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Amphotericity
[edit]One of the most characteristic properties of ammonia is its basicity. Ammonia is considered to be a weak base. It combines with acids to form salts; thus with hydrochloric acid it forms ammonium chloride (sal-ammoniac); with nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, etc. However, perfectly dry ammonia will not combine with perfectly dry hydrogen chloride; moisture is necessary to bring about the reaction.[1] As a demonstration experiment, opened bottles of concentrated ammonia and hydrochloric acid produce clouds of ammonium chloride, which seem to appear "out of nothing" as the salt forms where the two diffusing clouds of molecules meet, somewhere between the two bottles.
- NH3 + HCl → NH4Cl
The salts produced by the action of ammonia on acids are known as the ammonium salts and all contain the ammonium ion (NH4+). Dilute aqueous ammonia can be applied on the skin to lessen the effects of acidic animal venoms, such as from insects and jellyfish. [2]
Although ammonia is well known as a weak base, it can also act as an extremely weak acid. It is a protic substance and is capable of formation of amides (which contain the NH2− ion). For example, lithium dissolves in liquid ammonia to give a solution of lithium amide:
- 2 Li + 2 NH3 → 2 LiNH2 + H2
References
[edit]- ^ Baker, H. B. (1894). J. Chem. Soc. 65: 612.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Ammonia".