pH+scale

=**__Why is acid rain bad for living things?__**= Acid rain can also harm other animals. The fish breathe dissolved oxygen which gets into their lungs and then causes them to die. Fish get eaten by bigger fish which get eaten by hawks, eagles, or ospreys, which causes them to die. [5__]__  A Ph scale is used to measure how basic or acidic a body of water is. The scale goes from 0-14. 7-8 is neutral. The higher the number the more basic, the lower the number the more acidic. The best Ph for water life is slightly basic such as 8 or 9 Ph. Water life can live in water that is 5-13 Ph though. In some cases we have to measure the acidity of acid rain with a Ph scale. Most rain is around 5.6 Ph, but some acid rain can have Ph 3. A pH scale is a big part of the Gray Area mystery which involves a class trying to solve who is polluting and killing the fish in Gray Area. We have had to find the pH of the acid rain around the area. If we found that the water is too acidic or alkaline we knew that there was a big problem with pollution creating acid rain. Sometimes we even measured the acidity of rain itself to see if the rain was too acidic.[2]
 * __What is the pH Scale?__** The pH scale is a scale used to figure out how acidic, neutral, or alkaline a substance is. Usually the pH scale doesn't go below 0 or above 14. There is also a pH scale that goes from 4.5 to 7.5. Mixing an acid with an alkaline can make a substance neutral. If a substance's pH is 7 it is neutral, 6 and below is an acidic and if a substance is 8 or above it is alkaline. Some scientist's like to test the rain that falls. Usually the rain that falls is a little acidic. There are two types of acids in the rain, nitric and sulfuric acid. Factories can also produce nitric and sulfuric acid.[8] When factories produce smoke out of the smokestacks, that can cause air pollution, which causes acid rain.[8]

The picture above represents the Ph of water that different types of animals can live in[6]

[6] ( picture citation)

This is a picture of what a pH scale may look like. This pH scale also gives some examples of substances that are at different levels of the pH scale. As you notice the strong acids are used in cooking like vinegar and lemon juice. The neutral substance shown is milk. You will also see that the bases are substance like ammonia. This pH scale also shows the ranges of pH that fish are affected and the pH of acid rain.

[3] [7] This is a picture of what kind of pH the rain is in certain areas. Most strong bases are cleaners such as bleach. Other bases are also “sicknesses like ammonia and stomach antacids. Stomach antacids being used to balance out the overacting acids in ones stomach.[4]

[2]Dunn,Colin. __Environmental Detective Notebook__. Cincinnati,Nagel Middle School, 2008. [4]"pH Scale Showing Examples of Substances of Differing pH." //Science Online//. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE40&SID=5&iPin= SciIllus03622&SingleRecord=True(accessed December 16, 2008). [5] Lake, Sam. __Environmental Detective Notebook.__ Cincinnati: Nagel Middle School,2008. [6] jacob, franks [|www.googleimages.com/maps] of acid rain fall in 2008. [7] jacob, franks [|www.googleimages.com/maps] of acid rain areas in 2008.
 * Source:**
 * [3]**Environmental Canada 12-19-2008 http://www.ec.gc.ca/WATER/en/info/pubs/FS/e_FSA3-1.htm