Criss Cross Method of Nitric Acid
Answers
Nitric Acid Formula
Nitric acid is a very strong and corrosive mineral acid, also called aqua fortis or spirit of niter.
Formula and structure: The chemical formula of nitric acid is HNO3. Its molecular formula is written as NHO3 and its molar mass is 63.01 g/mol. The chemical structure of nitric acid is shown below, with its resonance forms:
The HNO3 molecule is planar with the nitrogen attached to three oxygen atoms, one of which holds the proton. Two of the N-O bonds are equivalent and show resonance with double bond character.
Preparation: Nitric acid is prepared by reaction of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) with water.
3 NO2 + H2O → 2 HNO3 + NO
The nitric oxide (NO) by-product usually gets oxidized again by the oxygen in air to produce additional nitrogen dioxide starting material.
The commercial production of nitric acid is by oxidizing anhydrous ammonia to nitric oxide, in the presence of platinum catalyst at a high temperature (Ostwald process).