Acid rain investigations

Epp, Dianne N.; Curtright, Robert D.

doi:10.1021/ed068p1034

Cited by 7 publications

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“…The indicator will change to orange, suggesting a pH of about 2. 1 One can ask the students what this means. After a short discussion, students usually deduce that the nitrogen dioxide dissolves in the water to form an acid.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even though these subjects are mentioned frequently in the news media, there certainly is a lack of comprehension of just how combustion contributes to the air pollution in cities and urban areas. There is one related demonstration on acid rain, and it does not illustrate the formation of nitrogen oxides (1). The following demonstration shows the formation of nitrogen oxides resulting from a high-temperature flame.…”

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confidence: 92%

“…There is one related demonstration on acid rain, and it does not illustrate the formation of nitrogen oxides (1). These discussions tend to be abstract, and even science majors have difficulty visualizing the processes.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Acid rain demonstration: The formation of nitrogen oxides as a by-product of high-temperature flames in connection with internal combustion engines

Driscoll

1997

J. Chem. Educ.

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This demonstration illustrates the formation of nitrogen oxides resulting from a high temperature flame. The procedure is to burn hydrogen from a delivery tube in a 6 liter erlenmeyer flask filled with oxygen. (see original paper for safety precautions.) As the burning proceeds the water from the combustion condenses on the wall of the flask and eventually drips from the mouth of the flask. Air displaces the oxygen consumed. The nitrogen from the air reacts with the oxygen in the presence of the high temperature flame in the flask forming colorless nitric oxide which reacts further to form visible brown nitrogen dioxide in the flask. After the burn water can be introduced into the flask , capped, and shaken. An acid mist forms which slowly dissolves. An acid-base indicator will show that the solution is acid at about a pH 1-2 from nitrous and nitric acid. Nitrogen oxides do not form until the temperature is at least 1300 °C. The hydrogen flame in this demonstration is in the neighborhood of 3000 °C.Editor's Note: Please read Charles Braun's letter regarding the safety issues of the demonstration (JCE 1999, 76, 757).

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Acid rain demonstration: The formation of nitrogen oxides as a by-product of high-temperature flames in connection with internal combustion engines

Driscoll

1997

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…Wet pH paper placed into the tube turned red, indicating the presence of acidic vapor, most likely sulfur dioxide. Other methods of sulfur dioxide production involve the combination of sulfite or hydrogen sulfite salts with acids to form sulfurous acid, which decomposes to produce sulfur dioxide , . Perhaps the simplest way to produce sulfur dioxide is by burning sulfur in air .…”

Section: Bringing the Events To The Classroommentioning

confidence: 99%

Classroom Illustrations of Acidic Air Pollution Using Nylon Fabric

et al. 2011

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seemed to be a fairly typical warm and muggy summer day in central Illinois, but something out of the ordinary arrived from the skies. In downtown Peoria by the riverfront, businesses were making money, factories were making products, and smoke billowed into the sky from the smokestack of one of the coal-burning power plants. When lunchtime rolled around, the employees from the local stores walked to the local restaurants to refuel for the rest of the afternoon. According to an article in the local paper, the "Peoria Journal Star" (1), the ladies working downtown noticed ash deposits and holes in their nylon stockings after returning from lunch. They concluded that the ash had attacked the fibers of the nylon stockings. Many ladies returned their stockings to the store where they had been purchased, but the same disintegration occurred as they walked back to work (1). When the employees returned to work, many of them reported having headaches and burning of the eyes. 1 The affected people were angered at the damage apparently caused by this ash, even though pollution regulations were weaker in those days. Accusations were made against the power plant, but a company representative denied the allegations by saying, "We haven't changed anything we are doing that would cause this phenomenon, but we will investigate to see if there is something that we aren't aware of that would have caused it" (1). The local news featured a company representative placing stockings under the smoke stack and no damage was observed (2). The company claimed that because of this, there was no way that the smoke could be blamed. Many people took this as fact. However, what happened next became part of the Bradley University Chemistry departmental lore. David Sweet, a student who was researching with Professor Tom Cummings in the Chemistry Department, believed that this demonstration was flawed. The ash that had fallen from the sky was fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion flying up and out the power plant smokestack. It appeared to him that the fly ash falling from the smokestack had carried sulfur-containing oxyacids out of the exhaust plume down to earth. When the ash came in contact with the nylon stockings, the acids attacked the fabric.David Sweet was so infuriated by the power company's claims that he called both the company and a local TV station to complain. There was no success with the company, but a TV news reporter asked him for an interview. Sweet went to the lab to come up with a demonstration proving the company was wrong (2). He ran a sequence of experiments in which he passed sulfur dioxide from a small tank up a ceramic tube through nylon stockings in attempt to mimic the environmental conditions on the day the nylon damage occurred. The first experiment used a dry, room-temperature stocking, and as he passed the sulfur dioxide through it there was no damage. He then passed the sulfur dioxide

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“…Acid rain is a familiar environmental problem that is sometimes discussed in general chemistry lectures. Several demonstrations pertaining to acid precipitation have been published in this Journal (1)(2)(3) but none of these illustrate the dissolution of acidic oxides in airborne water droplets, or "wet deposition", in the manner in which it occurs in the atmosphere. Nitrogen oxides come from cars and other combustion sources, whereas atmospheric sulfur oxides are a result of coal-fired power plants and the roasting of metal sulfide ores in smelters (4).…”

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A Demonstration of Acid Rain and Lake Acidification: Wet Deposition of Sulfur Dioxide

Goss

2003

J. Chem. Educ.

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Acid rain investigations

Abstract: A series of reactions that can be carried out to demonstrate the effects of acid rain.

Cited by 7 publications

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Acid rain demonstration: The formation of nitrogen oxides as a by-product of high-temperature flames in connection with internal combustion engines

Acid rain demonstration: The formation of nitrogen oxides as a by-product of high-temperature flames in connection with internal combustion engines

Classroom Illustrations of Acidic Air Pollution Using Nylon Fabric

A Demonstration of Acid Rain and Lake Acidification: Wet Deposition of Sulfur Dioxide

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