Question

Nitric acid is often manufactured from the atmospheric gases nitrogen and oxygen, plus hydrogen prepared by reforming of natural gas, in a two-step process. In the first step, nitrogen and hydrogen react to form ammonia: N2(g) + 3H2(g) ---> 2NH3(g) In the second step, ammonia and oxygen react to form nitric acid and water: NH3(g) + 2O2(g) ---> HNO3(g) + H2O(g) Write the net chemical equation for the production of nitric acid from nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen. Be sure your equation is balanced.

Answer 1

Answer: The net chemical equation is given below.

Explanation:

To determine the net chemical equation, we will look into the intermediate steps:

Step 1: Formation of ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen gas.

$N_2(g)+3H_2(g)\rightarrow 2NH_3(g)$        ......(1)

Step 2: Formation of nitric acid from ammonia and oxygen gas.

$NH_3(g)+2O_2(g)\rightarrow HNO_3(g)+H_2O(g)$      .....(2)

The net chemical equation for the formation of nitric acid from hydrogen gas, nitrogen gas and oxygen gas follows by adding both the equations, we get:

$N_2(g)+2O_2(g)+3H_2(g)\rightarrow HNO_3(g)+H_2O(g)+NH_3(g)$

By Stoichiometry of the reaction:

1 mole of hydrogen gas reacts with 2 moles of oxygen gas and 3 moles of hydrogen gas to produce 1 mole of nitric acid, 1 mole of water and 1 mole of ammonia.

Hence, the net chemical equation is given below.