SCE3103 EXPLORING MATERIALS PRACTICAL 5: AMMONIA, SULPHURIC ACID AND NITRIC ACID Aim: To prepare ammonium salt fertilizer.

Materials: Ammonia solution (2M),Dilute sulphuric acid (1M), Apparatus: Beaker, glass rod,Bunsen burner,Tripod stand,Wire gauze,Filter funnel and filter. Procedure: 1. 30 cm3 of dilute sulphuric acid is poured into a beaker. 2. The ammonia solution is added little by little into the beaker while stirring thesolution. 3. When the solution smells amniotic ammonia solution is stop to add. 4. The solution heated until it becomes 1/3 of the original volume. 5. The solution Discussion : 1. The ammonia solution must be added little by little to the sulphuric acid becauseto avoid excess ammonia. 2. The solution must be heated slowly to avoid the ammonium sulphate moleculefrom evaporate 3. Make sure the laboratory windows is open to ensure air ventilation because theheating of the solution will released bad smell.

Questions: 1. Write a balance equation to represent the formation of ammonium sulphate inthis experiment. NH3+ H2SO4(NH4)2SO4 2. How does the addition of ammonium sulphate affects the pH of the soil? The addition of ammonium sulphate to the soil will lowering the pH balance of soil 3. Besides fertilizers, ammonium sulphate is also used as an agriculture spray adjuvant for water soluble pesticides. Explain the function of ammonium sulphate in this area. It functions to bind iron and calcium cations that are present in both well water and plant cells 4. Name three examples of natural fertilizers which are used in farming. 1. Animal manure 2. seaweed 3. Naturally mined powdered limestone, mined rock phosphate and sodiumnitrate, 5. Name three examples of synthetic fertilizers which are used in agriculture. 6. Write chemical equations to represent the formation of: a. ammonium phosphate b. ammonium nitrate c. Urea 7. Calculate the percentage of nitrogen in 1 mole of the above fertilizers. [ Relative atomic mass: H, 1; C,12; N,14; O, 16; P, 31; S, 32 ] 8. Which of the above fertilizer is the most suitable for the growth of plants?Explain your answer.

Conclusion : Ammonium sulphate can be prepared by heating of mixture ammonia andsulphuric acid

PREPARATION OF AMMONIA FERTILISER Aim:Material:-2 sulphuricacid, 2 mol dm-3 ammoniasolution, methyl orange, filter paper Apparatus:rod,evaporating dish, filter funnel, Bunsen burner, tripodstand, wire gauze. Procedure: -a) Determining the volume of sulphuricacid that will neutralize 25.0 cm of ammonia solution:1. 25.0 cm of 2 mol dm-3 ammonia solution istransferred by a pipette to a clean conical flask. 2. Three drops of methyl orange indicator areadded to the alkali. The solution turns yellow. 3. A clean burette is filled with 1 mol dm-2 sulphuricacid and clamped to a retort stand. The initialburette reading is recorded. 4. The conical flask with its content is placed on a white tilebelow the burette as shown in figure 6 below. 5. The sulphuricacid is added slowly into the conical flask.The conical flask is swirled gently throughout the titration .6. The addition of sulphuricacid is stopped when theindicator changes from yellow to orange. The final burettereading is recorded. 7.The volume of acid needed to completelyneutralize the 25.0 cm of 2 mol dm-3 ammoniasolution is calculated. Let this volume V cm. b)Preparation ammonium sulphatesalt:1. 25.0 cm of 2 mol dm-3 ammonia solution ispipettedinto a clean conical flask. No indicator isadded. 2. V cm of 1 mol sulphuricacid is added from theburette to the ammonia solution. 3. The mixture in the conical flask is transferred to anevaporating dish and heated until a saturated solution isformed. 4. The hot, saturated salt solution is left to cool forcrystallization to occur. 5.The crystal of ammonium sulphateformed are filtered,ashedand dried between sheets of filter paper. Observation:ssolution is formed when sulphuricacid is added to ammonia solution.

Discussion: equation for the reaction is

:H2SO4(aq) + 2NH4OH(aq)(NH4)2SO4(aq) + 2H2O(l)

-base indicator used todetermine the end point of the titration exact volume of sulphuricacid required to completelyneutralize the 25.0 cm of ammonia solution.The salt solution in the first titration is discardedbecause it is contaminated by methyl orange ness because ammonium sulphatedecomposes whenit is overheated. This isbecause some of the salt is not fully crystallized out and stillremains in the solution. acidand ammonium solution .Conclusion: solutionwith the respective acids