Biology PROJECT WORK

ON EFFECT OF ACID RAIN

ON GROWTH OF BEAN
PLANT

Tutee: Tsenpa Lepcha

Class: 12 SCI

Tutor: Mr. Deo Kumar kharka

School: Norbugang central school

Year: 2024.

Acknowledgement
I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our subject teacher Mr. Deo Kumar kharka kharka for
his dedicated commitment and contribution in guiding me to successfully come up with this
project work. My sincere thanks also goes to the following people for their cooperation and
support without which this project work would not have been possible.
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 1. Mrs. Karma Lepcha (brother)
2. Mrs. SonamPemo(Teacher)
3. Mr. Sonam Chophel Lepcha

Table of Content
Sl.no Topic Page No

1 Acknowledgement 2

2 Introduction 4

3 Background Information

(i) History 5

(ii) Emission of chemical 5

(iii) Chemical Process 5

(iv) Acid Deposition

6

(v) Adverse Effect of acid rain 6

4 Experimental Design 7

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 5 Data Analysis and Result 8-10

6 Conclusion and Discussion 11

7 Bibliography 12

Introduction
Acid rain is a precipitation which is acidic in nature. Due to rapid economic development, rain
which once used to be god gifted had turned to hazardous in nature due to its acidic nature.
Acidifying of rain occur due to increase emission of pollution in the atmosphere from factories
and automobiles. And we should blame people for this cause.

Acid rain is very hazardous in nature. After the discovery of acid rain, scientists had found its
harmful impact on nature. It destroys building andcauses them to wear off. It also destroys the
life of marine and in recent time had cause giant migration in marine life due to acidification of
their habitats. Moreover it destroys the growth of vegetation. One of the main reasons of
degradation of forest is due to acid rain. Acid rain had cause slow growth of trees, stunted
growth and death of the plants in most cases. This is one of the major problems world is facing
currently.

Considering this to a problem, I decided to do a project work on this topic. I wanted to see how
an acid rain effects the growth of plants and at what rate it destroys the plants. Moreover I
wanted to know which type of acid rain, sulfuric acid rain or nitric acid rain will have more
effect on plants growth. The objective of doing this project work is that our locality being
located near the big factory DCCL, it is necessary for us to know that the precipitation is
contaminated and we must know how it effect plant’s growth and how we can control it.

Hypothesis:

If the precipitation contains PH below the normal then it will have adverse effect on the growth
of vegetation. Moreover sulfuric acid rain will have more effect on growth of plant than nitric
acid rain.

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 Background information
History

Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic. Acid rain is cause
by emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide which react with the water molecules in the
atmosphere to produce acids. Clean or unpolluted rain has an acidic PH, but usually not lowers
than 5.7 because carbon dioxide and water combine to form weak carbonic acid. Acid rain has ph
of around 4 to 4.5.

The corrosive effect of polluted, acidic city air on limestone and marble was noted in the 17 th
century by John Evelyn. Since the industrial revolution emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides into the atmosphere had increased. Though acidic rain was discovered in 1853, it was not
until the late 1960s that scientist begin widely observing and studying the phenomenon. The term
‘Acid rain’ was coined by Robert Angus Smith. Occasional PH reading of rain well below 2.4
was reported in China and Russia.

Emission of chemical

The principle natural phenomenon that contribute acid-producing gases to atmosphere are
emission from volcanoes. Acid-producing gases are also produced by biological process that
occurs on land, in wetland, and in ocean. The major biological source of sulfur containing
compound is dimethyl sulfide from volcanoes. Nitric acid in rain is caused due to nitrogen fixing
in plant and by lightning. The principal cause of acid rain is sulfur and nitrogen compounds from
human sources, such as electricity generation, factories and motor vehicles. Electrical power
generation using coal is among the greatest contributor to gaseous pollutions that are responsible
for acidic rain. The gases can be carried 100 of km in the atmosphere before they are converted
to acids and deposited.

Chemical Processes

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In the gas phase sulfur dioxide is oxidized by reaction with hydroxyl radical via an
intermolecular reaction.

SO2+ OH HOSO2 which is followed by

HOSO2 + O2 HO2 + SO3

In the presence of water, sulfur dioxide (SO3) is converted rapidly to sulfuric acid.

SO3 + H2O H2SO4

Nitrogen dioxide reacts with OH to form nitric acid.

NO2 + OH HNO3

Acid deposition

Wet deposition of acids occurs when any form of precipitation (rain, snow) removes acids from
the atmosphere and delivers it to the earth’s surface.

Dry deposition occurs via absence of precipitation. This occurs when particles and gases stick to
the ground, plants or other surfaces.

Adverse effects on plants

Acid rain does not usually kill tress directly. Instead, it is more likely to weaken the trees by
damaging their leaves, limiting the nutrients available to them, or poisoning them with toxic
substance slowly released from the soil. Scientist believe that the acidic water dissolves the
nutrients and helpful minerals in the soil and then washes them away before the trees and other
plants can use them to grow. At the same time, the acid rain causes the release of toxic substance
such as aluminum into the soil. These are very harmful to trees and plants, even if contact is
limited.

Toxic substances also wash away in the runoff that carries the substances into streams, rivers,
and lakes. Less of these toxic substances are released when the rainfall is cleaner. Even if the soil
is well buffered, there can be damages from acid rain.

Forests in high mountain regions receive additional acid from the acidic clouds and fog that
often surrounds them. These clouds and fog are often more acidic than rainfall. When leaves are
frequently bathed in this acid fog, their protective waxy coating can wear away. The loss of the
coating damages the leaves and create brown spots.

Leaves turn the energy in sunlight into food for growth. This process is called photosynthesis.
When leaves are damaged, they cannot produce enough food energy for the trees to remain

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healthy. Once trees are weak, they can be more easily attacked by diseases or insects that
ultimately kill them. Weaken trees may also become injured more easily by cold weather. Acid
rain can harm other plants in the same way it harms trees.

Food crops are not usually seriously affected, however, because farmers frequently add
fertilizers to the soil to replace the nutrients washed away. They may also add crushed limestone
to the soil. Limestone is the basic materials and increase the ability of the soil to act as a buffer
against acidity.

Experimental Design
Topic: Effect of acid rain on plant’s growth

Aim: To determine how different type of acid rain affect the growth of certain plant

Materials required: i. Three plastic pots

ii. Nitric acid

iii. Sulfuric acid

iv. Potting soil

v. Beaker

vi. Distilled water

vii. PH paper

Constant: i. Temperature where the plants are growing

ii. Type of plants and soil

iii. Shape and size of pots

iv. Amount of solution poured per day

Precaution: i. Be careful while preparing the acid solution

ii. Measure the plant height accurately

iii. Be careful while pouring the acid solution on the plants

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Procedure:

i. Fill each of the three pots to the top with soil and label one pot “Nitric acid rain”,
other as “Sulfuric acid rain” and last one as “Normal rain”.
ii. Place a seedling of equal height and same type in all the three pots.
iii. Pour 1 litre of distilled water in each of the three empty beakers. Label them as
‘Nitric’, ‘Sulfuric’ and ‘Normal’ respectively.
iv. Mix nitric acid in beaker labeled nitric acid and mix sulfuric acid in beaker labeled
sulfuric acid.
v. Measure the acid solution with PH paper. It need to be around 4.2 -4.4
vi. Mist the plants with their respective solution about one glass every day and keep the
plant in their original growth spot.
vii. Measure the height of each plant every two/three days.
Data analysis and Result

Observation:

Table 1: Height of seedling

Acid rain Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day Day
1 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
Nitric 28 30 45 62 74 82 88 _ _ _ _
acid rain

Sulfuric 28 31 47 61 77 83 87 _ _ _ _
acid rain

Normal 28 32 62 83 104 110 121 128 135 142 150

Rain

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 Fig 1: Plant height on day 1

Fig 2: Wilting of plants on day 10

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 Fig 3: Plant died on day 18

160

140

120

100
Height of plants (cm)

80 Nitric acid rain

Sulfuric acid rain
60
Normal rain
40

20

Fig 4: Graph of plants height against days

Blue, red and green lines in the graph represents the growth of plants poured with nitric acid rain,
sulfuric acid rain and water respectively. Green line continued to rise because water has no effect

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on plants growth. But red line and blue line stopped rising because acid rain had cause the plants
to die on day 18.

Result:

1. Bean plant poured with water grew strongly.

2. Sulfuric acid rain and nitric acid rain had result in wilting of plant at day 10.
3. Two bean plants poured with acid rain stopped growing after day 18 and resulted in
dead.

Conclusion and Discussion

Acid rain had affected the growth of plant and resulted in dead. The effect of sulfuric acid rain
and nitric acid rain on the growth of plants was almost same. The plants started to wilt on same
day and stopped growing on same day. Acidic water had weaken the plants or it had affected the
plants nutrient which ultimately lead to the dead of the plants.

To do this project work, it took about a month to grow plants at fairly constant height. At first I
planted sunflower to do the experiment but the plants begin to die itself and I could not do it.
Since sunflower season was almost over, I decided to do experiment on bean plants. It was also
hard for me to prepare acid solution every day. To improve the result I should have observe
carefully at the effect of sulfuric acid rain and nitric acid rain on the growth of plants.

My hypothesis on this topic was wrong. I had predicted that the sulfuric acid rain will have more
effect on plant’s growth than nitric acid rain. But after doing this project work, I had found out
that the sulfuric acid rain and nitric acid rain on plant’s growth is fairly same.

It was an immense pleasure for me to do this project work. It was fun as well as hard giving. On
doing this project work from the academic year 2016-2017, it took me through various
knowledge and information. It gave me a sufficient knowledge on how scientific project must be
done and how we should process. It was also fun for me to do this experiment and draw a result
regarding acid rain. I had also made good amount relation with people as I have to seldom ask
their help.

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However, it was not as easy as we think. I took great effort to finally come up with this project. I
took difficulties in collecting the information and carrying out the experiment. Moreover,
collecting raw materials to do the experiment was difficult as materials were difficult to get and
it took a little bit of tense every day. Whatsoever I am happy that I did and finally came up with
the project work on acid rain.

I had learnt many things about acid rain and how it can be dangerous to our pristine environment.
I had also learnt two type of acid rain their effect on plant’s growth fairly same. This project had
also implanted the basic urge of human love for nature.

Bibliography
Acid Rain. (2017). Retrieved from www.google.com: http://wikipedia.org

E, L. G. (1991). Acid Rain World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 1). Australia.

Effect of Acid Rain. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. google.com: http://www.nws.noaa.gov.com

Environment/ Acid Rain. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.google.com: http://environment national

geography.com

Fresh Water and Acid Rain. (n.d.). Retrieved from www. google.com: http://www.chemistry/Lab
Tutorial.com

Rastogi, V. B. (2015). Biology Textbook. Bhutan Edition.

Sofia, J. E. (2002). The new Encyclopedia. Britannia: Board Jorge Aguilar.

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