Acid rain affects many chemical and biological processes in regions where it is a concern, however, the chemistry behind its formation and how it interacts in nature is often overlooked.
The most common natural example of acidity is a lemon. Soft drinks are also acidic. The acid is a base. Baking soda is just barely basic. Other bases, which are stronger, often be found in cleaning solutions. Bases will have a “slimy” feel, like soap. A neutral is neither acid nor base. Pure water, for example, is a neutral substance.
It is important to understand why something is classified as being acidic, basic, or the pH scale is used to classify substances understanding this scale and what it means important for many reasons. In the case of acid rain, many natural environments can only s certain organisms in narrow pH ranges. Only knowing pH as a raw number loses much system’s importance.
The pH values for any liquid can range from 0-14. A pH of 7 is directly in the middle represents neutral. If the pH number is higher, it is basic. If the pH is lower than 7 then acid. The measurement scale is logarithmic, not linear like a ruler.
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Logarithmically, a change a pH of 6 to 5 is increasing acidity by 10 times, while a change from 6 to 4 represents acid increasing 100 times greater. The numbers in a logarithmic scale represent increases by factors of ten.
What is being counted is important. The “H” in pH refers to hydrogen. More specific) pH is a measure of hydrogen ions (protons) in a solution. Just like magnets, oppositely charged molecules attract. The excess hydrogen protons attract the negative charge that can be four the electrons of other atoms and molecules.
When water droplets in clouds dissolve pollutants, it can result in the formation of ex hydrogen protons, making the substance acidic. As this acid precipitation falls on an area introduces the H+ wherever it lands.
The additional H+ changes the pH of lakes, rivers, streams and affects the organisms they hold. Because all living organisms survive by chemical reactions, pH changes that are too big or too quickly are very serious.
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Rainwater is naturally acidic, because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere combines with water molecules to form carbonic acid. Acidic precipitation or acid deposition occurs with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere react with oxygen in the air to form sulfuric acid (H2S04) and nitric acid (HNO), which falls to the surface as rain, snow, or dust. To consider acid precipitation, the precipitation has to have a pH of 5.0 or lower.
Acid rain is the fall out of the degradation of environment in general and pollution atmosphere in particular. Sulphur in contact with rainwater causes acid rain, which is devastating for life.
Every year the terrestrial atmosphere is polluted by 200 million tons of carbon monoxide more than 50 million tons of hydrocarbons, 120 million tons of soot and 150 million tons of sulphur monoxide, which return back to earth in the form of acid rain.
Acid rain has created one of the worst problems, i.e., deforestation in Europe. India is not exception; highly industrialized areas have already begun to suffer from this phenomenon.
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The pH of triple-distilled rainwater as measured in the laboratory is 5.65, owing to the dissolution in it of atmospheric CO2 Rain having a pH value of less than 5.65, the value resulting from the equilibrium between atmospheric CO, and pure distilled rainwater at 25()C, can be termed acid rain.