MadSci Network: Earth Sciences
Query:

Re: What happens to the acid when water from an acid lake evaporates?

Date: Wed Nov 26 09:59:48 2003
Posted By: Sarah Fretz, environmental scientist
Area of science: Earth Sciences
ID: 1068758824.Es
Message:

Wade,

You had the answer yourself!  An acid lake does get more acidic as the 
water evaporates.  pH, or acidity and alkalinity, is a physical property 
of the water.  It's based on the amount or concentration of ions in the 
water (which, combined is the "solution")


When we trap the water that comes off a lake or an engineered pond, we can 
collect it as distilled (pure, clean, nothing else) water, just like if 
you were to trap the steam that comes out of a tea kettle.  If, when the 
lake evaporates to a low point, the fresh, clean groundwater re-dilutes 
the lake, the lake will go back to near to its original acidity.  But 
here's a question for you- if we evaporate the lake, and it gets more 
acidic, what happens if the groundwater that replenishes the lake has just 
a little bit of acidity to it.  Not as much as the lake, just a tiny bit.  
Or, if a little pond next to the ocean dries out every week for a year- 
totally dries out, with no water left, and then is replenished by the 
salty ocean water, how salty does the pond get?     

Remember- saltiness and acidity are both physical properties, and so the 
salt and the water, or the acid and the water, can be separated without 
changing the chemical properties of either the salt (acid) or the water.  

For extra reading, try doing searches on the water cycle, sea salt ponds, 
and acid lakes.  Some of the acid lakes stuff can get complicated, since 
nature doesn't like to stay one way or the other for too long (you may 
have heard "nature abhors a vacuum"). But if you work hard to understand 
it, and start teaching people who are interested, there are a lot of super 
cool places you can go in this world that will need your help and 
expertise.  Have fun!  --Sarah





Current Queue | Current Queue for Earth Sciences | Earth Sciences archives

Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Earth Sciences.



MadSci Home | Information | Search | Random Knowledge Generator | MadSci Archives | Mad Library | MAD Labs | MAD FAQs | Ask a ? | Join Us! | Help Support MadSci


MadSci Network, webadmin@www.madsci.org
© 1995-2003. All rights reserved.