Acid Rain Chemistry Cross-Section (2D)

This 2D companion draws a side-on cross-section of a power-plant smokestack releasing SO₂/NOx into the wind. Each emitted particle drifts downwind, gradually oxidizing from sulfur dioxide into sulfuric-acid aerosol the longer it stays airborne, then falls as acid rain over a lake-and-forest landscape at the far edge of the scene. Live readouts compute rain pH from real hydrogen-ion concentration rather than a straight-line approximation, and the lake and forest respond slowly to the accumulating acidity — dial the emission rate up and the scrubber down to watch a healthy pH-6.5 lake with a thriving forest slide toward acidified water, a collapsing fish population and browning tree cover, or pull the scrubber slider up to show flue-gas desulfurization holding rain pH close to its natural 5.6 baseline even at heavy output.