Alissa Hazlett 1 Ammonia, NH3, is a gas composed of nitrogen and hydrogen.

Individually nitrogen and hydrogen are gases at room temperature. Ammonia is one of the top five chemicals produced in the United States. It as first developed in 1!!" #y $oseph %riestley. %riestley did so #y heating ammonium chloride ith calcium hydro&ide. He captured the released ammonia from the reaction over mercury. 'he official name first given to the compound as ammoniac. 'his came from the (atin name for ammonium chloride, sal ammoniac, #ecause people gathered salt near the temple of the )gyptian *od Amon +,History of Ammonia-.. It does not occur naturally, #ut is produced #y using the Ha#er/0osch process. 'his process involves a catalyst, high pressure, and high temperature in order to com#ine the nitrogen and hydrogen. N1 2 3H1 3 1NH3 4igure 1. 5eaction to %roduce NH3 'he a#ove e6uation sho s the reaction to produce NH3. 'he most common use of ammonia is as a fertilizer. It can #e directly added to the soil in a li6uefied gas state or it can #e made into ammonium salts. 7ther uses of the compound include manufacturing e&plosives, synthetic fi#ers, and in the cotton dyeing process +8umdahl.. )ach molecule had distinct properties. Ammonia has an atomic mass of 1! amu. Ammonia has a #oiling point of /19: 4 and a freezing point of /1;9: 4 +8umdahl.. It is colorless and has a strong and unpleasant odor. It has a strong dipole/dipole attraction hich ma<es it polar. Since it is polar, it is solu#le in ater. Ammonia can cause eye irritation hen e&posed to it as ell as nose, throat, and lung irritation. It is rather flamma#le. Areas here the gas is to #e e&pelled need to #e properly ventilated. Safety goggles and protective gloves should #e orn hen handling the compound or the

Alissa Hazlett 1 cylinders in hich it is stored in +,=edical Safety >ata Sheet-.. It is sold in a gas or li6uefied gas state in large cylindrical containers. It costs ?13.@; per ton. 'he molecular geometry of ammonia is trigonal pyramidal ith a lone pair of electrons #onding ith the nitrogen atom. Single #onds are formed #et een the nitrogen and hydrogen atoms. 'he angles #et een each single #ond are 1;!.@:. NH3 has ten valence electrons. 'he single #onds #et een the nitrogen and hydrogen atoms consist of si& valence electrons since there are three #onds and each one has t o valence electrons. 'he t o valence electrons left attach to nitrogen to that it can have 9 total valence electrons hich is ideal. Hydrogen is one of the e&ceptions here it only has t o valence electrons. 'his is sho n in the figure #elo of the (e is structure and in the solid or<s model.

4igure 1. NH3 (e is Structure and A)S%5 =odel

Alissa Hazlett 3

4igure 3. Solid Bor<s =odel

Alissa Hazlett " Bor<s Cited ,History of Ammonia.D GKRSS. *E5SS, n.d. Be#. F =ar. 1;1". GhttpHIIg<rss.ruI#onusesIammoniaJhistoryJofJammonia.htmlK. ,=edical Safety >ata Sheet.D Avogadro.chem. Air %roducts, 11 $une 1;;1. Be#. F =ar. 1;1". GhttpHIIavogadro.chem.iastate.eduI=S>SINH3Jgas.pdfK. 8umdahl, Steven S. DAmmonia +NH3..D Encyclopedia Britannica Online. )ncyclopedia 0ritannica, ;F =ar. 1;1". Be#. ;F =ar. 1;1". GhttpHII .#ritannica.comI)0chec<edItopicI1;L";Iammonia/NH3K.