General Information

NH₄NO₃

Chemical Name: Ammonium Nitrate
Chemical Formula: NH₄NO₃
Molar Mass: 80.0 g
Melting Point: 169.6*C
Boiling Point: 210*C
Density: 1.725 g/mL

Where is it found?
Ammonium nitrate is not found as a complete compound in nature but is manufactured in a plant.

What is its natural abundance?
Ammonium nitrate is a compound that is not found in the natural world. Therefore, it does not have a natural abundance.

How is it obtained?
Ammonium nitrate is not obtained, but manufactured. The chemical equation that describes this process is as follows: HNO₃ + NH₃--->NH₄NO₃. Along with a catalyst and pressure, Anhydrous ammonia (ammonia in a gaseous form) is combined with oxygen, forming nitrous oxide. Nitric acid is then formed by absorbing the nitrous oxide into water. Next, the nitric acid solution is neutralized with ammonia, forming a solution of ammonium nitrate. The water is then evaporated out of the solution leaving ammonium nitrate in the form of granule crystals. In order to create prills of ammonium nitrate, however, the solution is sprayed into a column of air that pushes the solution upwards. This causes the solid ammonium nitrate to be form as spheres exactly how hail stones are formed.

Chemical Properties
The most known chemical property of ammonium nitrate is its combustability. This also makes it a very dangerous compound to work with. Caution must also be used when storing this compound because when it comes in contact with an oxidizable substance, it will become explosive. Another interesting property of ammonium nitrate is that when combined with acetic acid, the mixture will ignite. Other chemical properties are that it is colorless when in a solution and whitish when in solid form. When disassociated in water, the solution will drop in temperature due to the large amount of energy required to break apart the ionic bond between ammonium and nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is also an oderless crystal.