev.2000.0513
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9.4: Annuities
For most of us, we aren’t able to put a large sum of money in the bank today. Instead, we save for the future by depositing a smaller amount of money from each paycheck into the bank. This idea is called a savings annuity . Most retirement plans like 401k plans or IRA plans are examples of savings annuities.
An annuity can be described recursively in a fairly simple way. Recall that basic compound interest follows from the relationship
\(P_{m}=\left(1+\frac{r}{k}\right) P_{m-1}\)
For a savings annuity, we simply need to add a deposit, \(d\), to the account with each compounding period:
\(P_{m}=\left(1+\frac{r}{k}\right) P_{m-1}+d\)
Taking this equation from recursive form to explicit form is a bit trickier than with compound interest. It will be easiest to see by working with an example rather than working in general.
Suppose we will deposit $100 each month into an account paying 6% interest. We assume that the account is compounded with the same frequency as we make deposits unless stated otherwise. In this example:
\(r = 0.06\) (6%)
\(k = 12\) (12 compounds/deposits per year)
\(d = \$100\) (our deposit per month)
Writing out the recursive equation gives
\(P_{m}=\left(1+\frac{0.06}{12}\right) P_{m-1}+100=(1.005) P_{m-1}+100\)
Assuming we start with an empty account, we can begin using this relationship:
\(P_{0}=0\)
\(P_{1}=(1.005) P_{0}+100=100\)
\(P_{2}=(1.005) P_{1}+100=(1.005)(100)+100=100(1.005)+100\)
\(P_{3}=(1.005) P_{2}+100=(1.005)(100(1.005)+100)+100=100(1.005)^{2}+100(1.005)+100\)
Continuing this pattern, after \(m\) deposits, we’d have saved:
\(P_{m}=100(1.005)^{m-1}+100(1.005)^{m-2}+\cdots+100(1.005)+100\)
In other words, after \(m\) months, the first deposit will have earned compound interest for \(m-1\) months. The second deposit will have earned interest for \(m-2\) months. Last months deposit would have earned only one month worth of interest. The most recent deposit will have earned no interest yet.
This equation leaves a lot to be desired, though – it doesn’t make calculating the ending balance any easier! To simplify things, multiply both sides of the equation by 1.005:
\(1.005 P_{m}=1.005\left(100(1.005)^{m-1}+100(1.005)^{m-2}+\cdots+100(1.005)+100\right)\)
Distributing on the right side of the equation gives
\(1.005 P_{m}=100(1.005)^{m}+100(1.005)^{m-1}+\cdots+100(1.005)^{2}+100(1.005)\)
Now we’ll line this up with like terms from our original equation, and subtract each side
\(\begin{array}{rll} 1.005 P_{m} &=100(1.005)^{m}+&100(1.005)^{m-1}+\cdots+\quad 100(1.005) \\
P_{m} &=&100(1.005)^{m-1}+\cdots+\quad 100(1.005)+100 \end{array}\)
Almost all the terms cancel on the right hand side when we subtract, leaving
\(1.005 P_{m}-P_{m}=100(1.005)^{m}-100\)
Solving for \(P_m\)
\(0.005 P_{m}=100\left((1.005)^{m}-1\right)\)
\(P_{m}=\frac{100\left((1.005)^{m}-1\right)}{0.005}\)
Replacing \(m\) months with \(12N\), where \(N\) is measured in years, gives
\(P_{N}=\frac{100\left((1.005)^{12 \mathrm{V}}-1\right)}{0.005}\)
Recall 0.005 was \(\frac{r}{k}\) and 100 was the deposit \(d\). 12 was \(k\), the number of deposit each year. Generalizing this result, we get the saving annuity formula.
\(P_{N}=\frac{d\left(\left(1+\frac{r}{k}\right)^{N k}-1\right)}{\left(\frac{r}{k}\right)}\)
\(P_N\) is the balance in the account after N years.
\(d\) is the regular deposit (the amount you deposit each year, each month, etc.)
\(r\) is the annual interest rate in decimal form.
\(k\) is the number of compounding periods in one year.
If the compounding frequency is not explicitly stated, assume there are the same number of compounds in a year as there are deposits made in a year.
For example, if the compounding frequency isn’t stated:
If you make your deposits every month, use monthly compounding, \(k=12\).
If you make your deposits every year, use yearly compounding, \(k=1\).
If you make your deposits every quarter, use quarterly compounding, \(k=4\).
Etc.
Annuities assume that you put money in the account on a regular schedule (every month, year, quarter, etc.) and let it sit there earning interest.
Compound interest assumes that you put money in the account once and let it sit there earning interest.
Compound interest: One deposit
Annuity: Many deposits.
A traditional individual retirement account (IRA) is a special type of retirement account in which the money you invest is exempt from income taxes until you withdraw it. If you deposit $100 each month into an IRA earning 6% interest, how much will you have in the account after 20 years?
Solution
In this example,
\(\begin{array}{ll} d = \$100 & \text{the monthly deposit} \\ r = 0.06 & 6\% \text{ annual rate} \\ k = 12 & \text{since we’re doing monthly deposits, we’ll compound monthly} \\ N = 20 & \text{we want the amount after 20 years} \end{array}\)
Putting this into the equation:
\(P_{20}=\frac{100\left(\left(1+\frac{0.06}{12}\right)^{20(12)}-1\right)}{\left(\frac{0.06}{12}\right)}\)
\(P_{20}=\frac{100\left((1.005)^{240}-1\right)}{(0.005)}\)
\(P_{20}=\frac{100(3.310-1)}{(0.005)}\)
\(P_{20}=\frac{100(2.310)}{(0.005)}=\$ 46200\)
The account will grow to $46,200 after 20 years.
Notice that you deposited into the account a total of $24,000 ($100 a month for 240 months). The difference between what you end up with and how much you put in is the interest earned . In this case it is \(\$46,200 - \$24,000 = \$22,200\).
You want to have $200,000 in your account when you retire in 30 years. Your retirement account earns 8% interest. How much do you need to deposit each month to meet your retirement goal?
Solution
In this example,
We’re looking for \(d\).
\(\begin{array}{ll} r = 0.08 & 8\% \text{ annual rate} \\ k = 12 & \text{since we’re doing monthly deposits, we’ll compound monthly} \\ N = 30 & \text{30 years} \\ P_{30}=\$ 200,000 & \text{The amount we want to have in 30 years} \end{array}\)
In this case, we’re going to have to set up the equation, and solve for \(d\).
\(\begin{aligned}
&200,000=\frac{d\left(\left(1+\frac{0.08}{12}\right)^{30(12)}-1\right)}{\left(\frac{0.08}{12}\right)} \\
&200,000=\frac{d\left((1.00667)^{360}-1\right)}{(0.00667)} \\
&200,000=d(1491.57) \\
&d=\frac{200,000}{1491.57}=\$ 134.09
\end{aligned}\)
So you would need to deposit \(\$134.09\) each month to have \(\$200,000\) in 30 years if your account earns 8% interest
A more conservative investment account pays 3% interest. If you deposit $5 a day into this account, how much will you have after 10 years? How much is from interest?
- Answer
-
\(\begin{array}{ll} d = \$5 & \text{the daily deposit} \\ r = 0.03 & 3\% \text{ annual rate} \\ k = 365 & \text{since we’re doing daily deposits, we’ll compound daily} \\ N = 10 & \text{we want the amount after 10 years} \end{array}\)
\(P_{10}=\frac{5\left(\left(1+\frac{0.03}{365}\right)^{365 \times 10}-1\right)}{\frac{0.03}{365}}=\$ 21,282.07\)
We would have deposited a total of \(\$ 5 \cdot 365 \cdot 10=\$ 18,250\), so $3,032.07 is from interest


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absorption
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the passage of digested products from the intestinal lumen through mucosal cells and into the bloodstream or lacteals
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alimentary canal
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the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus
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amylase
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an enzyme in the saliva and pancreatic juice that catalyzes the breaking down of starch, glycogen, and related polysaccharides into more simple and readily usable forms of sugar
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aspiration
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the inhalation of fluid or solid objects into the lower airways or lungs
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bile
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alkaline solution produced by the liver and important for the emulsification of lipids
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chyme
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the mixture of partly digested food and digestive secretions found in the stomach and small intestine during the digestion of a meal; it is a varicolored, thick, nearly liquid mass
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digestion
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the process by which food is broken down mechanically and chemically in the gastrointestinal tract and converted to absorbable forms
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epiglottis
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the uppermost cartilage of the larynx located immediately posterior to the root of the tongue; covers the entrance of the larynx when a person swallows and prevents food or liquids from entering the airway
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gastritis
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acute or chronic inflammation of the stomach lining
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gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
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a common condition in which acid from the stomach (gastric and/or duodenal) flows back into the esophagus, causing discomfort and, in some instances, damage to the esophageal lining
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hydrochloric (HCl) acid
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an inorganic acid normally present in gastric juice; destroys fermenting bacteria that might cause intestinal tract disturbances
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ingestion
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the process of taking substances (particularly food) into the gastrointestinal tract
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lipase
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pancreatic enzyme that breaks down triglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol to be used in the body
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lower esophageal sphincter
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the sphincter around the opening of the esophagus into the stomach; separates these linked organs from each other and prevents the reflux of stomach acids into the esophagus; also called the
cardiac sphincter
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mastication
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chewing; involves coordination of the large temporal, masseter, and pterygoid muscles as well as other smaller muscles of the mandible and tongue to grind food under the influence of the mandibular division of cranial nerve V
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metabolism
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sum of all of the body’s chemical reactions
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pepsin
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the chief enzyme of gastric juice, which converts proteins into proteoses and peptones; formed by the chief cells of gastric glands and producing its maximum activity at a pH of 1.5–2
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pepsinogen
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the antecedent of pepsin existing in the form of granules in the chief cells of gastric glands
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peristalsis
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muscular contractions and relaxations that propel food through the GI tract
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protease
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pancreatic enzyme that breaks down proteins in the diet; also provides protection from organisms that may live in the intestines, such as certain bacteria and yeast
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saliva
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the fluid secretion of the salivary glands and oral mucous gland that begins the process of food digestion; moistens food for tasting, chewing, and swallowing; initiates digestion of starches; moistens and lubricates the mouth; acts as a solvent for excretion of waste products; also known as spit or spittle
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upper esophageal sphincter
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a sphincter that keeps the opening between the posterior pharynx and the proximal esophagus closed, except during swallowing; maintained principally by the cricopharyngeal muscle


11.4: Transcription
By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:
- Explain the central dogma
- Explain the main steps of transcription
- Describe how eukaryotic mRNA is processed
In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, the second function of DNA (the first was replication) is to provide the information needed to construct the proteins necessary so that the cell can perform all of its functions. To do this, the DNA is “read” or transcribed into an mRNA molecule. The mRNA then provides the code to form a protein by a process called translation. Through the processes of transcription and translation, a protein is built with a specific sequence of amino acids that was originally encoded in the DNA. This module discusses the details of transcription.
The Central Dogma: DNA Encodes RNA; RNA Encodes Protein
The flow of genetic information in cells from DNA to mRNA to protein is described by the central dogma (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)), which states that genes specify the sequences of mRNAs, which in turn specify the sequences of proteins.
The copying of DNA to mRNA is relatively straightforward, with one nucleotide being added to the mRNA strand for every complementary nucleotide read in the DNA strand. The translation to protein is more complex because groups of three mRNA nucleotides correspond to one amino acid of the protein sequence. However, as we shall see in the next module, the translation to protein is still systematic, such that nucleotides 1 to 3 correspond to amino acid 1, nucleotides 4 to 6 correspond to amino acid 2, and so on.
Transcription: from DNA to mRNA
Both prokaryotes and eukaryotes perform fundamentally the same process of transcription, with the important difference of the membrane-bound nucleus in eukaryotes. With the genes bound in the nucleus, transcription occurs in the nucleus of the cell and the mRNA transcript must be transported to the cytoplasm. The prokaryotes, which include bacteria and archaea, lack membrane-bound nuclei and other organelles, and transcription occurs in the cytoplasm of the cell. In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, transcription occurs in three main stages: initiation, elongation, and termination.
Initiation
Transcription requires the DNA double helix to partially unwind in the region of mRNA synthesis. The region of unwinding is called a transcription bubble. The DNA sequence onto which the proteins and enzymes involved in transcription bind to initiate the process is called a promoter. In most cases, promoters exist upstream of the genes they regulate. The specific sequence of a promoter is very important because it determines whether the corresponding gene is transcribed all of the time, some of the time, or hardly at all (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).
Elongation
Transcription always proceeds from one of the two DNA strands, which is called the template strand. The mRNA product is complementary to the template strand and is almost identical to the other DNA strand, called the nontemplate strand, with the exception that RNA contains a uracil (U) in place of the thymine (T) found in DNA. During elongation, an enzyme called RNA polymerase proceeds along the DNA template adding nucleotides by base pairing with the DNA template in a manner similar to DNA replication, with the difference that an RNA strand is being synthesized that does not remain bound to the DNA template. As elongation proceeds, the DNA is continuously unwound ahead of the core enzyme and rewound behind it (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)).
Termination
Once a gene is transcribed, the prokaryotic polymerase needs to be instructed to dissociate from the DNA template and liberate the newly made mRNA. Depending on the gene being transcribed, there are two kinds of termination signals, but both involve repeated nucleotide sequences in the DNA template that result in RNA polymerase stalling, leaving the DNA template, and freeing the mRNA transcript.
On termination, the process of transcription is complete. In a prokaryotic cell, by the time termination occurs, the transcript would already have been used to partially synthesize numerous copies of the encoded protein because these processes can occur concurrently using multiple ribosomes (polyribosomes) (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)). In contrast, the presence of a nucleus in eukaryotic cells precludes simultaneous transcription and translation.
Eukaryotic RNA Processing
The newly transcribed eukaryotic mRNAs must undergo several processing steps before they can be transferred from the nucleus to the cytoplasm and translated into a protein. The additional steps involved in eukaryotic mRNA maturation create a molecule that is much more stable than a prokaryotic mRNA. For example, eukaryotic mRNAs last for several hours, whereas the typical prokaryotic mRNA lasts no more than five seconds.
The mRNA transcript is first coated in RNA-stabilizing proteins to prevent it from degrading while it is processed and exported out of the nucleus. This occurs while the pre-mRNA still is being synthesized by adding a special nucleotide “cap” to the 5' end of the growing transcript. In addition to preventing degradation, factors involved in protein synthesis recognize the cap to help initiate translation by ribosomes.
Once elongation is complete, an enzyme then adds a string of approximately 200 adenine residues to the 3' end, called the poly-A tail. This modification further protects the pre-mRNA from degradation and signals to cellular factors that the transcript needs to be exported to the cytoplasm.
Eukaryotic genes are composed of protein-coding sequences called exons ( ex- on signifies that they are ex pressed) and int ervening sequences called introns ( int- ron denotes their int ervening role). Introns are removed from the pre-mRNA during processing. Intron sequences in mRNA do not encode functional proteins. It is essential that all of a pre-mRNA’s introns be completely and precisely removed before protein synthesis so that the exons join together to code for the correct amino acids. If the process errs by even a single nucleotide, the sequence of the rejoined exons would be shifted, and the resulting protein would be nonfunctional. The process of removing introns and reconnecting exons is called splicing (Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\)). Introns are removed and degraded while the pre-mRNA is still in the nucleus.
Contributors and Attributions
Remixed and/or curated from the following works:
Fowler, S., Roush, R., & Wise, J. (2013). 9.3 Transcription . In Concepts of Biology . OpenStax (CC BY 4.0; Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/concepts-biology/pages/1-introduction ).


13.5: Digital Suppression of Social Movements (in the US)
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13.5.1: Mechanisms of Social Movement Suppression
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The US has a long history of interference, including on its own soil in the form of suppressing the efforts of social movements and, in particular, liberatory and leftist social movements. Labor organizing, independence, civil rights, and environmental movements have all been subject to opposition by the US government, often at the behest of or in cooperation with large corporations.
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13.5.2: Digital Threats to Social Movements
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Social movements challenging powerful individuals, organizations, and social structures face a broad range of surveillance risks. Specific threats vary widely in technical sophistication, likelihood, and potential for harm. Threat modeling is a process whereby an organization or individual considers their range of adversaries, estimates the likelihood of their various data and devices falling victim to attack, and finally considers the damage done if attacks were to succeed.
Thumbnail: Protest (Unsplash License;
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32.4: Hope and Change
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
- Describe how Barack Obama’s domestic policies differed from those of George W. Bush
- Discuss the important events of the war on terror during Obama’s two administrations
- Discuss some of the specific challenges facing the United States as Obama’s second term draws to a close
In 2008, American voters, tired of war and dispirited by the economic downturn, elected a relative newcomer to the political scene who inspired them and made them believe that the United States could rise above political partisanship. Barack Obama’s story resembled that of many Americans: a multicultural background; a largely absent father; a single working mother; and care provided by maternal grandparents. As president, Obama would face significant challenges, including managing the economic recovery in the wake of the Great Recession, fighting the war on terror inherited from the previous administration, and implementing the healthcare reform upon which he had campaigned.
OBAMA TAKES OFFICE
Born in Hawaii in 1961 to a Kenyan father and an American woman from Kansas, Obama excelled at school, going on to attend Occidental College in Los Angeles, Columbia University, and finally Harvard Law School, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review . As part of his education, he also spent time in Chicago working as a community organizer to help those displaced by the decline of heavy industry in the early 1980s. Obama first came to national attention when he delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention while running for his first term in the U.S. Senate. Just a couple of years later, he was running for president himself, the first African American nominee for the office from either major political party.
Obama’s opponent in 2008 was John McCain, a Vietnam veteran and Republican senator with the reputation of a “maverick” who had occasionally broken ranks with his party to support bipartisan initiatives. The senator from Arizona faced a number of challenges. As the Republican nominee, he remained closely associated with the two disastrous foreign wars initiated under the Bush administration. His late recognition of the economic catastrophe on the eve of the election did not help matters and further damaged the Republican brand at the polls. At seventy-one, he also had to fight accusations that he was too old for the job, an impression made even more striking by his energetic young challenger. To minimize this weakness, McCain chose a young but inexperienced running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. This tactic backfired, however, when a number of poor performances in television interviews convinced many voters that Palin was not prepared for higher office (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)).
Senator Obama, too, was criticized for his lack of experience with foreign policy, a deficit he remedied by choosing experienced politician Joseph Biden as his running mate. Unlike his Republican opponent, however, Obama offered promises of “hope and change.” By sending out voter reminders on Twitter and connecting with supporters on Facebook, he was able to harness social media and take advantage of grassroots enthusiasm for his candidacy. His youthful vigor drew independents and first-time voters, and he won 95 percent of the African American vote and 44 percent of the white vote (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)).
DEFINING AMERICAN
Politicking in a New Century
Barack Obama’s campaign seemed to come out of nowhere to overcome the widely supported frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. Having won the nomination, Obama shot to the top with an exuberant base of youthful supporters who were encouraged and inspired by his appeal to hope and change. Behind the scenes, the Obama campaign was employing technological innovations and advances in social media to both inform and organize its base.
The Obama campaign realized early that the key to political success in the twenty-first century was to energize young voters by reaching them where they were: online. The organizing potential of platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter had never before been tapped—and they were free. The results were groundbreaking. Using these social media platforms, the Obama campaign became an organizing and fundraising machine of epic proportions. During his almost two-year-long campaign, Obama accepted 6.5 million donations, totaling $500 million. The vast majority of online donations were less than $100. This accomplishment stunned the political establishment, and they have been quick to adapt. Since 2008, nearly every political campaign has followed in Obama’s footsteps, effecting a revolution in campaigning in the United States.
ECONOMIC AND HEALTHCARE REFORMS
Barack Obama had been elected on a platform of healthcare reform and a wave of frustration over the sinking economy. As he entered office in 2009, he set out to deal with both. Taking charge of the TARP program instituted under George W. Bush to stabilize the country’s financial institutions, Obama oversaw the distribution of some $7.77 trillion designed to help shore up the nation’s banking system. Recognizing that the economic downturn also threatened major auto manufacturers in the United States, he sought and received congressional authorization for $80 billion to help Chrysler and General Motors. The action was controversial, and some characterized it as a government takeover of industry. The money did, however, help the automakers earn a profit by 2011, reversing the trend of consistent losses that had hurt the industry since 2004. It also helped prevent layoffs and wage cuts. By 2013, the automakers had repaid over $50 billion of bailout funds. Finally, through the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the Obama administration pumped almost $800 billion into the economy to stimulate economic growth and job creation.
More important for Obama supporters than his attempts to restore the economy was that he fulfill his promise to enact comprehensive healthcare reform. Many assumed such reforms would move quickly through Congress, since Democrats had comfortable majorities in both houses, and both Obama and McCain had campaigned on healthcare reform. However, as had occurred years before during President Clinton’s first term, opposition groups saw attempts at reform as an opportunity to put the political brakes on the Obama presidency. After months of political wrangling and condemnations of the healthcare reform plan as socialism, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)) was passed and signed into law.
The act, which created the program known as Obamacare , represented the first significant overhaul of the American healthcare system since the passage of Medicaid in 1965. Its goals were to provide all Americans with access to affordable health insurance, to require that everyone in the United States acquire some form of health insurance, and to lower the costs of healthcare. The plan, which made use of government funding, created private insurance company exchanges to market various insurance packages to enrollees.
Although the plan implemented the market-based reforms that they had supported for years, Republicans refused to vote for it. Following its passage, they called numerous times for its repeal, and more than twenty-four states sued the federal government to stop its implementation. Discontent over the Affordable Care Act helped the Republicans capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections. It also helped spawn the Tea Party , a conservative movement focused primarily on limiting government spending and the size of the federal government.
THE ELECTION OF 2012
By the 2012 presidential election, the Republicans, convinced Obama was vulnerable because of opposition to his healthcare program and a weak economy, nominated Mitt Romney, a well-known business executive-turned politician who had earlier signed healthcare reform into state law as governor of Massachusetts (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)). Romney had unsuccessfully challenged McCain for the Republican nomination in 2008, but by 2012, he had remade himself politically by moving towards the party’s right wing and its newly created Tea Party faction, which was pulling the traditional conservative base further to the right with its strong opposition to abortion, gun control, and immigration.
Romney appealed to a new attitude within the Republican Party. While the percentage of Democrats who agreed that the government should help people unable to provide for themselves had remained relatively stable from 1987 to 2012, at roughly 75 to 79 percent, the percentage of Republicans who felt the same way had decreased from 62 to 40 percent over the same period, with the greatest decline coming after 2007. Indeed, Romney himself revealed his disdain for people on the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder when, at a fundraising event attended by affluent Republicans, he remarked that he did not care to reach the 47 percent of Americans who would always vote for Obama because of their dependence on government assistance. In his eyes, this low-income portion of the population preferred to rely on government social programs instead of trying to improve their own lives.
CLICK AND EXPLORE
Read the transcript of “On the 47 percent,” the secretly recorded speech given by Mitt Romney at a Republican fundraiser.
Starting out behind Obama in the polls, Romney significantly closed the gap in the first of three presidential debates, when he moved towards more centrist positions on many issues. Obama regained momentum in the remaining two debates and used his bailout of the auto industry to appeal to voters in the key states of Michigan and Ohio. Romney’s remarks about the 47 percent hurt his position among both poor Americans and those who sympathized with them. A long-time critic of FEMA who claimed that it should be eliminated, Romney also likely lost votes in the Northeast when, a week before the election, Hurricane Sandy devastated the New England, New York, and New Jersey coasts. Obama and the federal government had largely rebuilt FEMA since its disastrous showing in New Orleans in 2005, and the agency quickly swung into action to assist the 8.5 million people affected by the disaster.
Obama won the election, but the Republicans retained their hold on the House of Representatives and the Democratic majority in the Senate grew razor-thin. Political bickering and intractable Republican resistance, including a 70 percent increase in filibusters over the 1980s, a refusal to allow a vote on some legislation, such as the 2012 “jobs bill,” and the glacial pace at which the Senate confirmed the President’s judicial nominations, created political gridlock in Washington, interfering with Obama’s ability to secure any important legislative victories.
ONGOING CHALLENGES
As Obama entered his second term in office, the economy remained stagnant in many areas. On average, American students continued to fall behind their peers in the rest of the world, and the cost of a college education became increasingly unaffordable for many. Problems continued overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another act of terrorism took place on American soil when bombs exploded at the 2013 Boston Marathon. At the same time, the cause of same-sex marriage made significant advances, and Obama was able to secure greater protection for the environment. He raised fuel-efficiency standards for automobiles to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and required coal-burning power plants to capture their carbon emissions.
Learning and Earning
The quality of American education remains a challenge. The global economy is dominated by those nations with the greatest number of “knowledge workers:” people with specialized knowledge and skills like engineers, scientists, doctors, teachers, financial analysts, and computer programmers. Furthermore, American students’ reading, math, and critical thinking skills are less developed than those of their peers in other industrialized nations, including small countries like Estonia.
The Obama administration sought to make higher education more accessible by increasing the amount that students could receive under the federally funded Pell Grant Program, which, by the 2012–13 academic year, helped 9.5 million students pay for their college education. Obama also worked out a compromise with Congress in 2013, which lowered the interest rates charged on student loans. However, college tuition is still growing at a rate of 2 to 3 percent per year, and the debt burden has surpassed the $1 trillion mark and is likely to increase. With debt upon graduation averaging about $29,000, students may find their economic options limited. Instead of buying cars or paying for housing, they may have to join the boomerang generation and return to their parents’ homes in order to make their loan payments. Clearly, high levels of debt will affect their career choices and life decisions for the foreseeable future.
Many other Americans continue to be challenged by the state of the economy. Most economists calculate that the Great Recession reached its lowest point in 2009, and the economy has gradually improved since then. The stock market ended 2013 at historic highs, having experienced its biggest percentage gain since 1997. However, despite these gains, the nation struggled to maintain a modest annual growth rate of 2.5 percent after the Great Recession, and the percentage of the population living in poverty continues to hover around 15 percent. Income has decreased (Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\)), and, as late as 2011, the unemployment rate was still high in some areas. Eight million full-time workers have been forced into part-time work, whereas 26 million seem to have given up and left the job market.
LGBT Rights
During Barack Obama’s second term in office, courts began to counter efforts by conservatives to outlaw same-sex marriage. A series of decisions declared nine states’ prohibitions against same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court rejected an attempt to overturn a federal court ruling to that effect in California in June 2013. Shortly thereafter, the Supreme Court also ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 was unconstitutional, because it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. These decisions seem to allow legal challenges in all the states that persist in trying to block same-sex unions.
The struggle against discrimination based on gender identity has also won some significant victories. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Education ruled that schools receiving federal funds may not discriminate against transgender students, and a board within the Department of Health and Human Services decided that Medicare should cover sexual reassignment surgery. Although very few people eligible for Medicare are transgender, the decision is still important, because private insurance companies often base their coverage on what Medicare considers appropriate and necessary forms of treatment for various conditions. Undoubtedly, the fight for greater rights for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual) individuals will continue.
Violence
Another running debate questions the easy accessibility of firearms. Between the spring of 1999, when two teens killed twelve of their classmates, a teacher, and themselves at their high school in Columbine, Colorado, and the early summer of 2014, fifty-two additional shootings or attempted shootings had occurred at schools ( Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\)). Nearly always, the violence was perpetrated by young people with severe mental health problems, as at Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. After killing his mother at home, twenty-year-old Adam Lanza went to the school and fatally shot twenty six- and seven-year-old students, along with six adult staff members, before killing himself. Advocates of stricter gun control noted a clear relationship between access to guns and mass shootings. Gun rights advocates, however, disagreed. They argued that access to guns is merely incidental.
Another shocking act of violence was the attack on the Boston Marathon. On April 15, 2013, shortly before 3:00 p.m., two bombs made from pressure cookers exploded near the finish line (Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\)). Three people were killed, and more than 250 were injured. Three days later, two suspects were identified, and a manhunt began. Later that night, the two young men, brothers who had immigrated to the United States from Chechnya, killed a campus security officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stole a car, and fled. The older, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed in a fight with the police, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured the next day. In his statements to the police, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reported that he and his brother, who he claimed had planned the attacks, had been influenced by the actions of fellow radical Islamists in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he denied they had been affiliated with any larger terrorist group.
America and the World
In May 2014, President Obama announced that, for the most part, U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan were over. Although a residual force of ninety-eight hundred soldiers will remain to continue training the Afghan army, by 2016, all U.S. troops will have left the country, except for a small number to defend U.S. diplomatic posts.
The years of warfare have brought the United States few rewards. In Iraq, 4,475 American soldiers died and 32,220 were wounded. In Afghanistan, the toll through February 2013 was 2,165 dead and 18,230 wounded. By some estimates, the total monetary cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could easily reach $4 trillion, and the Congressional Budget Office believes that the cost of providing medical care for the veterans might climb to $8 billion by 2020.
In Iraq, the coalition led by then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to win 92 of the 328 seats in parliament in May 2014, and he seemed poised to begin another term as the country’s ruler. The elections, however, did not stem the tide of violence in the country. In June 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a radical Islamist militant group consisting of mostly Sunni Muslims and once affiliated with al-Qaeda, seized control of Sunni-dominated areas of Iraq and Syria. On June 29, 2014, it proclaimed the formation of the Islamic State with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph, the state’s political and religious leader.


9.1: Introduction
Chemical reactions, such as those that occur when you light a match, involve changes in energy as well as matter. Societies at all levels of development could not function without the energy released by chemical reactions. In 2012, about 85% of US energy consumption came from the combustion of petroleum products, coal, wood, and garbage. We use this energy to produce electricity (38%); to transport food, raw materials, manufactured goods, and people (27%); for industrial production (21%); and to heat and power our homes and businesses (10%). 1 While these combustion reactions help us meet our essential energy needs, they are also recognized by the majority of the scientific community as a major contributor to global climate change.
Useful forms of energy are also available from a variety of chemical reactions other than combustion. For example, the energy produced by the batteries in a cell phone, car, or flashlight results from chemical reactions. This chapter introduces many of the basic ideas necessary to explore the relationships between chemical changes and energy, with a focus on thermal energy.
The chemical bond is simply another form of energy, and its strength is indicated in exactly the same units as any other process involving energy. That is, in joules (or kilojoules) – or, when taken on a molar basis, in J/mol or kJ/mol. All of the principles involving energy we have examined up to now apply to bond energies exactly as they do to all other forms of energy: that is, energy may change form or be absorbed or released, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The energy of a chemical bond is indicated by the bond enthalpy, taken by convention to be the energy required to break a chemical bond. The same energy is released when a chemical bond is formed. Given that a chemical reaction involves breaking some bonds and making others, the enthalpy change for a chemical reaction can be estimated by analyzing the bonds broken and formed during the reaction. While this procedure gives an estimate of the overall enthalpy, it should be noted that a far more precise method involves using enthalpies of formation; the fact that there can be significant differences between, for example, an O–H bond in water and that in acetic acid accounts for the discrepancy in calculating Δ H using bond enthalpies versus the use of enthalpies of formation.
Footnotes
- 1 US Energy Information Administration, Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2012 , http://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/...012_energy.pdf . Data derived from US Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (January 2014).


14.3: Ice and Climate Change
In section 8.5 we examined the causes of climate change, and the potential impacts on Earth’s ecosystems. One obvious consequence of increasing global temperatures is a decline in ice cover as the warmer climate melts the ice caps. So are we seeing a decrease in ice cover, and if so, what are some consequences of this decline?
To address these questions we must once again begin by separating sea ice and glacial ice, as each type of ice is responding to climate change in its own way, with different consequences. For example, melting polar ice is often discussed in terms of its effect on raising sea levels (section 13.7). Sea level is not really impacted by the melting of sea ice, as the formation and melting of sea ice does not change the volume of water already in the ocean. The melting of glacial ice, on the other hand, takes water that was locked up in glaciers on land and returns it to the ocean. This does increase the volume of water in the oceans, and results in rising sea levels. So we will first examine the trends in sea ice cover, and then look at the situation with glacial ice.
While fluctuations in sea ice cover do not dramatically impact sea level, they can be used as indicators of global warming. Satellite data show that since 1979 the average Arctic sea ice extent declined by about 3% per decade, with the rate of decline increasing in recent years (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). The year 2017 set a record for the lowest maximum Arctic sea ice extent in the 38-year history of the satellite data, the third year in a row that the record was broken. In addition, the thickness of the Arctic sea ice has also declined, from a mean thickness of 3.64 meters in 1980 to 1.89 meters in 2008. So Arctic sea ice cover is clearly in decline as global temperatures increase.
The situation with Antarctic sea ice is less clear. Antarctic sea ice cover is increasing slightly, at a rate of about 1.1% per decade, although the upward trend in the Antarctic is only about one-third of the magnitude of the downward trend seen in the Arctic (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)). There are several hypotheses for why this increase is occurring, including winds, currents, and La Niña conditions (section 9.6) in the Pacific Ocean. For example, the strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current prevents warmer water from reaching the ice edge, and the winds in the region keep the water very cold, promoting ice formation. One other possible explanation is that as portions of the Antarctic get warmer there is more precipitation and increased glacial ice melt. This leads to a layer of low-density, fresher water which remains at the surface and freezes more easily than saltier water. In the Arctic, there has always been significant freshwater input from rivers, so that low-density layer is already present. Whatever the reasons for the increasing sea ice in the Antarctic, the increase is still less than the decline in the Arctic, and the overall trend for global sea ice is a loss of about 35,000 km 2 per year since 1979.
In terms of glacial ice, once again the Arctic is showing signs of significant ice loss, particularly in Greenland; from 1979 to 2006, summer melt on the Greenland ice sheet increased by 30%. Ice melt during 2016 was the tenth highest on record (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). Once again, the trends are less defined in Antarctica. Warming and ice loss is occurring in the West Antarctic ice sheet and along the Antarctic Peninsula, which has warmed 2.5 o C since 1950. However, there is no clear warming trend in East Antarctica, and some of these areas are accumulating ice. Overall, the Antarctic ice is currently relatively stable, particularly when compared to Greenland. If the polar ice sheets were to melt, they would have a dramatic impact on sea level. It is estimated that melting of the Greenland ice would raise global sea level by about 7 m, while complete melting of the Antarctic ice sheet would result in a rise of almost 60 m!
Additional links for more information:
- Get the latest updates on sea ice and glacial ice conditions at the National Snow and Ice Data Center website: https://nsidc.org/