Acid Rain Lab

Kyle Zukowski
Michael Murray
3/17/2016
Background Information:
Acid Rain is when its pH levels is below 5.5. Acid rain is caused by
chemicals getting into the air like sulfur dioxide from coal burning, and
nitrogen oxides from car exhaust. It combines with the moisture in the
atmosphere to create sulfuric and nitric acids. Only precipitation with a pH of
5.5 or lower is considered acid rain. Acid rain does not only damage wildlife,
but it can do tremendous damage to buildings made out of stone. This acid
rain causes the fish to die off because the acidity is too high for them to
handle, or they die off because of chronic stress which leads to lower body
weight and a smaller size.
The regions that are most affected by acid rain are Catskill Mountains,
mid-Appalachian highlands, upper Midwest and the mountainous areas in the
Western United States. The United States Congress passed the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990, and this law said that the EPA should start the Acid
Rain Program. This program limits on the amount of sulfur dioxide that power
plants can release into the air and issues allowances to the power plants to
cover their sulfur dioxide emissions. This law also reduces the amount of
nitrogen oxides that power plants can release. Acid Rain is a problem that
can be fixed in the near future, but everyone needs to help out with the
cause. One way that people can help is that power companies and factories
can clean their smokestacks and exhaust pipes to reduce the amount of toxic
materials that go into our air. Another way that we can help control Acid Rain
is to use an alternative energy source like solar power, wind power, hydro
power, ect. We can also turn off unused items in your house and/or office,
and you can use energy-efficient appliances. Lastly, your community can
restore a damaged environment and plant trees to help get the toxins out of
the air and out of the water system.
Purpose:
The purpose if the experiment is to conduct an experiment to investigate the
effect of acid rain on various building materials in order to make a
recommendation to the town council as to the best material to use for a
statue.
Problem Question:

What is the effect of acid rain on the mass of various building materials?

Hypothesis:
If a sample of marble is placed into a vinegar solution, then the sample of
marble will have the least amount of change in mass (g), because it is the
densest material, which will cause the acid rain to not seep through the
material as fast.
Variables:
Independent Variable: Building Materials (Limestone/Marble/Granite)
Dependent Variable: Change in mass of sample (g)
Constants: 48 hours in Vinegar Solution
Amount of Vinegar Solution (40 - 60 ml)
Mass of sample
Control: Building samples in a water solution for the same amount of time

Materials:
Plastic Cups
Graduated Cylinder
Vinegar
Funnel
Safety Goggles
Digital Scale
Samples of Limestone
Samples of Granite
Samples of Marble
Procedure:
1. Determine the mass of each sample of material and record it.
2. Measure the amount of vinegar you have decided to test and then pour
it into each of the containers

3. Put the samples into buckets so that they can soak in the vinegar for
48 hours.
4. After two days, remove the samples from the vinegar and let them dry
off for 15 min.
5. After the samples dry, weigh them again to see if their masses have
changed
6. After you have weighed the samples, record the data in the data table.

Data Table:
Vinegar
Building
Material
Granite
Sandstone
Marble

Starting
Mass
(grams)
30.3
14.1
18.7

Final
Mass
(grams)
26.3
12.2
17.0

Differenc
e in Mass
(grams)
-4
-1.9
-1.7

Percenta
ge Lost

Water
Building
Material
Granite
Sandstone
Marble

Starting
Mass
(grams)
10.2
9.1
8.8

Final Mass
(grams)
10.2
9.0
8.8

Difference
in Mass
(grams)
0
-0.1
0

Percentage
Lost
0.0%
0.01%
0.0%

Calculations:
Percent Lost = (Difference in Mass / Starting Mass) x 100

Graph:
Bar Graph
-

Compares building materials to difference in mass (g) (Vinegar)

Compares building materials to difference in mass (g) (Water)

Analysis:

Restate Hypothesis and indicate if hypothesis is correct Support with

data (reference data table and graph)
Discuss any trends you noticed with the data