Getting the correct Formula for Ammonium Nitrate
When we speak about formula for ammonium nitrate, we are speaking about chemicals and chemical reactions. This means that when dealing with substances like chemicals, you need to be extra careful to follow the formula so that you will be able to get the product that you want. Ammonium Nitrate has the chemical formula is NH4NO3. It is basically a product of the combination of nitric acid and ammonia. The chemical formula of ammonium nitrate means there are 4 atoms of hydrogen, 2 atoms of nitrogen and 3 atoms of oxygen. When the nitric acid and ammonia are combined, a violent exothermic reaction occur which produces ammonium nitrate. An exothermic reaction is a type of reaction where heat and energy is produced while the products are combined. This makes safety a priority when trying to make ammonium nitrate at home. The most common formula for ammonium nitrate creation is by simply adding a concentrated nitric acid with ammonia gas. This is widely seen in large scale production usually in industrial companies all over the world.
When the process is done, the usual product is 83 percent concentrated ammonium nitrate. But since the water excess can easily be evaporated, this percentage can be increased to 95 up to 99 percent concentration. This process is used by companies since it can yield a higher concentration of ammonium nitrate and the process of combining the two substances from scratch is pretty basic. But there are also other techniques on how ammonium nitrate is produced. An alternative formula for ammonium nitrate production is combining nitric acid and water and phosphate rock acidification. This process is called the nitrophosphate process or the Odda process. It is termed the Odda process since this procedure was invented in Odda, Norway. This process was basically used to produce nitrogen fertilizers back in the day.
Ammonium nitrate Haber process
Another process used in the production of ammonium nitrate is the Haber process. The product of the Haber process is actually ammonia and not ammonium nitrate. But the ammonia produced in the Haber process can be oxidized to nitric acid. The remainder of the ammonia product can then be combined with the nitric acid produced in the latter reaction to form ammonium nitrate. This formula for ammonium nitrate is not widely used in industrial businesses. Ammonium nitrate can also be a product of some salt metathesis reactions. These reactions are actually molecular processes where the binds of two other reacting chemicals are exchanged leading to a product that has bonding sequences and patterns that are similar to the original products. An example of a salt metathesis reaction that can produce ammonium nitrate is the chemical combination of sodium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. Aside from ammonium nitrate, sodium sulfate is also produced in the process. But in this formula for ammonium nitrate creation, the sodium sulfate can easily be removed by decreasing the mixture’s temperature. There are a number of techniques on how to create ammonium nitrate but everyone has to remember that when choosing a formula for ammonium nitrate, it is always important to follow the chemical process to avoid any unexpected outcomes.