Marble acid rain

Effect of acid rain on a marble statue of George Washington in New York City. The... 

Marble is almost pure CaCO Acid rain has a devastating effect on marble statuary left outdoors. Assume that the reaction which occurs is... 

The dissolution of carbonates by acid is an undesired result of acid rain, which has damaged the appearance of many historic marble and limestone monuments (Fig. 11.19 marble and limestone are forms of calcium carbonate). 

Acid rain not only harms plants and animals, but also it can destroy buildings and statues. Limestone and marble, common building materials, are easily dissolved by acids. Try this Put a drop of vinegar on a piece of chalk. Notice how the chalk fizzes and dissolves when exposed to the acetic acid in vinegar. That is because chalk, like limestone and marble, is mainly composed of calcium carbonate ... 

Bubbles of carbon dioxide gas form when the vinegar hits the chalk. A piece of chalk covered in vinegar and left for a couple of days will completely dissolve. Limestone rocks dissolve in carbonic acid to form limestone caves, and marble buildings and statues will eventually dissolve in acidic rain, too. 

Acid rain harms the environment in a number of ways it dissolves many rocks and metals, alters the composition of soils, groundwaters, and lakes, and alters the environmental conditions of living organisms. Acid rain is also particularly harmful to ancient objects and structures, as it plays an important role in their deterioration and sometimes total destruction. Unprotected limestone, marble, and sandstone, all of them widely used in ancient times for building and making statuary, are disintegrated by acid rain, which... 

Schuster, P. F., M. M. Reddy, and S. I. Sherwood (1991), A quantitative field study of the role of acid rain and sulfur dioxide in marble dissolution, La Conservation des Monuments dans le Bassin Mediterranean, Proc. 2nd Int. Symp., Geneve. 

Buildings and statues constructed of marble are sensitive to the destructive action of acid rain. How can the same reactions that destroy marble be used to help reduce the harmful effects of acid rain pollution ... 

Calcium carbonate is the primary component of seashells, antacids, marble and limestone (e.g. stalactites and stalagmites in caves), blackboard chalk, scale in water pipes, and calcium supplements for people and animals. It is also used to capture S02 gas in fossil fuel burning boilers, thereby helping to prevent acid rain, and as a soil additive to provide pH adjustment and calcium to farmers soil. 

Dissolving an eggshell in vinegar demonstrates a modern environmental problem. Calcium carbonate is present in Earth s crust as marble, limestone, and chalk. Many modern buildings, statues, and stone structures contain calcium. Acid rain is slowly dissolving these structures. 

The effects of acid rain can be seen in lakes and streams, in forests, and on all kinds of structures. The lowered pH kills fish eggs, fish, and many other organisms that live in lakes and streams. In forests, the acid can kill the leaves and needles of trees. It damages the soil by depleting it of nutrients, which stunts plant growth. Acid rain also eats away at the surfaces of buildings and other structures. Structures made of marble and other calcium-containing stone are particularly sensitive to acid rain. 

Sulfuric acid is a stronger acid than sulfurous [pAa(l) < 0, p7fa(2) = 1.99 at 25 °C and infinite dilution] rain as acidic as pH 2.1 has been recorded at Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, and the pH of water droplets in clouds can be as low as 1.5 (for comparison, the pH of rainwater saturated with atmospheric CO2 is about 5.6 at 15 °C). Acid rain destroys building materials (especially marble), kills fish and vegetation, accelerates metallic corrosion (Sections 16.5 and 16.7), and can be directly harmful to humans (e.g., it causes the alligator skin condition reported in Cubatao, Brazil). Sulfate rain is not completely without redeeming features, as many soils (e.g., in southern Alberta, Canada) are sulfur-deficient. On balance, however, its acidity is unacceptable, and sulfur oxide emissions must be controlled at the source. Several control measures are possible ... 

Figure 13-9 Measured calcium in acid rain runoff from marble stone (which is largely CaC03) roughly increases as [H ] in the rain...

Among the many dramatic effects of acid rain are the extinction of fish from acidic lakes throughout parts of the northeastern United States, Canada, and Scandinavia, the damage to forests throughout much of central and eastern Europe, and the deterioration everywhere of marble buildings and statuary. Marble is a form of calcium carbonate, CaC03, and, like all metal carbonates, reacts with acid to produce C02. The result is a slow eating away of the stone. 

The details on this marble statue have been eaten away over the years by acid rain. 

Many processes in nature require such a fine pH balance that they are dramatically upset by the shift that has occurred in the pH of rain. Thousands of lakes in the Adirondack region of upper New York State and in southeastern Canada have become so acidic that all fish life has disappeared. Massive tree die-offs have occurred throughout central and eastern Europe as acid rain has lowered the pH of the soil and leached nutrients from leaves. Countless marble statues have been slowly dissolved away as their calcium carbonate has been attacked by acid rain. 

A marble statue is being slowly dissolved by reaction of calcium carbonate with acid rain (top). A researcher examines tree branches damaged by acid rain on Mount Mitchell in North Carolina (bottom). 

During a certain time period, 4.0 million tons of SO2 was released into the atmosphere and was subsequently oxidized to SO3. As explained in the Interlude, the acid rain produced when the SO3 dissolves in water can damage marble statues ... 

The effect of pH on the solubility of CaC03 has important environmental consequences. For instance, the formation of limestone caves, such as Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, is due to the slow dissolution of limestone (CaC03) in the slightly acidic natural water of underground streams. Marble, another form of CaC03, also dissolves in acid, which accounts for the deterioration of marble monuments on exposure to acid rain (Interlude, pages 650-651). 

Acid rain causes corrosion of some metals, erosion of marble (limestone), mortar etc. It is responsible for the destruction of softwood forests and for the pollution of ground water. 

A) Acid rain will erode marble statues. 

Acid rain can do much damage over time to marine life and to marble structures (made of carbonate rocks). It can be formed from oxides of carbon, nitrogen, and/or sulfur. Acid rain, however, does not attack the ozone layer. CFCs are responsible for destroying the ozone layer. 

In addition to low pH values, acid rain containing nitrates can oxidize materials such as copper or iron. Other consequences of acid rain include the deterioration of marble or any carbonated exterior material due to the decomposition reaction ... 

The damaging effects of acid rain can be seen by comparing these photos of a decorative statue on the Field Museum in Chicago. The photo on the left was taken c. 1920 the photo on the right was taken in 1990. Recent renovation has since replaced the deteriorating marble. 

Write reactions to show how nitric and sulfuric acids are produced in the atmosphere. Write reactions to show how the nitric and sulfuric acids in acid rain react with marble and limestone. (Both marble and limestone are primarily calcium carbonate.)... 

One harmful effect of acid rain is the deterioration of structures and statues made of marble or limestone, both of which are essentially calcium carbonate. The reaction of calcium carbonate with sulfuric acid yields carbon dioxide, water, and calcium sulfate. Because calcium sulfate is marginally soluble in water, part of the object is washed away by the rain. Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction of sulfuric acid with calcium carbonate. 

In the atmosphere, sulfur oxides can combine with water and oxygen to form sulfurous and sulfuric acids. The deposition of these acids causes corrosion or decomposition of materials such as limestone, marble, iron, and steel. The deterioration of building facades and monuments is one result of this worldwide problem. Flushing of the sulfur oxides from the air by precipitation (acid rain) can lead to acidification of lakes and sods, weakening or killing plants and animals. 

Many examples of acid-base reactions can be found in cooking, such as the soda-sour cream reaction in Little Men. In addition, the unfortunate result of acid rain (the formation of which we will discuss later) is that the acid in the rain reacts with the carbonates found in limestone and marble, which causes the deterioration of statues, some of which had managed to survive without corrosion for thousands of years before the advent of the industrial age. (But before one completely condemns the industrial age, it should be remembered that the bacteria of Black Death, smallpox, and syphilis also managed to survive for thousands of years before modem technology brought them to bay.) This ability of acid rain to dissolve marble brings up another property common to all acids and bases they are corrosive. 

Why does acid rain dissolve statues made of marble (CaC03) Write the formula equation for the reaction between snlfnric acid and calcinm carbonate. (19.1)... 

Acid rain increases the acidity of some types of soil, resulting in the removal of essential nutrients from the soil. The loss of nutrients adversely affects the area s vegetation, leaving trees and other plants with less resistance to disease, insects, and bad weather. Acid rain also increases the acidity of streams, rivers, and lakes, which can kill or harm aquatic life. As Figure 26-8 shows, damage to trees and to outdoor surfaces can be extensive. The acid in precipitation reacts with CaC03, the major component of marble and limestone. What products are produced by this reaction ... 

Reddy, M. M. Sherwood, S. I. Limestone and Marble Dissolution by Acid Rain. In this book. 

In this paper, we describe an onsite weathering experiment designed to identify acid-rain increased dissolution of carbonate rock. This experiment is based on the measurement of the change in rainfall-runoff composition from the interaction of a rock surface with incident acid rain 2. The experiment involves conducting long-term exposures of two commercially and culturally important calcium carbonate dimension stones (i.e., Indiana Limestone (commercial name for Salem Limestone) and Vermont Marble (commercial name for Shelburne Marble)) (3-5). This technique appears to give a direct measurement of the chemical dissolution of carbonate rock from the combined reactions of wet and dry deposition. Preliminary results from the initial months of onsite operation are presented to illustrate the technique. 

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