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Acid Rain: Myths And Misconceptions

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Many myths and Misconceptions have emerged about what acids can do and the level of danger they represent to the general public. One such myth is that acid rain is rapidly dissolving the marble statues of Europe.

Acid rain is rainfall that has been made acidic by atmospheric pollution. Acid rain is particularly damaging to forests and lakes. Contrary to popular belief rainwater even in pristine wilderness is slightly acidic and pure rainwater is described as having a pH of 5.6. Rainwater is naturally slightly acidic because of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide dissolves in raindrops to produce H+ ions by the following reaction:
H2O (l) + CO2 (g) H+ (aq) + HCO3- (aq)
This reaction produces very small concentrations of H+ ions in rainwater. It is the gases such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) that produce the significantly higher concentrations of H+ that make rain more acidic than natural. …show more content…

The natural sources of SO2 are volcanoes and geothermal hot springs while the industrial sources are the combustion of fossil fuels and the extraction of metals from sulphide ores. Lightening, geothermal hot springs and bacteria are the natural sources of NO2 while combustion is the industrial source of NO2. The pollution from the industrial sources is what has created the acid rain that is being seen all over the world.

Sulphur dioxide is oxidized to sulphur trioxide, which then reacts with water to form sulphuric acid: 2SO2 (g) +O2 (g) 2SO3 (g)
SO3 (g) + H2O (l) H2SO4

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