Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Acid Rain and Its Chemistry

Good Essays
968 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Acid Rain and Its Chemistry
Acid Rain and its Chemistry

Acid rain is a type of pollution that is becoming a major threat to our planet and is need of attention. Acid rain has significantly increased ever since the industrial revolution, and now around the world, countries like Russia, China, and those in Europe are facing increasing levels of acidity in their rain. Not only is it becoming more acidic but it is also spreading by the pumping of sulfuric gasses deeper into the atmosphere from of the use of taller smokestacks at factories, which were made to reduce acid rain in local areas. Acid rain, is basically any precipitation like rain, fog or snow that is abnormally acidic with a pH around 5 - 5.5. Although pure water has a pH of 7, unpolluted rainwater has a pH of 5.6 – 6 because of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reacting with the water and forming a weak carbonic acid. The acidity in the precipitations (rain, snow, fog) come from gasses released into the atmosphere by industrial factories, the combustion of fossil fuels, and even volcanoes. These gasses, sulfur dioxide and various nitrogen oxides, chemically react with the water vapors and oxygen in the atmosphere forming acidic vapors that will eventually rain back down on people, cities, and the environment. Normal rain water is a little acidic because of the presence of carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide reacts with the water molecules to form a very weak acid named carbonic acid. Once this acid mixes with water it can then ionize to form low concentration ions that won’t corrode or damage. The process of the sulfuric gasses and nitrogen containing gasses to acid rain is much different and varies in complexity. For nitrogen dioxide, the only one thing has to happen and that is that it has to react with hydroxide to form nitric acid and then mix with the water molecules. Sulfur dioxide is a little more complicated and long. First the sulfur dioxide has to also react with hydroxide and then with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide gas. This sulfur trioxide quickly reacts with the water vapor particles to form sulfuric acid which mixes with the rest of the water. When these acids mix with water and rain down its called wet deposition, but when the sulfuric or nitric acid don’t mix with water, like in very dry places, the acid particles come down and stick to surfaces. The affects of acid rain on stone sculptures and buildings can be very damaging because the acidic rain accelerates erosion and it is almost impossible to fix. In cities acid rain can decay and erode paint from buildings and also make their structures weaker, which could cause major problems. The way the acid rain erodes buildings and statues that are made of limestone, sandstone, granite, or marble is that the sulfuric acid in the rain reacts with the calcium in the stones and forms gypsum, which crumbles off. Another example would be gravestones. Many times we can’t read gravestones because they are too eroded. This would be caused by acid rain. Throughout the world, the premature erosion and loss of statues and buildings is a concern because many of these things have historical value or are of great importance to certain cultures. The affects of acid rain on the environment is very terrible and if they continue to increase, we will be badly affected also. Acid rain or snow can turn lakes, streams or rivers acidic. As a result of this acidity, the lakes, streams, and rivers’ ecosystem chain can break or collapse, causing mass amounts of deaths. Acid rain also has a very negative effect on land with trees, plants, soil, and even entire forests. When acid rain enters soil, a chemical reaction occurs that causes the rain to take away the soils nutrients and minerals, causing the soil to be greatly altered. During the reaction the hydronium ions of the acid activate poisons like aluminum and suck out nutrients like magnesium. It is in this way that trees, plants, and even forests are halted of growth, and sometimes even destroyed. Overall, acid rain has the potential of becoming a world-wide emergency but because of chemistry, solutions are being researched and developed. For example, knowing that sulfuric gasses cause acid rain, some factories use limestone to absorb the sulfur out of the gas and then either sell the gypsum that was formed or throw it away. Chemistry is the key to solving this problem because acid rain is made up of atoms and molecules, and the way it damages is by chemical reactions. If no one tries to stop the spread and growth of acid rain many of our beautiful historical buildings and sculptures may be lost prematurely as a result of speeded erosion from the acids. Also, the environment would be badly damaged from the waters becoming too acidic for animals and the soil would be too depleted to support any life. By knowing how acid rain is formed and how it destroys, we can possibly help stop it.

Bibliography
1.
National Biological Service, USGS. (2009) Acid Rain: Do You Need to Start Wearing a Rain Hat? Retrieved May 22, 2009, From USGS, Website: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/acidrain.html
2.
Environmental Protection Agency. (2002) What is acid Rain and What Caused it? Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Almanac of policy issues. Website: http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml
3.
Rachel Casiday and Regina Frey. (1998) Acid Rain Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Washington university. Website: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Water/FreshWater/acidrain.html
4
U.S. Department of Energy. (2000), Acid Rain—A contemporary world problem retrieved May 22, 2009, from geocities, http://www.geocities.com/narilily/acidrain.html

Bibliography: 1. National Biological Service, USGS. (2009) Acid Rain: Do You Need to Start Wearing a Rain Hat? Retrieved May 22, 2009, From USGS, Website: http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/acidrain.html 2. Environmental Protection Agency. (2002) What is acid Rain and What Caused it? Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Almanac of policy issues. Website: http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml 3. Rachel Casiday and Regina Frey. (1998) Acid Rain Retrieved May 22, 2009, from Washington university. Website: http://www.chemistry.wustl.edu/~edudev/LabTutorials/Water/FreshWater/acidrain.html 4 U.S. Department of Energy. (2000), Acid Rain—A contemporary world problem retrieved May 22, 2009, from geocities, http://www.geocities.com/narilily/acidrain.html

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The term "acid rain" is commonly used to mean the deposition of acidic components in rain. Distilled water, which contains no…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Env Sci Help

    • 5433 Words
    • 22 Pages

    6) Which of the following is the major contributor to the formation of acid rain?…

    • 5433 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Acid Rain Webquest 1

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In this activity, you'll find out more about what acid rain is, where the problem is most severe, and what YOU can do to help.…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap Biology Chapter 4-6

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Acid rain is usually a result of human air pollution such as emissions of sulfur and nitrogen compounds. These compounds react with those in the atmosphere causing acids to be produced and in turn causing precipitation to be acidic in nature. The negative impact of acid rain is evident in ecosystems. Acid rain changes the PH levels of rivers and lakes. Animals such as fish are very susceptible to changes in PH and therefore are unable to survive if the change is too drastic. Plankton and invertebrates are put even more at risk. Acid rain in water environments can also affect plant life. On land, acid rain damages forests in high altitudes and also lowers the fertility of soil as important nutrients and minerals are removed from it. These impacts on different aspects of the environment have a trickling down effect that negatively influence entire…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bio Labs

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Some of the probable sources of acid precipitation is Fog, and rain. During the summer it hardly rains which makes it hard for our crops to grow, also since we are in the valley it makes it hard for us to get the water that we need. During the fall it gets very foggy in the mornings and it makes it very difficult to see while your driving. Prevailing winds can also transport the acid precipitation from these sources to areas downwind, which is an example of valley fever. Valley fever is a disease caused by a fungus, Coccidioides, which lives in the soil of relatively arid regions (southwest U.S.). People can be infected by this if they inhale the dust that's contaminated with the Coccidioides, This can not be transmitted person to person.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Acid Rain Experiment.

    • 818 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Investigating the effects of acid rain in the growth of cress seedlings IntroductionAcid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation, which is unusually acidic. It has harmful effects on plants, animals and buildings. Acid rain is mostly caused by human emissions of sulphur and nitrogen compounds which react in the atmosphere to produce acids.…

    • 818 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Nitric Acid

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Pure water has a pH of 7.0 meaning in is neutral. Acid rain has a pH of 5.6 resulting it in being acidic. Acid rain forms when high rates of nitric acid (in a gas state) are in the atmosphere. Human activities are the main cause of acid rain. Due to human combustion from nuclear power plants, factories, volcanoes and car fuel release this nitric acid into the air, high rise winds carries the gas to many locations. This causes the increase of nitric oxide, and sulphur dioxide to increases in our atmosphere. As more and more toxic pollutants are released into the atmosphere the more acidic substances will become. When these chemicals react with oxygen, toxic pollutants are released causing rain and etc to become toxic. As precipitation occurs, the acid rain will be stored in clouds and precipitate down to earth’s…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Research Paper On Musculus

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Acid rainstorms occur daily lasting for hours without end. The Acid is powerful enough to destroy any surface or melt any type of…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    bio lab

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Acid precipitation affects the ecosystem, for example, lowering ph in water when it falls into the lake which kills some aquatic organisms.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Bowen plant was an unusually large plant with a capacity to serve the residential, commercial and industrial demands of 1 million people. The Bowen generators consumed 8.338 million tons of coal and generated 21,551 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. During 1990, Bowen plant emitted over 30 tons of sulfur dioxide per hour, an important precursor of acid rain. In 1990, Congress passes the Clean Air Act that aimed at controlling acid rain.…

    • 2496 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Acid rain

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Acid rain has proven to be a big problem for Connecticut. It has had a great impact on builders, wildlife, and the water sources. Acid rain has many components in it such as pollutants from plants to sulfuric acid from burning coal.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    " Acid rain is thought to be caused by the increase…

    • 454 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    that

    • 796 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Acid rain may be even more damaging to forests than previously thought: Not only does acid rain wilt and destroy trees' leaves and needles, but new research shows it also leaches their life-sustaining metal nutrients from topsoil.…

    • 796 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Acid rain is one of the consequences of pollution. When any type of fuel is burned, various chemicals are released into the air. The emissions from factories, fires, and cars have harmful grey…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    "What is Acid Rain and What Causes it?", August, 6, 2002. Retrieved on November 3, 2004…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays