8 Study of Compounds

Nitricacid is used in the production ofammonium nitrate for fertilisers, making plastics,and
nitric acid is widely used in manufacturing of dyes.

Chapter Notes
Preparation and Manufacturing of Nitric Acid
Properties of Nitric Acid
 TOPIC 1

PREPARATION AND MANUFACTURING OF NITRIC ACID

Molecular formula of nitric acid is HNO3. Its structure is given below:
O
H—O—N —
O
Occurrence
Nitric acid occurs both in free and combined state. It is found in rain water in
free state where it occurs in traces during lightning.
It occurs in combined state as Chile saltpetre (NaNO3), nitre (KNO3), etc.
Laboratory Preparation of Nitric Acid
Reactants Used
Potassium nitrate (KNO3)
OR
Sodium nitrate (NaNO3)
and
Conc. Sulphuric acid (H2SO4)
Example 1. What is the ratio of potassium nitrate and concentrated
sulphuric acid required to prepare nitric acid?
Ans. 1:1 i.e., equal parts of potassium nitrate and conc. sulphuric acid are
required by weight.
Chemical Reaction
KNO3 + H2SO4 < 200°C
→ KHSO4 + HNO3
Potassium Conc . Potassium Nitric
nitrate Sulphuric hydrogen acid
acid sulphate

OR
NaNO3 + H2SO4 < 200°C
→ NaHSO4 + HNO3
Sodium Conc. Sodium Nitric acid
nitrate Sulphuric hydrogen
acid sulphate

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 Conc. H2SO4
and sodium or potassium
nitrate

Brown
fumes

Cold Water

Burner Nitric acid

Laboratory Preparation of nitric acid

Collection of Nitric Acid
The condensation of vapours of nitric acid takes place by chilling the receiver
with running cold water to form a light yellow liquid.
Caution
 Pure nitric acid is colourless but the acid formed in the laboratory is slightly
yellow.
Important
 The yellow colour of nitric acid is caused due to dissolution of reddish-
brown coloured nitrogen dioxide (NO2) gas in the acid.
 NO2 gas is formed due to thermal decomposition of nitric acid.
4HNO3  → 2H2O + 4NO2 + O2

Example 2. At what concentration is the Nitric acid known as fuming

nitric acid?
Ans. Nitric acid with concentration of 98% is known as fuming nitric acid.
Removal of Yellow Colour From Acid
First method is to pass dry air or carbon dioxide is bubbled through the yellow
acid by which the acid becomes colourless as it removes nitrogen dioxide
(NO2) from warm acid which is further oxidised to nitric acid.
Another method is to add excess of water to yellow acid so that nitrogen
dioxide (NO2) dissolves in water and acid because colourless.
Precautions
(1) In the preparation of nitric acid, all glass apparatus should be used because
vapours of nitric acid are corrosive in nature and attacks rubber, cork,
plastics, etc.
(2) Concentrated hydrochloric acid cannot be used in place of conc. H2SO4
because of volatile nature of HCl. So, nitric acid vapours will carry vapours
of hydrochloric acid.
(3) The temperature of the reaction should not be more then 200°C. At high
temperature, glass apparatus may crack and decomposition of nitric acid
can occur. Moreover, sodium sulphate is formed at high temperature,

Study of Compounds: (C) Nitric Acid 3

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forms a hard crust which sticks to the walls of the retort and it cannot be
removed easily.

...
2NaNO3 + H2SO4 > 200°C
→ Na2SO4 + 2HNO3

Sodium Conc. Sodium Nitric acid

nitrate Sulphuric acid sulphate

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 OBJECTIVE Type Questions
Multiple Choice Questions
[ 1 mark]
1. The gas formed, when calcium bisulphite reacts with dilute HNO3:
(a)Sulphur trioxide
(b) Hydrogen
(c) Sulphur dioxide
(d) Hydrogen sulphide [ICSE Sem-2, 2022]
Ans. (c)Sulphur dioxide
Explanation: Metallic bisulphites react with dilute nitric acid to form
their soluble metallic nitrates, water and sulphur dioxide gas.
Ca(HSO3)2 + 2HNO3 ® Ca(NO3)2 + 2H2O + 2SO2�(g)

SUBJECTIVE Type Questions

Fill in The Blanks
[ 1 mark]
2. Aqua regia is also known as .............. . [HOT ]
Ans. royal water.
Explanation: Aqua regia is a mixture of conc. HNO3 and conc. HCl in ratio
of 1: 3. It is called as royal water because of its ability to dissolve gold.

Match the Following

[ 1 mark for each matching ]

3. Column (I) Column (II)

(A) Nitre (i) NaNO3
(B) Chile saltpetre (ii) N2O
(C) Nitrosyl chloride (iii) KNO3
(D) Laughing gas (iv) Cu(NO3)2
(E) Copper nitrate (v) NOCl
Ans. (A)-(iii), (B)-(i), (C)-(v), (D)-(ii), (E)-(iv).
Explanation:
(A) Nitre is the universal form of KNO3. It is also known as saltpeter or

Study of Compounds: (C) Nitric Acid 5

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 saltpetre.
(B) NaNO3 sodium nitrate is a crystalline sodium salt. It is also called as
Chile saltpetre.
(C) Nitrosyl chloride NOCl.
 It is a yellow gas which is formed as a component of aqua regia
mixture.
(D) Laughing gas N2O is a colourless, non-flammable gas at room
temperature. It has rightly metallic scent and taste.
(E) Molecular formula of copper nitrate is Cu(NO3)2.

State True / False

[ 1 mark ]
4. Nitric acid is used in the manufacturing of explosive. [HOT ]
Ans. True.
Explanation: HNO3 is used in the manufacturing of explosives like T.N.T.
(trinitrotoluene).

Give Reasons
 [ 1 mark]
5. In laboratory preparation of nitric acid, why conc. HCl can‘t be used?
Ans. Conc. HCl can‘t be used in laboratory preparation of nitric acid because
HCl is volatile and hence, nitric acid vapours will carry HCl vapours also.

State Relevant Observation

[ 1 mark]
6. Lead nitrate is heated strongly in a test tube.
[ICSE 2019]
Ans. It forms a yellow coloured lead oxide residue and liberates nitrogen
dioxide gas with reddish brown fumes and crackling sound.
Chemical Equation:
2Pb(NO3)2 → 2PbO + 4NO2� + O2
A decrepitating sound is heard / A reddish brown gas is given out / A
yellow residue is left behind.[Marking Scheme]
What Examiners Say
 Some candidates wrote yellow precipitate of PbO is obtained instead of
yellow residue.

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Give the Balanced Chemical Equation
[ 1 mark]
7. Laboratory preparation of Nitric acid.
[HOT ] [ICSE 2017, 14]
Ans. NaNO3 + H2SO4
<200°C

→ NaHSO4 + HNO3
[Marking Scheme]
What Examiners Say
 Most candidates answered this correctly. Some candidates recorded the
products as Na2SO4 instead of NaHSO4.

Name the Following

[ 1 mark]
8. Name the test carried out with freshly prepared ferrous sulphate.
[HOT ]
Ans. Brown ring test.
Explanation: A freshly prepared ferrous sulphate solution is used because
on exposure to the atmosphere, if ferric is oxidised to form ferric sulphate
which will not give the brown ring.

What Happens When

 [ 1 mark]
9. State the observation for the following:
Carbon reacts with hot concentrated nitric acid. [ICSE Sem-2, 2022]
Ans. Carbon dioxide evolves with brisk effervescence.

C + 4HNO3 Hot .

→
Conc .
CO2 + 2H2O + 4NO2
Caution
 Students should remember the products and write correct chemical
equation.

Short Answer Type-I Questions [SA-I]

[ 2 marks]
10. Distinguish between dilute hydrochloric acid and dilute sulphuric
acid. (using lead nitrate solution) [ICSE 2019, 17]
Ans. Lead nitrate solution reacts with dilute hydrochloric acid to give white
precipitate of lead chloride which dissolves on heating whereas dilute

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 sulphuric acid on reacting with lead nitrate solution forms an insoluble
precipitate of lead sulphate which does not dissolve further.
Explanation:
Pb(NO3)2 + 2HCl → PbCl2↓ + 2HNO3
(White ppt.)
(Insoluble in cold water but dissolves in warm water)
Pb(NO3)2 + H2SO4 → PbSO4 + 2HNO3
(White ppt.)
On adding lead nitrate solution, if white precipitate is formed which
dissolves on heating, then it is dilute HCl. If white precipitate formed
does not dissolve on heating, it is dilute H2SO4.
[Marking Scheme]
What Examiners Say
 White precipitate was mentioned by several candidates but the effect of
heat on both was not mentioned.

Short Answer Type-II Questions [SA-II]

[3 marks]

11. Study the diagram, which shows the brown ring test and answer the
question given below:

Iron (II) sulphate

Brown ring

(A) Which ion is determined by brown ring test?

(B) Why is freshly prepared iron (II) sulphate used in the test?
(C)Name the substance Z.
[ICSE Sem-2, 2022]
Ans. (A)Nitrate ion.
(B) 
Because on the exposure to the atmosphere, it is oxidised to ferric
sulphate which will not give the brown ring.
(C) Conc. sulphuric acid.

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Long Answer Type-II Questions [LA-II]
[ 5 marks]
12. (A)Name:
(i) A metal nitrate which on heating is changed into metal.
(ii)A solution which absorbs nitric oxide.
(iii)A nitrate which on heating leaves no residue behind.
(B)Mention two important uses of nitric acid.
Ans. (A)(i)Silver nitrate
(ii) Freshly prepared ferrous sulphate.
(iii) Ammonium nitrate.
(B) (1)Nitric acid is used to purify gold.
(2)It is used to etch designs on copper and brassuare.

Study of Compounds: (C) Nitric Acid 9

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