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Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH).Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average.
These are thought to be the principal pathways for formation of nitric acid in the atmosphere. [8]: 224–225 This nitric acid contributes to acid rain or may deposit to soil, where it makes nitrate, which is of use to growing plants. The aqueous phase reaction 2 NO 2 + H 2 O → HNO 2 + HNO 3
Diagram depicting the sources and cycles of acid rain precipitation. Freshwater acidification occurs when acidic inputs enter a body of fresh water through the weathering of rocks, invasion of acidifying gas (e.g. carbon dioxide), or by the reduction of acid anions, like sulfate and nitrate within a lake, pond, or reservoir. [1]
Yellow boy in a stream receiving acid drainage from surface coal mining. Water temperatures as high as 47 °C (117 °F) [9] have been measured underground at the Iron Mountain Mine, and the pH can be as low as −3.6. [10] Organisms which cause acid mine drainage can thrive in waters with pH very close to zero.
Sulfuric acid is rarely encountered naturally on Earth in anhydrous form, due to its great affinity for water. Dilute sulfuric acid is a constituent of acid rain, which is formed by atmospheric oxidation of sulfur dioxide in the presence of water – i.e. oxidation of sulfurous acid. When sulfur-containing fuels such as coal or oil are burned ...
It is a reactant in the atmosphere, where it acts as an aerosol, decreasing air quality and clinging to water droplets, eventually resulting in nitric acid (H NO 3) that produces acid rain. Atmospheric ammonia and nitric acid also damage respiratory systems. The very high temperature of lightning naturally produces small amounts of NO x, NH 3 ...
Robert Angus Smith FRS (15 February 1817 – 12 May 1884), commonly referred to as Angus Smith, [1] was a Scottish chemist, who investigated numerous environmental issues.He is known for his research on air pollution in 1852, in the course of which he discovered what came to be known as acid rain.
The alkali–silica reaction (ASR) is a deleterious chemical reaction between the alkali (Na 2 O and K 2 O), dissolved in concrete pore water as NaOH and KOH, with reactive amorphous (non-crystalline) siliceous aggregates in the presence of moisture. The simplest way to write the reaction in a stylized manner is the following (other ...