Question

A road tanker carrying an acid was involved in an accident and its contents spilled on the road. At the side of the road, iron drain covers began melting and fizzing as the acid ran over them. A specialist was called to see if the acid actually leaked into the nearby river.
(a) Explain how the specialist could carry out a simple test to see if the river water contains some acid or not.
(b) Explain why drain covers began fizzing as the acid rain over them.

Answer 1

a) The river water can be tested by dipping a strip of blue litmus paper into sample. Generally acids converts blue litmus to red. so if the color of litmus paper changes to red this means that acid has gone into the river.


b)
The fizzing sound is observed because when Iron reacts with acid to produce hydrogen gas.