Acid Rain

WORKED BY GERI VISHA

Index:

Introduction.
Some Historical facts.
Detailed explanation of the
problem.
Sources of acid rain.
Effects of acid rain.
Preventive measures.
Conclusion.
2

1. Introduction.
Acid rain
Rain that is more acidic than normal is
called acid rain.
In other words the precipitation
containing acid in amount more than
usual is called acid rain.
Acid rain has pH value very low.

What is pH?
pH
Convenient measure of acidity for dilute
solution
pH = -log[H+], where [H+] is hydrogen
ion conc. in mole l-1
pH scale for acid varies from 0 to
7. If lesser the pH more will be
acidity.
Acid rain has Ph value varying from 2
to 5.
4

2. Some historical facts.

Dr. Gene E. Likens discovered acid
rain in North America
The English chemist Robert Angus
invented the term acid rain for
the first time. He is sometimes
referred to as the 'Father of Acid
Rain.
Dr. Gene Likens
Robert angus
5

3.Detailed explanation of the process.

Acid Rain refers to the deposition of
acidic components in either wet
forms (e.g. dew, smog) or dry forms
(e.g. sulphates, nitrates)
Biggest contributor is the burning of
coal. Annually 70Tg (1012 g) of Sulfur
emissions comes from fossil fuel
burning, compared to 8Tg from
volcanoes and 2.8Tg from wildfires
6

Detailed explanation.
Burning coal is extremely cheap and
efficient but dirty, releasing sulfur
dioxide which becomes sulfuric acid
in the atmosphere.
Areas downwind of power plants
receive heavy acid rain due to it.

4.Sources of acid rain.

1. Sulfur.
2. Nitrogen.
3. Carbon.
4. Methane. (In very small amount)
These gases react with air to form
oxides and than with moisture to
form acids.

Reactions taking place:

The gases mentioned above forms
oxides and reacts with
atmospheric moisture to form
gaseous acids.
Reactions:
1. N2O+H2O=2HNO3
N2O3+H2O=2HNO2
(nitric acid)
2. SO +1/2 O +H O=H SO

Some diagrammatic
representation

10

11

12

5.Effcts of acid rain.

There are intense
effects of acid rain
on various
components:
1. Effects on
monuments and
sculptures..
2. Effects on trees
and vegetation.
3. Effects on
animals.

13

Effects on sculptures.
1.Many buildings are made of concrete
or stone.
2.These compounds act as bases and
react with acid.
3.The building technically weathers
very fast, or Non technically
crumbles.

14

Europe

The US Capital

15

Effects on vegetation.

16

Forests affected by Acid

Rain:
1. Northeast US
2. Canada
3. Northern Europe

17

Effect on animals.
Mostly aquatic life
suffers due to acid
rain.

18

Effect on humans.
Major respiratory problems.
Asthma, along with dry coughs,
headaches, and throat irritations
can be caused by the sulphur
dioxides and nitrogen oxides from
acid rain.
Brain damage, kidney problems,
and Alzheimer's disease has been
linked to people eating "toxic"
animals/plants.

19

Preventive measures.
Industry should reduce the
production of dyes and fertilizers
needs sulfur and nitrogen as raw
materials.
Cleaning scrubbers in factories,
washing sulfur out of coal can
help.
One can use natural manure,
vermi technology, biogas
remnants as fertilizers instead of
20

Conclusions.
Acid rain is the rain containing acid in
more proportion than usual.
Acid rain is caused by two major
gases: sulfur and nitrogen.
Sulfur and nitrogen comes from
environmental sources like volcanoes
or biological cycles or from manmade sources like industries and
automobiles.
Effect of acid rain is dangerous. It is
causing damage to health and
21