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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Ac id Rain
Like so many articles on
acid rain you refer to sulphur
dioxide mixing with moisture
to form sulphuric acid. Sorry,
but it is an incontrovertible
elementary chemical fact that
sulphur dioxide is insoluble in
water. lt will not dissolve in
water (or mix with it) to
form sulphuric acid.
In any case even if it did
dissolve, the simple equation
H20 (water)
+
SOz (sulphur
dioxide) cannot equal H2S04
(sulphuric acid) as, to put it
simply, there is O (oxygen)
short.
lt is sulphur trioxide (S0
3 )
wbicb can provide the missing
extra "O" and produce
sulphuric acid. Sulphur
trioxide dissolves readily in
water, but sulphur trioxide is
only a very minor constituent
of industrial emissions.
Sorne sulphur dioxide is
catalysed in nature to sulphur
trioxide by lightning and
other means and adds to the
other relatively small amount
from original emissions. These
quantities of sulphur trioxide
do produce sorne acid rain
but sulphur dioxide itself does
not and cannot.
P.R. Allen
Nortb Tawton,
De~on
•lt would (or should) come
as a surprise to students to
be told that su/fur dioxide
(S0
1)
is
not
soluble in water.
A characteristic of a
nonmetal is that it is an acid
former . The basic laboratory
experiment to demonstrate
this is to burn sulfur in pure
oxygen, collect the gas
(su/fur dioxide) and dissolve
the gas in distilled water.
The distilled water is then
tested with blue litmus paper
and it turns pink indicating
an acid.
However, sulfur dioxide,
though not as soluble as
sulfur trioxide, is fairly
September 1888
soluble in water. lt forms
sulfurous acid
(H~OJ)
not
sulfuric acid
(H~04).
But,
the sulfur dioxide in the
atmosphere readily reacts
with atmospheric oxygen to
form the trioxide. "Sulfur
dioxide in polluted air reacts
rapidly with oxygen to form
sulfur trioxide in the
presence of certain catalysts.
Particulate matter, or
suspended microparticles,
such as ammonium nitrare
and elemental su/fur. act as
efficient catalysts for this
oxidation."
( Principies of
Chemistry,
Davis, Gai/ey and
Whitten, page
7
18).
Most chemica/ reactions
are more complex than the
equations general/y imply.
But the reactants and the
end products are al/ that
most people are interested in
and the reactant here is
sulfur dioxide, and the end
product is sulfuric acid- a
main constituent of acid rain.
Stlll Governor
In [a] picture caption you
referred to James R.
Thompson as former
Governor.
When did Big Jim retire
from office?
John J . Fabish
Evergreen Park, liiinois
•
Our apologies. Reader
Fabish and others noted
oversight.
Everybody'a Dolng lt?
The most striking article
that 1 have read in your
Plain Truth
magazine is
ent itled "Are You Sure
Everybody's Doing lt?" I arn
a teenager who has a fuJI
control on myself specially
when it comes to sex.
I also cboose my friends–
that's why I bave few friends,
but all of tbem are educated
and can be trusted. But when
1 read the article, it gave me
moral support .
Obituary
Bobby Caravana
Ba lagtas, Bulacan
Philippines
May I convey my
condolences to all concerned
after reading the obituary on
Herber t W. Armstrong.· l
once had the fortune of
meeting him in my earlier
years.
Da~id
T.B. Sma ll
Paglesham, Essex
Blble-Superatltlon or
Authorlty?
I have read a very
interesting article written by
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong,
entitled "T he
Bible-Superstition or
Authority?"
As a matter of fact, on
November 2, 1917, the
well-known Balfour
Declaration was signed
assigning as a homeland for
the Jews the territory of
Palestine, and making it thus
possible for them to return to
their ancient promised land
after nearly 2,000 years of
persecutions. In spite of that
official Declaration, the
British only allowed the entry
in Palestine of 500,000 Jews
with special certificates;
instead of sorne 5-6 million.
Had this not been the case,
there is no doubt at all that
the terrible genocide
perpetrated by Hitler and his
bordes would well have been
avoided.
Famine
Yitzhak Kent
Kiron, Israel
A most captivating article
was "Farnine on Our
Doorstep?" Famine must be
given as the most important
among natural disasters in
this overpopulated 20th
century. lt is really very
painful to see people dying
because of hunger. The
African leaders must be
uselessly losing fabulous surns
of money in buying
armaments. Instead, they
could have used the money in
food production. On tbe other
hand the Governments of tbe
Third World must be also
blamed for not educating
their population about
demography. People are dying
of hunger, but they are
continuing to increase world
population. This shows their
total ignorance of "Family
Planning Education."
Maybe this article "Farnine
on Our Doorstep?" will have
sorne impact on their
mentality.
O Chamroo
Port-Lardier, Mauritius
Plain Truth Above Politica
1 must admit that I have
had doubts about the
nonpolitical standing of
The
Plain Truth.
That is why 1
was very pleased to read
Keith Stump's article " The
Plain Truth ls Above
Politics."
My doubts sprang from a
feeling 1 had when I read
Herbert Armstrong's Success
book, which was so kindly
forwarded to me. A very
prominent política! war-figure
dated from pre-World War 11
days, Winston Churchill, was
being quoted as a successful
man.
After reading the said
article I realise that I am
oversensitive because of the
English/ Boer war in the
1900s and the subsequent
oppression of the Afrikaners
in this land.
Thank you for making me
understand and bringing back
balance in my thinking.
If
we
strive for world peace in
which God's principies will
reign supreme, we will not
lose our perspective because
of past wrongs.
H.
Botha
Boksburg East
South Africa
28