Question

What are the effects of acid rain? Write the products formed in the acid rain.

Answer 1

Acid rain is rain that is unusually acidic due to the presence of oxides of sulfur and nitrogen.

• Acid rain usually has a pH of less than 5.6.

Harmful effects of acid rain-

• These rains can irritate the skin and cause damage to monuments.
• It dissolves nutrients essential for plant growth.
• It causes respiratory ailments in humans.
• It affects the aquatic ecosystem by reducing the pH level.

Products formed in the acid rain-

• Sulfur dioxide and Nitrogen dioxide present in the atmosphere undergo oxidation, and then they react with water resulting in the formation of sulfuric acid and nitric acid, respectively.
• This can be understood by the following reactions-

$\underset{\mathrm{Sulfur}\mathrm{dioxide}}{2{\mathrm{SO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Sulfuric}\mathrm{acid}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}$

$\underset{\mathrm{Nitrogen}\mathrm{dioxide}}{4{\mathrm{NO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Nitric}\mathrm{acid}}{4{\mathrm{HNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}$