Applying Ionic Equilibria to the Acid-Rain Problem

Applying Ionic Equilibria to the Acid-Rain Problem 

The effect of industrial society on the environment is especially apparent in the problem of acid rain the underlying chemistry applies several principles of ionic equilibria. Acidic precipitation—rain, snow, fog, or dry deposits on particles—has been recorded in all parts of North America, the Amazon basin, Europe, including Russia, much of Asia, and even at the North and South Poles. Three major substances are involved  

Sulfurous acid. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) from the burning of high-sulfur coal forms sulfurous acid in contact with water. Oxidizing air pollutants, such as hydrogen peroxide, convert sulfurous acid to sulfuric acid  

Sulfuric acid. Sulfur trioxide (SO3) forms through the atmospheric oxidation of SO2 and becomes H2SO4 in contact with water. 

Lakes bounded by soil high in limestone are buffered. 

Agio predpilation as H2SO4 and HNO3 -dissolved in rain and snow and their ammonium salts on particles,  

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