CHEM 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Global Warming Potential, Fluorine, World Meteorological Organization
21 Apr 2018
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Acid rain: when atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in water it forms carbonic acid. The acid formed dissociates partially generating small amounts of hydrogen ions. Co2 (g) + h2o ( ) h2co3 (aq) The hydrogen ions formed are responsible for the weakly acidic nature of rain. The production of acid rain is due to the presence of oxides in certain nonmetals such as. The acidity (a measure of hydrogen ion concentration) of a solution is conveniently described in terms of ph scale. Based on the concentration of carbonic acid and small amounts of other natural acids, the estimated ph of rain (as well as fog, dew, and snow) under normal atmospheric conditions should be around 5. 3. Field measurements in many areas show much lower ph values (4. 1-4. 5) Higher acidity (lower ph) is due to the reactions of nox and sox present in the atmosphere. Various reactions of these oxides lead to the formation of acids.
