Download Day 13- Acid Rain

And its effects on soil
• When nitrogen and/or sulfur emissions
enter the atmosphere they will combine
with water to create nitric acid and sulfuric
acid.
• In Canada ~90% of sulfur in the air and ~
60-80% of nitrogen oxides come from
human made pollution.
• These acids can then fall out
of the sky as acid rain.
Acids and Bases
• An acid is a chemical
that easily gives up H+
ions.
• Acids are sour tasting
and lemons and other
sour fruits are acidic.
• Bases are chemicals
that easily give up
OH- (hydroxide ions)
• Bases are basically
the opposite of acids.
Bases are slippery
and bitter.
• Another word for
basic is alkaline.
• How acidic or how
alkaline (basic) a
substance is can be
measured on the pH
scale.
• The pH scale goes
from 0-14
• Acids range from 0-7
• Bases range from 714
• And 7 is neutral.
• Most creatures prefer their environments
to be fairly close to neutral but some
specific plants require slightly basic or
slightly acidic environments.
• Eg. blueberries prefer acidic soil while
peas and beans prefer their soil slightly
alkaline (basic)
• Acid rain is any rain that
has a pH of less than 5.
• When acid rain falls it will
upset the balance of pH
in the soil and water and
the organisms living there
will have a hard time
dealing with the changes.
Fish will die if the pH of
the water falls below 4.5.
• Some effects of acid rain:
• Takes waxy coating off of leaves – leaving
them vulnerable to infection.
• Causes the acidity of water and soil to
increase – making it hard for the plants to
survive.
• It will melt the shells of creatures with
shells.
• Acid rain will have a greater effect in areas
where the soil does not contain limestone
(made from shells of dead creatures)
An example of what can happen due to acid rain is
Nellie lake in Kilarney. It has a pH of 4.5 and
has 30 m visibility.
This is because there is basically nothing living in
the water.