Name _________________

Period # ____

Date ____________

Air Pollution Virtual Lab

Objectives: Define acid rain and describe its causes. Test the pH of rainwater samples and plot the
information on a map of the United States. Describe the relationship between the occurrences of acid rain
and sulfur dioxide emissions in the United States.
Procedure:
1. Access the following link:
http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/CT11/CT11.html
2. Read the information on the left of the screen to answer the Prelab questions below.
3. Now that you know more about acid rain, you are ready to collect some data! Click a Test Tube Holder to
select a set of test tubes to test. Click a Test Tube to test the pH of the water sample.
4. Enter the state's pH value into the map. To do this, click a state, then click the color in the legend that
corresponds to the state's pH value. If you do not have a printer, record the pH values and SO2 values for each
state on the attached map. (Use the color key on the right side of the map to identify the pH of states that have
already been tested. There is no data for Alaska or Hawaii.)
5. Repeat steps 1-3 for all the states' rainwater samples then use your data to answer questions #7-12 below.
Prelab Questions:
1. What is acid rain?
Precipitation has pH less than natural rainwater (5.6 due to dissolved carbon dioxide).
2. How is it formed?

Sulphur dioxides and nitrogen oxides and gases or fine particles in the atmosphere, combine with water
vapor and precipitate as sulphuric acid or nitric acid in rain, snow, or fog.
Water vapor condenses or as the rain falls, they dissolve the water to form sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and
nitric acid (HNO3)
3. How does acid rain affect the environment?
*Increased acidity in water bodies
*stop eggs of certain organisms (e.g. fish) to stop hatching
*harmful to vegetation

4. Besides the effect on the environment, does acid rain has any other harmful effects?
*accelerates wreathing in metal and stone structures
*respiratory problems
*leeching of toxings in soil can be absorbed by plants and animals. When consumed, these toxins affect
humans severely.
*Brain damage, kidney problems, and alzheimers disease

5. What two air pollutants are associated with the formation of acid rain?
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides
6. What are the sources of these air pollutants?
combustion of fossil fuels (75% to 85% of the industrial sources), the smelting of sulfide ores, volcanic emissions, and
several other natural sources, synthetic fertilizer

Data Analysis:
7. According to your pH test result, where in the U.S. is acid rain most severe?
vermont

8. Sulfur dioxide is the main air pollutant associated with acid rain.
yes

9. Which state in the U.S. release the most sulfur dioxide annually?
ohio

Conclusion:
10. Based on your analysis, is there a relationship between a state's sulfur dioxide emissions and the
average pH of its rain water?
Yes, the more sulfur dioxide emissions, the more acid rain there is.

11. How might you explain the fact that Vermont and New Hampshire, states with very low sulfur dioxide
emission, experience acid levels that are among the most severe in the country?
It travels in the wind from Ohio and other states nearby to Vermont.

12. Discuss at least three possible ways to reduce acid rain.

Conserve energy, drive less, carpool