Scientific Method: Acid Rain.
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I need help with the following please and information will greatly be appreciated.
I am asking for any input on how to develop two alternative hypotheses and experiments on the problem of acid rain. for example types of experiments and ways to go about it and points, notes or assistance with the direction I need to go in will be greatly appreciated.
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Solution Summary
The expert develops two alternative hypothesis and experiments on the problems of acid rain. Surface run-off is examined.
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When starting any experiment, you want to start with an understanding of the question at hand. In this case, what is acid rain? The EPA has a great website that is all about acid rain. Normal rain is actually slightly acidic because it contains CO2. Thus, the pH is a little below 7 at 5.6. However, industrial processes can lower that pH even further (the average in the U.S. is 4.3 on the pH scale). Acid rain contains sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, which, when they come into contact with water form things like sulfurous acid, sulfuric acid, and nitrous acid.
Acid rain causes all kinds of problems, so here are just a few to think about:
1. surface water runoff leads to lower pH in lakes and streams, which affects aquatic animals (fish, frogs, salamanders, etc.)
2. Forests do not grow well in acidic soil.
3. Damages paint and automotive coatings
4. Corrosion of steel, concrete, etc.
You can learn more by going to: http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/index.html
So now that you have some understanding of what acid rain is and what effects it has, you can start to think about questions you want to answer. For instance, how does acid rain affect the growth of Kentucky Bluegrass? Or, is the pH of precipitation in a region affected by temperature? So, is snow more or less acidic than rain in the same region? Some of these are harder to do than others. You could do an experiment with grass quite easily. The basic structure of the thought ...
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