What does sulfuric acid do...?

Question

When it somes through the atmosphere.

I need to know because i have a report and a poster done acid rain and what sulfuric acid does when it comes through the atmosphere.

Ive been told that it sucks up the water out of the atmosphere and it is super toxic

Answer 1

The real source for most acid rain originates with common sulfur that's bound in fuels.  Most bituminous coals will have about 1-1.5% sulfur by weight.  This might not sound like a great deal, but a fairly large coal-fired power plant will burn on the order of 1000 tons of coal per hour.  At 1% Sulfur, this is 10 tons of sulfur per hour.

The sulfur is oxidized in the boiler to sulfur dioxide (SO2).  The sulfur dioxide will mix with water in the atmosphere forming sulfuric acid.  

Rain water itself is already slightly acidic from dissolved carbon dioxide.  The pH of distilled water would be around 4.7 or so (acidic).  The pH of some acid rains can be as low as 2.5 (this is two orders of magnitude more acidic content).

You can find lots of info on the Wikipedia on acid rain.