Al Oruba International School

Acid Rain

Research paper by
Aysil Islam
Mennah Mohamed
Talia Wael
Mariam Omar
Sama Osama
Ruqayya Mohamed

8 yellow IGCSE
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Introduction to the reserch paper

The primary objective of this research paper is to outline, highlight
and expand knowledge about acid rain in our environment. It would
be dicussed in details about how acid rain is formed of what
compounds, what affect does it has in our environment, details about
organizations that help prevent acid rain, as well as to have a brief
example of calculating and describing how a drop of acid rain falls
through air resistance. The topics discussed are:
1)what is acid rain

2)what causes acid rain

3)forms of acid deposition

4)measuring acid rain

5)affects of acid rain in ecosystems

6) Other Effects of SO2 and NOX

7) what is being done
8) what can you do

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Brief summary

What is acid rain

Acid rain is rain that has been made acidic by certain pollutants in the
air. Acid rain is a type of acid deposition, which can appear in many
forms. Wet deposition is rain, sleet, snow, or fog that has become more
acidic than normal. Dry deposition is another form of acid deposition,
and this is when gases and dust particles become acidic. Both wet and
dry deposition can be carried by the wind, sometimes for very long
distances. Acid deposition in wet and dry forms falls on buildings,
cars, and trees and can make lakes acidic. Acid deposition in dry form
can be inhaled by people and can cause health problems in some
people.

What is acidity?
Acidic and basic are two ways that we describe chemical compounds.
Acidity is measured using a pH scale. A pH scale runs from zero (the
most acidic) to 14 (the most basic or alkaline). A substance that is
neither basic or acidic is called "neutral", and this has a pH of 7.

What causes acid rain

Sources of Acid Rain
Acid rain is caused by a chemical reaction that begins
when compounds like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released
into the air. These substances can rise very high into the atmosphere,
where they mix and react with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to
form more acidic pollutants, known as acid rain. Sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides dissolve very easily in water and can be carried very

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far by the wind. As a result, the two compounds can travel long
distances where they become part of the rain, sleet, snow, and fog that
we experience on certain days.

Human activities are the main cause of acid rain. Over the past few
decades, humans have released so many different chemicals into the
air that they have changed the mix of gases in the atmosphere. Power
plants release the majority of sulfur dioxide and much of the nitrogen
oxides when they burn fossil fuels, such as coal, to produce electricity.
In addition, the exhaust from cars, trucks, and buses releases nitrogen
oxides and sulfur dioxide into the air. These pollutants cause acid rain.

Acid Rain is Caused by Reactions in the Environment

Nature depends on balance, and although some rain is naturally
acidic, with a pH level of around 5.0, human activities have made it
worse. Normal precipitation—such as rain, sleet, or snow—reacts
with alkaline chemicals, or non-acidic materials, that can be found in
air, soils, bedrock, lakes, and streams. These reactions
usually neutralize natural acids. However, if precipitation becomes too
acidic, these materials may not be able to neutralize all of the acids.
Over time, these neutralizing materials can be washed away by acid
rain. Damage to crops, trees, lakes, rivers, and animals can result.

What is being done

Now that you know why acid rain is a problem, you might be
wondering what’s being done to control it. Regulations and new
technologies are helping reduce acid rain.

What can you do

Government agencies and scientists are not the only ones that can take
action to stop acid rain. You can become part of the solution, too!

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What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of
precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid
that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This
can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic.

What Causes Acid Rain?

Acid rain results when sulfur dioxide (SO2) and
nitrogen oxides (NOX) are emitted into the
atmosphere and transported by wind and air
currents. The SO2 and NOX react with water,
oxygen and other chemicals to form sulfuric and
nitric acids. These then mix with water and other
materials before falling to the ground.

While a small portion of the SO2 and NOX that

This image illustrates the
pathway for acid rain in our
environment: (1) Emissions of
SO2 and NOx are released into
the air, where (2) the pollutants
are transformed into acid
particles that may be transported
long distances. (3) These acid
particles then fall to the earth as
wet and dry deposition (dust,
rain, snow, etc.) and (4) may
cause harmful effects on soil,
forests, streams, and lakes.
cause acid rain is from natural sources such as
volcanoes, most of it comes from the burning of
fossil fuels. The major sources of SO2 and NOXin
the atmosphere are:
• Burning of fossil fuels to generate
electricity. Two thirds of SO2 and one fourth
of NOX in the atmosphere come from electric
power generators.
• Vehicles and heavy equipment.
• Manufacturing, oil refineries and other
industries.
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Winds can blow SO2 and NOX over long distances and across borders
making acid rain a problem for everyone and not just those who live
close to these sources.

Forms of Acid Deposition

Wet Deposition
Wet deposition is what we most commonly think of as acid rain. The
sulfuric and nitric acids formed in the atmosphere fall to the ground
mixed with rain, snow, fog, or hail.

Dry Deposition
Acidic particles and gases can also deposit from the atmosphere in the
absence of moisture as dry deposition. The acidic particles and gases
may deposit to surfaces (water bodies, vegetation, buildings) quickly
or may react during atmospheric transport to form larger particles that
can be harmful to human health. When the accumulated acids are
washed off a surface by the next rain, this acidic water flows over and
through the ground, and can harm plants and wildlife, such as insects
and fish.

The amount of acidity in the atmosphere that deposits to earth

through dry deposition depends on the amount of rainfall an area
receives. For example, in desert areas the ratio of dry to wet
deposition is higher than an area that receives several inches of rain
each year.

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Measuring Acid Rain

Acidity and alkalinity are measured using a pH scale for which 7.0 is
neutral. The lower a substance's pH (less than 7), the more acidic it is;
the higher a substance's pH (greater than 7), the more alkaline it is.
Normal rain has a pH of about 5.6; it is slightly acidic because carbon
dioxide (CO2) dissolves into it forming weak carbonic acid. Acid rain
usually has a pH between 4.2 and 4.4.

Policymakers, research scientists, ecologists, and modelers rely on the

National Atmospheric Deposition Program’s (NADP) National
Trends Network (NTN) for measurements of wet deposition. The
NADP/NTN collects acid rain at more than 250 monitoring sites
throughout the US, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and the US Virgin
Islands. Unlike wet deposition, dry deposition is difficult and
expensive to measure. Dry deposition estimates for nitrogen and
sulfur pollutants are provided by the Clean Air Status and Trends
Network (CASTNET). Air concentrations are measured by
CASTNET at more than 90 locations.

When acid deposition is washed into lakes and streams, it can cause
some to turn acidic. The Long-Term Monitoring (LTM) Network

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measures and monitors surface water chemistry at over 280 sites to

provide valuable information on aquatic ecosystem health and how
water bodies respond to changes in acid-causing emissions and acid
deposition.

The Effects of Acid Rain on

Ecosystems

An ecosystem is a community of plants,

animals and other organisms along with their
environment including the air, water and
soil. Everything in an ecosystem is
connected. If something harms one part of
an ecosystem – one species of plant or
animal, the soil or the water – it can have an
impact on everything else.

This figure illustrates the pH level at which

key organisms may be lost as their
environment becomes more acidic. Not all
fish,shellfish, or the insects that they eat can
tolerate the same amount of acid.

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Effects of Acid Rain on Fish and Wildlife

The ecological effects of acid rain are most clearly seen in aquatic
environments, such as streams, lakes, and marshes where it can be
harmful to fish and other wildlife. As it flows through the soil, acidic
rain water can leach aluminum from soil clay particles and then flow
into streams and lakes. The more acid that is introduced to the
ecosystem, the more aluminum is released.

Some types of plants and animals are able to tolerate acidic waters and
moderate amounts of aluminum. Others, however, are acid-sensitive
and will be lost as the pH declines. Generally, the young of most
species are more sensitive to environmental conditions than adults. At
pH 5, most fish eggs cannot hatch. At lower pH levels, some adult fish
die. Some acidic lakes have no fish. Even if a species of fish or animal
can tolerate moderately acidic water, the animals or plants it eats
might not. For example, frogs have a critical pH around 4, but the
mayflies they eat are more sensitive and may not survive pH below
5.5.

Effects of Acid Rain on Plants and Trees

Dead or dying trees are a common sight in areas effected by acid rain.
Acid rain leaches aluminum from the soil. That aluminum may be
harmful to plants as well as animals. Acid rain also removes minerals
and nutrients from the soil that trees need to grow.

At high elevations, acidic fog and clouds might strip nutrients from
trees’ foliage, leaving them with brown or dead leaves and needles.
The trees are then less able to absorb sunlight, which makes them
weak and less able to withstand freezing temperatures.

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Buffering Capacity
Many forests, streams, and lakes that experience acid rain don’t suffer
effects because the soil in those areas can buffer the acid rain by
neutralizing the acidity in the rainwater flowing through it. This
capacity depends on the thickness and composition of the soil and the
type of bedrock underneath it. In areas such as mountainous parts of
the Northeast United States, the soil is thin and lacks the ability to
adequately neutralize the acid in the rain water. As a result, these
areas are particularly vulnerable and the acid and aluminum can
accumulate in the soil, streams, or lakes.

Episodic Acidification
Melting snow and heavy rain downpours can result in what is known
as episodic acidification. Lakes that do not normally have a high level
of acidity may temporarily experience effects of acid rain when the
melting snow or downpour brings greater amounts of acidic deposition
and the soil can’t buffer it. This short duration of higher acidity (i.e.,
lower pH) can result in a short-term stress on the ecosystem where a
variety of organisms or species may be injured or killed.

Nitrogen Pollution
It’s not just the acidity of acid rain that can cause problems. Acid rain
also contains nitrogen, and this can have an impact on some
ecosystems. For example, nitrogen pollution in our coastal waters is
partially responsible for declining fish and shellfish populations in
some areas. In addition to agriculture and wastewater, much of the
nitrogen produced by human activity that reaches coastal waters
comes from the atmosphere.

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Other Effects of SO2 and NOX

Visibility
In the atmosphere, SO2 and NOX gases can be transformed into
sulfate and nitrate particles, while some NOX can also react with other
pollutants to form ozone. These particles and ozone make the air hazy
and difficult to see through. This affects our enjoyment of national
parks that we visit for the scenic view such as Shenandoah and the
Great Smoky Mountains.

Human Health
Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in a lake affected by acid rain,
is no more dangerous to humans than walking in normal rain or
swimming in non-acidic lakes. However, when the pollutants that
cause acid rain —SO2 and NOX, as well as sulfate and nitrate
particles— are in the air, they can be harmful to humans.

SO2 and NOX react in the atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate
particles that people can inhale into their lungs. Many scientific
studies have shown a relationship between these particles and effects
on heart function, such as heart attacks resulting in death for people
with increased heart disease risk, and effects on lung function, such as
breathing difficulties for people with asthma. In addition,
NOX emissions also contribute to ground level ozone, which is also
harmful to human health.

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What is being done

Now that you know why acid rain is a problem, you might be
wondering what’s being done to control it. Regulations and new
technologies are helping reduce acid rain.

EPA’s Acid Rain Program

Power plants generate the electricity we use every day. Unfortunately,
power plants also produce large amounts of nitrogen oxides and sulfur
dioxide—the pollutants that cause acid rain—when they burn fossil
fuels, especially coal, to produce energy. Congress passed a law called
the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, and this law said that EPA
should start the Acid Rain Program. The program limits, or puts
a cap on, the amount of sulfur dioxide that power plants can release
into the air and issues allowances to the power plants to cover their
sulfur dioxide emissions. It also reduces the amount of nitrogen oxides
that power plants can release.

Reducing Pollution
Scientists have found different ways to reduce the amount of sulfur
dioxide released from coal-burning power plants. One option is to use
coal that contains less sulfur. Another option is to “wash” the coal to
remove some of the sulfur. The power plant can also install equipment
called scrubbers, which remove the sulfur dioxide from gases leaving
the smokestack. Because nitrogen oxides are created in the process of
burning coal and other fossil fuels, some power plants are changing
the way they burn coal.

Other Sources of Energy

A great way to reduce acid rain is to produce energy without using
fossil fuels. Instead, people can use renewable energy sources, such as
solar and wind power. Renewable energy sources help reduce acid
rain because they produce much less pollution. These energy sources
can be used to power machinery and produce electricity.

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Cleaner Cars
Cars and trucks are major sources of the pollutants that cause acid
rain. While one car alone does not produce much pollution, all the cars
on the road added together create lots of pollution. Therefore, car
manufacturers are required to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides
and other pollutants released by new cars. One type of technology
used in cars is called a catalytic converter. This piece of equipment has
been used for over 20 years to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides
released by cars. Some new cars can also use cleaner fuels, such as
natural gas.

Cars that produce less pollution and are better for the environment are
often labeled as low emissions vehicles. You can find out which
vehicles are low emissions vehicles by looking at EPA’s Green Vehicle
Guide.

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What can you do

Government agencies and scientists are not the only ones that can take
action to stop acid rain. You can become part of the solution, too!

Understand the Problem

The first step you can take to help control acid rain is to understand
the problem and its solutions. Now that you have learned about this
environmental issue, you can tell others about it. By telling your
classmates, parents, and teachers about what you learned on this site,
you can help educate them about the problem of acid rain. You CAN
make a difference!

Conserve Energy
Since energy production creates large amounts of the pollutants that
cause acid rain, one important step you can take is to conserve energy.
You can do this in a number of ways:

• Turn off lights, computers, televisions, video games, and other

electrical equipment when you're not using them.
• Encourage your parents to buy equipment that uses less
electricity, including lights, air conditioners, heaters,
refrigerators, and washing machines. Such equipment might
have the Energy Star label.
• Try to limit the use of air conditioning.
• Ask your parents to adjust the thermostat (the device used to
control the temperature in your home) when you go on vacation.

Minimize the Miles

Driving cars and trucks also produces large amounts of nitrogen
oxides, which cause acid rain. To help cut down on air pollution from
cars, you can carpool or take public transportation, such as buses and
trains. Also, ask your parents to walk or bike with you to a nearby
store or friend’s house instead of driving.

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Describe the acceleration of a

drop of acid rain through air

1) During the first few seconds(1s to 4s)The drop is moving with

constant\uniform acceleration (5m\s2). Air resistance is 0
2) The drop is moving with decreasing acceleration meaning that net force
decreases as well due to increase in air resistance
3) The object is moving with constant speed which means acceleration and
weight downward is equal to resistive forces upward until the drop reaches
the ground

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