Soil Equilibria: What Happens to Acid Rain? 

     Module written by G. C. Lisensky, R. Hulet, M. Beug, and S. Anthony

     Quicktime Movies and Kplot by G. C. Lisensky

    Session 1: How is acid rain formed?

      Exploration 1A: How is acid rain formed?
      Combustion

        Emissions and Deposition

      Exploration 1B: How do power plants and automobile emissions affect lakes and cities?
      Experimental Design

      Exploration 1C: What are the problems caused by acid rain?
      Literature Research

      Making the Link: What happens to the oxides of sulfur and nitrogen formed by combustion?

      External Links (National Environment Ministries and Agencies and NGOs)

    Session 2: What is an acid?

      Exploration 2A: What household products behave like acid rain?
      Chemical Classification

      Exploration 2B: How do we identify acids from a chemical formula?
      Strong and weak acids and bases

      Exploration 2C: What is pH?
      pH

      Making the Link: What is an acid?

    Session 3: What is the pH of normal rain?

      Exploration 3A: How do systems respond to stress?
      Equilibria and Le Châtelier's Principle

      Exploration 3B: What is the pH of normal rain?
      Equilibrium Calculations

        pH of rain in the United States

      Exploration 3C: How can we solve any equilibrium problem?
      Systematic Method for Equations and Unknowns

      Exploration 3D: Is there a faster way to calculate pH?
      Logarithmic Concentration Diagrams

        Right click or ctrl-click to download program Kplot. Mac | Windows | Linux

      Making the Link: How do you predict the pH of a weak acid?

    Session 4: How does acid rain interact with soil?

      Exploration 4A: How does acid rain interact with soil?
      Ion exchange of acidic and basic cations

        Tetrahedral and Octahedral Coordination

        Building the Phyllosilicates
        http://pubpages.unh.edu/~harter/crystal.htm
        Polyhedral Models
        See the dioctahedral sheets
        http://mrsec.wisc.edu/edetc/pmk/index.html
        Virtual Museum of Minerals and Molecules
        See the phyllosilicates and tectosilicates in the Silicate Gallery
        See Soil Organic Matter for a model with humic acid, soil protein, and soil saccharides
        http://www.soils.wisc.edu/virtual_museum

      Exploration 4B: How does ion exchange work?
      Ion exchange column

      Exploration 4C: How does ion-exchange protect soils from acid rain?
      Buffers

        Some Indicator Colors

      Exploration 4D: What happens when the buffer runs out?
      Acid base titrations

        Titration Curves

      Exploration 4E: Polyprotic Acids and Bases
      Graphs and solutions based on alpha-fractions

      Making the Link: Has this area been affected by acid rain?

    Session 5: Is this soil nutritious or toxic?

      Exploration 5A: Are all soils the same?
      CEC and Base Saturation

        Soil maps

      Exploration 5B: Will aluminum be mobilized?
      Aluminum toxicity

      Exploration 5C: What is my soil's exchangeable basicity?
      EDTA Titrations and Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

      Exploration 5D: What is my soil's exchangeable acidity?
      Titration and Complexation

      Exploration 5E: Metals and Ligands
      Graphs and solutions based on delta-fractions

        EDTA Titrations

      Making the Link: Is this soil nutritious or toxic?

    Session 6: What are the critical problems in your region?

      Emissions and Deposition
      External Links (National Environment Ministries and Agencies and NGOs)

    Appendices

      Equilibrium Constants
      Collecting Soil Samples
      Corrections for Ionic Strength


    Copyright © 2006 by the trustees of Beloit College and the Regents of the University of California. This Module has been developed under the direction of the ChemLinks Coalition, headed by Beloit College, and the ModularChem Consortium, headed by the University of California at Berkeley. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation grants No. DUE-9455918 and DUE-9455924. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, Beloit College, or the Regents of the University of California.

    Published through exclusive license with W. W. Norton.
    Soil Equilibria: What Happens to Acid Rain? ISBN 0-393-92437-8


    This page maintained by George Lisensky, Beloit College. Last modified January 6, 2014.
    What Happens to Acid Rain? | ChemConnections