what’s the deal with scrubbers?
- used in factories to eliminate the release of harmful gases into the environment
- the harmful gas enters the scrubber, the scrubbing liquid is sprayed onto the gas, the liquid absorbs the harmful gas components, the clean gas exits the scrubber.
what’s the deal with acidic precipitation?
- the acidic gases are released from factories and cars and are into clouds, they react with the water vapour in the clouds and produces an acidic substance, acidic water is released into the environment
- oxides of acidic gases are produced from burning organic material(fuel)
what are some examples of acidic gases?
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur trioxide
what’s the deal with catalytic converters?
- used in cars to encourage the full oxidation of fuels
- gases enter the converter, go through the first stage and the second stage and leave the converter.
- first stage: reduction
the nitrogen is attracted to the catalyst and breaks its bond with the oxygen. the oxygen forms bonds with other oxygen since they attract each other. The nitrogen forms bonds with other nitrogen along with the board and leaves the catalyst board since the attraction is stronger - second stage oxidation: the oxygen is attracted to the catalyst, the oxygen diatomic molecule is more attracted to the carbon monoxide bond so it forms bonds creating carbon dioxide.
they leave the converter.
who are the most affected by acidic precipitation?
- damages aquatic ecosystems
- decreases the productivity of crops
- harms vegetation, soils and water supplies
acids in soil dissolved mineral nutrients and leached away leaving poor soil for growing, leaching of heavy metals into water-get into plants and animals can be deadly - speeds up decay of buildings, statues, etc
- loss of jobs and profits
- expensive maintenance, repairs
what’s the deal with liming?
- a type of acid-base neutralization
- adding calcium carbonate(basic substance) into acidic waters to neutralize it
- it is ineffective in the long run because it’s expensive to do it over and over again, so a better solution would be reducing the thing that causes acidic rains
what’s the deal with acid-base neutralization?
a way of neutralizing a substance that’s too acidic or basic by adding acid to a base or base to an acid. the less the needed to neutralize, the more the effective the neutralizer.
what has the government done to reduce acid precipitation? why?
- most affected by this are Europe, parts of south Ameria, and China(where the manufacturing is largest there)
- Areas in Canada and the US(east coast and great lake areas) are most affected
- ## 1996 Canada and the US agree to decrease industrial exhaust by 10% by 2000
Name some acid gases precipitation reactions?
CO2+H2O->H2CO3
NO2+H2O->H2NO3
SO3+H2O->H2SO4
SO2+H2O->H2SO3
carbonic acid, nitric acid, sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid, nitrous acid
Why is eastern Canada more effected by acid precipitation than western Canada?
Eastern Canada has a higher population, more factories, more cars, more houses, which means more acidic gases being released.
what’s the deal with oxidation?
- electrons are lost to another atom
- combining or becoming chemically combined with oxygen
