Question

Write about acid rain.

Answer 1

Acid rain refers to any form of precipitation (rain, snow, fog, hail) containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. Forms of acid deposition may be a wet deposition or dry deposition.

Acid and alkalinity are measured on pH scale for which 7.0 is neutral. The lower the pH the more acidic the substance is and the higher the pH the more alkaline the substance is. Normal rainwater is slightly acidic with a pH of about 5.6 in nature because carbon dioxide dissolves into it forming weak carbonic acid. When the pH of the rainwater drops below 5.6, it is called acid rain. The acidity of rainwater increases through the introduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere. These gases react with water, oxygen and other chemicals in the atmosphere to form various acidic compounds such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid which come along with the rain and the rain becomes acidic so it is called acidic rain.