Ammonia Answers

AMMONIA

SECTION A
Fill in the blanks with the correct answers.

Manufacturing of ammonia

Ammonia can be synthesized by the reaction of two gases, namely, nitrogen and

hydrogen. The process of manufacturing ammonia is called Haber process.

Nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas are mixed in the proportion of 1 : 3.

The reaction in this process is a reversible reaction. The ammonia formed is removed

by cooling the reaction mixture. Ammonia will condense to form liquid

ammonia. Unreacted nitrogen and hydrogen are pumped back into the reaction chamber

and recycle for further reaction. The nitrogen required for the manufacture of

ammonia is extracted from liquid air through fractional distillation .

The hydrogen required for the manufacture of ammonia is produced during the

cracking of petroleum.

Haber Process

1 Lower temperature, higher yield of ammonia but results in slower reaction.

The temperature chosen has to be low enough to ensure sufficient yield, yet high

enough to maintain satisfactory speed of reaction.

Chosen temperature : 450 OC.

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2 Higher pressure, higher yield of ammonia but cost of maintaining high pressure is

high.

The pressure chosen has to be high enough to ensure sufficient yield, yet low enough to

maintain low cost.

Chosen pressure: 250 atmospheric pressure.

3 Use of catalyst

Use of iron catalyst is to speed up the reaction.

Fertilisers

Nitrogen is used widely in the manufacture of fertilisers to make plant proteins, which

are necessary for growth and repair of plant cells. Nitrogen thus promotes plant growth and

increases crop yields. . Fertilisers that contain nitrogen are called nitrogenous

fertilisers.

The Earth’s atmosphere contains about 79 % nitrogen gas. However, plants

cannot absorb the atmospheric nitrogen directly from air. Plants obtain nitrogen by

absorbing soluble nitrogen compounds in the form of nitrate from the soil.

Besides soluble nitrates, plants obtain nitrogen from ammonia and ammonium

ions which are converted into nitrates by bacteria living in the soil.

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Ammonia is primarily used to make fertilisers. Ammonium nitrate is the most widely

used nitrogenous fertilizers because it has high nitrogen content and being

very soluble, it is readily absorbed by plants. However it is washed away easily.

Another commonly used nitrogenous fertiliser is urea. Although it has higher

nitrogen content than ammonium nitrate, it is less soluble in water than any other

nitrogenous fertiliser. Hence, it is not readily absorbed by plants and is not washed away

easily.

Displacement of ammonia from its salts

When an ammonium salt is heated with an alkali, ammonia is displaced from the salt.

Ammonium chloride + sodium hydroxide  sodium chloride + ammonia + water

Chemical equation of the above equation:

NH4Cl + NaOH  NaCl + NH3 + H2O

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SECTION B

1 B 6 B
2 D 7 D
3 C 8 D
4 B 9 D
5 D 10 D

SECTION C

1
(a) 2NH3(g) + CO2(g)  CON2H4(s) + H2O(l)

(b)
(i) No. of mol of CO2 = 144 / 24 = 6 mol
No. of mol of CO2 : no. of mol of NH3 is 1 : 2
No. of mol of NH3 = 12 mol
Vol of NH3 = 12 X 24 = 288dm3

(ii) No. of mol of CO2 : no. of mol of CON2H4 = 1: 1

No. of mol of CON2H4 = 6mol
Mr of CON2H4 = 60
Mass of CON 2H4 = 6 X 60 = 360g

(c) Ammonium nitrate , NH4NO3 or ammonium sulphate, (NH4)2SO4

2
(a) % of nitrogen = 2 x 14 / 80 x 100% [ Mr of NH 4NO3 = 80 ]
= 35%

(b) Ammonium nitrate is used as nitrogenous fertiliser. Nitrogen is necessary for plants to make
plant proteins which are necessary for growth and repair of plant cells. Thus promotes plant
growth and increases crop yields.

(c)
(i) To neutralise the excess acidity in soil.

(ii) Calcium hydroxide is an alkali, it reacts with ammonium nitrate ( the nitrogenous fertiliser ) to
form ammonia. Ammonia escapes into atmosphere and it is lost. This causes the loss of
nitrogen from fertilisers already added to the soil by farmers.

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3
(a)
(i) N2 + 3H2 ↔ 2NH3
(ii) Fractional distillation of liquid air.
(iii) Iron catalyst , Temperature : 450OC and Pressure : 250 atmosphere

(b) Mr of (NH4)2HPO4 = 132

Mass of nitrogen in 1000kg of (NH4)2HPO4 = 2 X 14 / 132 X 1000
= 212kg

(c) Test the three gases in three different jars with a lighted splint. The jar with gas that
extinguishes the lighted splint with a ‘pop’ sound contains hydrogen gas.

Test the other two gases in the remaining jars with moist red litmus paper. The jar with gas
that turns the moist red litmus paper blue contains ammonia gas.

The remaining jar contains nitrogen gas.

4
(a) Reaction I is non-reversible reaction, reaction II and III are reversible reactions
(b) When heat is applied to reaction II, more ammonium chloride will dissociate into ammonia
gas and hydrogen chloride gas. Reverse reaction is favoured.
(c) Iron catalyst speeds up both forward and reverse reaction.
(d) In Haber Process where nitrogen and hydrogen are used in the manufacturing of ammonia.
Ammonia is mainly used to make nitrogenous fertilisers.
(e) Temperature : 450 OC, Pressure : 250 atmosphere, iron as catalyst

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