AMMONIA (NH3)

Ammonia is a colorless gas

with a sharp, irritating odor. It is
extremely soluble in water and is
lighter than air.

Physical Properties of NH3

Ammonia, NH3
Atomic mass: 17.0306 g/mol
melting point -77.7 oC
boiling point -33.3 oC

History
Ammonia was first isolated by Priestley
in 1774 with the aid of a pneumatic trough
filled with mercury instead of water.

Natural Abundance
Ammonia is produced by the anaerobic
decay of organic material. Ammonia was
the first complex molecule to be identified
in interstellar space and solid NH3 makes
up the rings on Saturn.

Industrial Production
Prior to the 20th century, ammonia was made by
destructive distillation of animal parts such as hoofs,
horns, etc. The common name for ammonia was Spirits
of Hartshorn. In 1913, Haber worked out a synthetic
route to catalytically produce ammonia from the
elements at high pressure and temperature. The Haber
process is still used today.

 Ammonia is made by the Haber process from nitrogen and

hydrogen:
N2 (g) + 3H2 (g)
2NH3 (g) + Heat
H = -92 kJ
mol-1
The reaction is exothermic, and involves a decrease in the
number of moles of gas. Based on Le Chateliars Principle,
the reaction is favored by low temperature and high
pressure.
At low temperature, the rate attained of equilibrium is slow.
Hence a compromised temperature of 450 - 500 C is
adopted (to increase the rate of reaction)

Haber-Bosch Process

* Many gases can be put into a liquid state at normal atmospheric pressure by
simple cooling

Uses of Ammonia
Fertilser
production of:
ammonium sulfate, (NH4)2SO4
ammonium phosphate, (NH4)3PO4
ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3
urea, (NH2)2CO,also used in the production of barbiturates
(sedatives), is made by the reaction of ammonia with carbon dioxide

Fibres and Plastics

nylon, -[(CH2)4-CO-NH-(CH2)6-NH-CO]-,and other
polyamides

Refrigeration
used for making ice, large scale refrigeration
plants, air-conditioning units in buildings and
plants
Pharmaceuticals
used in the manufacture of drugs such as
sulfonamide which inhibit the growth and
multiplication of bacteria that require paminobenzoic acid (PABA) for the biosynthesis
of folic acids, anti-malarials and vitamins such
as the B vitamins nicotinamide (niacinamide)
and thiamine.

Gas Density of NH3

The density of NH3 is 0.6826 g/L at 25 oC
and 1 atm. This is about half that of airs,
thus it tends to rise in a still room.

Gas Solubility of NH3

Ammonia is extremely soluble in water. As
much as 89.9 g dissolve per L at 0 oC.
This means that 1 mL of water will
dissolve 1183 mL ammonia! At 100 oC,
the solubility drops to 7.4 g ammonia /100
mL H2O (113 volumes NH3 per 1 volume
water.)

LABORATORY PREPARATION OF
AMMONIA
Apparatus Round bottomed flask, clump,
Bunsen burner, delivery tube, trough, curd
board, wire gauze, lime water.
Chemicals Calcium hydroxide,Ammonium
chloride, Calcium oxide.
Procedure
Ammonia is prepared by heating a mixture of calcium hydroxide and ammonium chloride.
Ca(OH)2(s) + 2NH4Cl(s)

CaCl2(s) + 2H2O(i) + 2NH3(g)

The tube in which ammonia is generated is fixed in a slanting position to prevent the
water formed from running back and crack the whole tube.
Concentrated sulphuric acid and anhydrous calcium chloride are not used to dry
ammonia because they react with it. Ammonia is collected by upward delivery as it is
lighter than air.

HABER PROCESS (INDUSTRIAL

PREPARATION)
Apparatus
Compressing chamber,
catalytic chamber,
cooling chamber,
delivery tube.
Chemicals Finely
divided iron, Alminium
Oxide, Water, Hydrogen,
Nitrogen.

Procedure:
It is manufactured by reacting Nitrogen and hydrogen in
the presence of finely divided iron as a catalyst at
temperatures 350C - 400C at a pressure of about 350
atmospheres.
N2(g) + 3H2(g)

2NH3(g)

Alminium Oxide is added to the catalyst to improve its

performance. It makes it more porous and this provides
a
high surface area to the reaction.The reaction is
reversible hence it is not possible to convert all
the reactants into ammonia. To separate ammonia from
the mixture is cooled, only ammonia liquidfies and it is
separated. The uncombined Nitrogen and hydrogen are
recycled.Another way of separation is to pass the
mixture
into water. Only ammonia dissolves.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE

REACTION (PROCESS)
Pressure
High pressure causes a better yield of ammonia because it favours the formation of the
smaller products. It also increases the speed of reaction because the reacting molecules
collide more often.
Temperature
At low temperatures the yield at equilibrium of Ammonia is higher but the reaction is slow.
At high temperatures the yield of ammonia is low but the reaction is fast, a temperature of
about 500C is used. The yield is good but the reaction is still too slow. A catalyst is
therefore necessary to speed up the reaction.
Catalyst
A catalyst speeds the reaction but does not affect the equilibrium. The catalyst should be
finely divided because reaction occurs only at the surface

Uses of ammonia
1. It is used in the
manufacture of fertilizers
e.g. Ammonium sulphate.
2. It is used in softening
water.
3. It is used in making nitric
acid.
4. It is used in making
plastics.
5. Ammonium chloride is
used in dry cells.
6. It is used in making
explosives.

Test for Ammonia

1.It is the only common alkaline gas known.
It changes the dump / wet litmus paper
blue.
2.Ammonia forms dense fumes of
ammonium chloride when brought into
contact with fumes of hydrogen chloride
from concentrated hydrochloric acid.