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Question

How burning of fuels such as coal petroleum and diesel lead to acid rain. How acid rain is harmful

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Solution

Burning of fuels leads to harmful products

The important harmful effects produced by the burning of fuels are:

1)The burning of fuels like wood,coal and petroleum products releases unburnt carbon particles in the air:These fine carbon particles are dangerous pollutants which can cause respiratory diseases.

2)Incomplete combustion of fuels produces a very poisonous gas called carbon monoxide:Excessive inhaling of carbon dioxide gas can kill a person.We should never sleep in a room with closed door and windows,and having a coal fire burning inside.This is because when coal burns in an insufficient supply of air in the room,then a lot of carbon monoxide is produced.when the person sleeping in this room breathe in poisonous carbon monoxide gas,they may all dies.

3)Burning of fuels releases carbon dioxide in air in the environment:Increased percentage of carbon dioxide in air is causing global warming.Carbon dioxide gas in the air trap sun’s heat rays by producing green house effect.

Global warming is the rise in temperature of earth atmosphere caused by the excessive amount of carbon dioxide in the air.Due to rise in the temperature of atmosphere,the ice in polar regions will melt very fast,producing a lot of water.This water may cause a rise in the sea level leading to floods in coastal areas.The low-lying areas may be completely submerged under water leading to loss of life and property.

4)Burning of coal,petrol and diesel produces sulphur dioxide which goes into the air:It is an extremely suffocating and corrosive gas.It may damage our lungs.The burning of petrol and diesel in the engines of vehicles also releases nitrogen oxides into the air.

These oxides produced by the burning of fuels dissolve in rain water and form acids.The rain water containing acid is called acid rain.

The use of petrol and diesel as fuels in automobiles is being replaced by CNG because

1)It produces very small amount of harmful gases.

2)It burns without smoke so it is a clean fuel.

Disadvantages of burning wood as fuel are as follow:

1)It produces a lot of smoke which is very harmful for human being.It causes respiratory diseases.

2)When trees are cut down to obtain wood for use as fuel,then all the useful substances which are obtained from trees are lost.

3)Deforestation is very harmful for environment.

LPG is a better domestic fuel than wood due to:

1)It has higher calorific value,so it produces much more heat on burning than an equal mass of wood.

2)It burns without leaving behind any smoke.

3)It burns completely without leaving behind any solid residue but wood leaves behind a lot of ash on burning.

causes
air pollution like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides can cause respiratory diseases, or can make these diseases worse. Respiratory diseases like asthma chronic lung problem make it hard for people to breathe. The pollution that causes acid rain can also create tiny particles. When these particles get into people’s lungs, they can cause health problems, or can make existing health problems worse. Also, nitrogen oxides cause ground-level ozone. This ground-level ozone causes respiratory problems, and can even cause permanent lung damage. The health effects that people have to worry about are not caused by the acid rain, but are caused when people breathe in these tiny particles or ozone. Swimming in an acidic lake or walking in an acidic puddle is no more harmful to people than swimming or walking in clean water


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