Question

What causes acid rain? How acid rains affect monuments such as Taj Mahal? Also, give chemical equation. [3 MARKS]

Answer 1

Causes : 1 Mark
Justification : 1 Mark
Reaction : 1 Mark

The burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum produces oxides of nitrogen and sulphur which reach the atmosphere. When they dissolve in rain, they form acids like nitric acid and sulphuric and fall as acid rain.

Acid rain causes extensive damage to buildings and sculptural materials like marble, limestone, slate, etc. These materials become pitted and thus weaken mechanically. Therefore, monuments such as Taj Mahal are affected.

$CaC{O}_3+H_{2}S{O}_4\to CaS{O}_4+C{O}_2+H_{2}O$
$CaC{O}_3+2HN{O}_3\to Ca(N{O}_3{)}_2+C{O}_2+H_{2}O$