How does rain water have a higher pH then tap water and exactly does that mean?
In: Chemistry
Is the premiss really correct? I believe rain is more acidic and therefore have a LOWER pH?
Sulfur aerosols mostly. Sulfur dioxide (SO2, which we get a ton of from burning coal) reacts with oxygen and water to create H2SO4. This breaks down into a free hydrogen ion and sulfate (HSO4). pH is a measure of how many free hydrogens there are, so through this reaction, the concentration of hydrogen ions increases very quickly in clouds (because droplets have a ton of surface area, and surface area increases the rate of reaction). The water is acidic now.
I could explain the second part. pH is basically the degree of acidity of something, not to be confused with its twin brother pOH which is the degree of alkalinity. The pH or pOH “scale” goes from zero to fourteen and the lower the number the higher the acidity or alkalinity (depending on the scale) so lets say theres an acid with a 4 pH, then it would be considered relatively acidic, if you would want to put it on the pOH scale it would be at a 10. And the completely neutral point is at a 7.
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