Chapter 14, Problem 14.135MP

During a certain time period, 4.0 million tons of SO₂ was released into the atmosphere and was subsequently oxidized to SO₃. As explained in the FYI, the acid rain produced when the SO₃ dissolves in water can damage marble statues:

     ${\text{CaCO}}_{\text{3}}\left(s\right)+{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}{\text{SO}}_{\text{4}}\left(aq\right)\to {\text{CaSO}}_{\text{4}}\left(aq\right)+{\text{CO}}_{\text{2}}\left(g\right)+{\text{H}}_{\text{2}}\text{O}\left(l\right)$

1. (a) How many 500 pound marble statues could be damaged by the acid rain? (Assume that the statues are pure CaCO₃ and that a statue is damaged when 3.0% of its mass is dissolved.)
2. (b) How many liters of CO₂ gas at 20 °C and 735 mm Hg is produced as a byproduct?
3. (c) The cation in aqueous H₂SO₄ is trigonal pyramidal rather than trigonal planar. Explain.