Hey guys, this might end up being super obvious but I've always struggled to understand exactly what's happening in the depletion of the ozone layer by NO radicals and wondered if anyone could help clarify for me - I'm aware there's two versions of ozone depletion when looking at CFCs and Cl* radicals so maybe it's the same for NO.
Here's the reaction mechanism I've been given:
NO + O3 --> NO2 + O2
NO2 + O* --> O2 + NO
overall: O3 + O* --> 2O2
I don't understand where the O* radical is coming from in the second equation. For CFCs I usually prefer the version of the mechanism that says the overall equation is:
3O2 --> 2O3
So I was wondering if there's a form the NO equation could take to fit into this.
Sorry for the confusing question, it's kinda hard to explain what I mean!