Next dining table listings common solid acids that you’re going to you would like to be familiar with

Arrhenius acids have a nomenclature system that is a little more complex, since their structures can include both binary compounds as well as polyatomic anions. In naming acids from binary compounds, the prefix ‘hydro-‘ is used to represent the cation H+, and the suffix ‘-ic’ acid is used to indicate that it is an acidic form. The element name of the anion can be used directly, as is the case for H₂S known as hydrosulfuric acid, or more commonly, the anion is modified by dropping the ‘-ine’, ‘-ous’ or ‘-ogen’ ending before replacing with the suffix ‘-ic acid’, as is the case for HCl which is known as hydrochloric acid, H₃P which is known as hydrophosphoric acid and H₃N which is known as hydronitric acid.

If an acid contains a polyatomic ion, no leading prefix is used to indicate the H+ cation. This is implied within the name. For polyatomic anions ending with the suffix ‘-ate’, the acid is named as the [anion name] + the ‘-ic acid’ suffix. For example, when the sulfate ion (SO_cuatro 2- ) is complexed with H + as the cation, the overall formula will be H₂SO₄ and the resulting acid will be named sulfuric acid. Dropping the prefix distinguishes polyatomic acids from the binary acids, in this case sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) is distinguished from hydrosulfuric acid (H₂S). If a polyatomic anion has the ‘-ite’ ending, the acid name will be written as the [anion name] + the ‘-ous acid’ suffix. For example HNO₂ would be nitrous acid, and HNO₃ would be nitric acid. The prefixes ‘hypo-‘ and ‘per-‘ are also retained in the acid nomenclature for elements that have many oxyanion states. For example the chlorine containing oxyanions can form the following acids:

Quiz Oneself: Much more Routine Naming Compounds

Acid rain is a term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition (deposited material) from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids. The precursors, or chemical forerunners, of acid rain formation result from both natural sources, such as volcanoes and decaying vegetation, and man-made sources, primarily emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) resulting from fossil fuel combustion. Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid. When sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are released from power plants and other sources, prevailing winds blow these compounds across state and national borders, sometimes over hundreds of miles.

Nitric oxide then responds easily with excess clean air to provide nitrogen dioxide. Nitrogen dioxide is also put out out of industries and vehicles throughout fossil gas mileage. It is the number 1 compound responsible for the brown color of smog:

In addition to nitric acid, large amounts of sulfur dioxide have always been released into the atmosphere by natural sources, such as volcanoes, forest fires, and the microbial decay of organic materials, but for most of Earth’s recorded history the natural cycling of sulfur from the atmosphere into oceans and rocks kept the acidity of rain and snow in check. Unfortunately, the burning of fossil fuels seems to have tipped the balance. Many coals contain as much as 5%–6% pyrite (FeS₂) by mass, and fuel oils typically contain at least 0.5% sulfur by mass. Since the mid-19th century, these fuels have been burned on a huge scale to supply the energy needs of our modern industrial society, releasing tens of millions of tons of additional SO₂ into the atmosphere annually. In addition, roasting sulfide ores to obtain metals such as zinc and copper also produces large amounts of SO₂ via reactions such as