countries, a protocol freezing the rate of nitrogen oxide emissions at 1987 levels
was ratified. The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act of 1967 put in place
regulations to reduce the release of sulfur dioxide from power plants to 10
million tons per year by 2000. That achieved a 20 percent decrease in sulfur
dioxide. The attempts continue through international organizations to further clean
the air.
These equations show the most common reactions of sulfur- and nitrogen-
containing gases with rainwater. The sulfur dioxide reacts with rainwater to form
sulfuric acid solutions:
2SO 2 (g) + O 2 (g) → 2SO 3 (g)
SO 3 (g) + H 2 O(ℓ) → H 2 SO 4 (aq)The oxides of nitrogen react to form nitrous and nitric acid:2NO 2 (g) + H 2 O(ℓ) → HNO 2 (aq) + HNO 3 (aq)CHAPTER SUMMARY
The following terms summarize all the concepts and ideas that were introduced in
this chapter. You should be able to explain their meaning and how you would use
them in chemistry. They appear in boldface type in this chapter to draw your
attention to them. The boldface type also makes it easier for you to look them up if
you need to. You could also use the Internet search engine google.com on your
computer to get a quick and expanded explanation of these terms, laws, and
formulas.
acid
amphoteric
base
buffer solution
conjugate acid
Arrhenius Theory
conjugate base
end point
equivalence point
indicator
litmus
Brønsted-Lowry Theory
neutralization
pH