What is Nitric Acid?
Nitric acid has the chemical formula HNO3 and is a strong acid. It's also known as niter's spirit and aqua fortis. It is colourless in its purest form, but as it ages, it develops a yellow cast. The breakdown of nitric acid into nitrogen oxides and water produces this colour. It's extremely caustic and poisonous. It causes severe burns on the skin. When it reacts with hydroxides, metals, and oxides, it generates nitrate salts.
HNO3 is the nitric acid formula and it is a powerful oxidising agent. It is produced through the catalytic oxidation of ammonia. It's a popular laboratory reagent as well as an important chemical in the manufacture of explosives and fertilisers. Nitric acid has a PH of about 3.01.
Let us know what is HNO3, is nitric acid a strong acid and more details from this article.
Nitric Acid structure
The structure of nitric acid molecules or simply, the nitric acid structure is discussed here.
Three oxygen atoms, one nitrogen atom, and one hydrogen atom make up a nitric acid molecule. One of the oxygen atoms in HNO3 molecules is doubly linked to the central nitrogen atom. A single oxygen atom is singly bonded to the central nitrogen atom, as well as a single hydrogen atom. The nitric acid molecule's last oxygen atom has a charge of -1 and is singly linked to the central nitrogen atom. The nitrogen atom at the centre of the molecule has a charge of +1 because it is engaged in four covalent bonds (with three oxygen atoms). HNO3 is the nitric acid formula.
As a result, the nitric acid molecule has no net charge (the positive charge on the nitrogen atom and the negative charge on the oxygen atom cancel each other out). It should be noted that due to resonance, the charges in these molecules might be delocalized. Below is a diagram illustrating the structure of nitric acid molecules. If we think of nitric acid strong or weak, we can say that it is a strong acid, because It is a powerful oxidising agent that is totally ionised into hydronium (H3O+) and nitrate (NO3-) ions in an aqueous solution.
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Properties of Nitric Acid
Physical properties of Nitric Acid
Nitric acid (HNO3) is a colourless, fuming, and highly corrosive liquid with a freezing point of 42°C (44°F) and a boiling temperature of 83°C (181°F). This is a common laboratory reagent as well as an essential industrial chemical used in fertiliser and explosive production. It's toxic and can cause serious burns. HNO3 chemical name or HNO3 acid name is nitric acid
Chemical Properties of Nitric Acid
Nitric acid is a powerful acid that causes blue litmus to become red.
Standing nitric acid decomposes into brown nitrogen dioxide. This is why, despite the fact that fresh nitric acid is colourless, it turns brown over time.
4HNO3 → 4NO2 + O2 + 2H2O
With metals above hydrogen in the metal activity series, nitric acid liberates hydrogen gas.
Mg + 2HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + H2
Mn + 2HNO3 → Mn(NO3)2 + H2
Preparation and Use
The early alchemists were familiar with the preparation and usage of nitric acid. Heating potassium nitrate with concentrated sulfuric acid was a popular laboratory process for many years, credited to a German chemist named Johann Rudolf Glauber (1648). It was discovered to contain oxygen in 1776 by Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, and its chemical composition was established in 1816 by Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac and Claude-Louis Berthollet.
Function and use
Other than being starting materials or reagents in chemical and pharmaceutical synthesis, some nitrogen compound types have specific functions.
DMF (dimethylformamide) is a solvent used in the chemical industry to make polyurethanes, methacrylate, and PVC, among other things. Acrylamide is mainly used as a monomer in the production of a wide range of polymeric products. Some epoxy resins contain aromatic amines, but they can also be formed unexpectedly from cleavable azo dyestuff. The majority of azo compounds have vibrant colours. Pesticides such as nitrosamines and thiol amino carbonyl compounds are possible.
Nitric acid breaks down into a brownish-yellow solution that contains water, nitrogen dioxide, and oxygen. It is a powerful oxidising agent and a strong acid that is totally neutralized into hydronium (H3O+) and nitrate (NO3) ions in an aqueous solution (one that acts as an electron acceptor in oxidation-reduction reactions). HNO3 chemical name or HNO3 acid name is nitric acid.
This is a simple explanation for what is HNO3, which is helpful for the students.
Laboratory Preparation of Nitric Acid – HNO3
Principle
A less volatile acid can displace a more volatile acid from its salt. This is the fundamental principle of nitric acid preparation in the laboratory.
Illustration
Nitric acid, a more volatile acid than sulphuric acid, displaces sulphuric acid from metal nitrates.
Reactants
In a round bottom flask, combine 50 g of potassium nitrate (KNO3) and 25 ml of concentrated sulphuric acid (H2SO4). The reactants are heated to around 200°C, with the temperature not exceeding 200°C.
Reaction
KNO3 + H2SO4 → KHSO4 + HNO3
(Salt of more volatile acid + less volatile acid → displaces more volatile acid)
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Method of Collection
As indicated in the diagram, nitric acid vapours are cooled and condensed for collection.
The following are some of the many important reactions of nitric acid.
Neutralization with ammonia to produce ammonium nitrate, which is a major component of fertilisers; nitration of toluene and glycerol to form the explosives trinitrotoluene (TNT) and nitroglycerin, respectively; preparation of nitrocellulose; and also the oxidation of metals either to the corresponding oxides or nitrates.
Hazards of Nitrogen compounds
A large number of the chemicals in this group have the potential to cause cancer. Several are suspected of producing genetic flaws and/or causing fertility problems, while others may harm an unborn child.
Most of them are also considered to be extremely toxic or harmful to aquatic life, and/or extremely toxic or toxic to aquatic life with long-term impacts, and some of them also meet the characteristics of being persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT).
Key Nitric acid uses
The important nitric acid uses can be listed as follows:
It's used to make ammonium nitrates, which are used to make plastic, dye, and fertilisers.
It's used to make explosives like TNT.
It is used as an oxidizer in liquid-fueled rockets.
It's used to get rid of warts in their purest form.
In electrochemistry, it is employed as a chemical doping agent.
FAQs on Nitric Acid: Definition, Properties and Used
Discuss the applications of Nitrogen compounds?
In chemical synthesis, amines, most amino carbonyls, aromatic amines, and hydrazines are used.
DMF, a widely used solvent, could end up in consumer products including polyurethanes (artificial leather), polyacrylic fibres, and PVC. Acrylamide is largely utilised in the manufacturing of polymers. As dyes, several azo compounds are utilised. Hydrazine is primarily used in the production of blowing agents such as AIBN (azobisisobutyronitrile), but it is also used as a propellant additive and in the production of pharmaceuticals and pesticides.
Nitro compounds are commonly used as explosives, but they can also be found in materials including leather, cork, rubber, plastic dyes, and photographic chemicals. Rubber, cosmetics, and pesticides are all made with nitrosamines and thiol amino carbonyl compounds.
What does nitric acid taste like?
Nitric acid is a type of acid with acidic characteristics. A pH of less than 7, a bitter taste, and a severe reactivity to other metals are some of these characteristics. Nitric acids have the chemical formula HNO3. Nitric acid is a colourless, white liquid that is highly corrosive.
What metals will be dissolved by nitric acid?
Some metals and alloys are oxidized by nitric acid; however, gold and platinum are not oxidized and certain metals are passivated when struck by concentrated nitric acid. These metals can be dissolved with a mixture of acids or a dilute nitric solution.
