Another famous use of ammonium nitrate is as an additive in explosives. It may also affect the quality of green leafy vegetables since the nitrogen which is used by the plants is actually very helpful in the process of photosynthesis. It can also yield rapid growth and may increase the fruit production capacity of a plant. Agriculturists love using ammonium nitrate since it is a cheap alternative to expensive fertilizers. Nitrogen is a very important plant nutrient that assists in the growth and metabolic processes that the plant undergoes. The reason why it is very popular in agriculture is because of the high nitrogen amount in this compound. It is actually sold in the form of pellets that are coated with clay. Ammonium Nitrate and fertilizersĪmmonium Nitrate is generally used as a fertilizer. This compound is very soluble in water and if the water which ammonium nitrate was dissolved at is heated, the by- product will be nitrous oxide which is commonly referred to as laughing gas. The kind of ammonium nitrate sold in the market contains an average of 33.5 percent of nitrogen. The reaction from the two substances combined will form Ammonium Nitrate.
Commercially, it is prepared by mixing nitric acid and ammonia salt. Ammoinium nitrate chemical bindings and formulaĪmmonium nitrate was said to be developed Germans which they used as fertilizers instead of Chilean Nitrates since it is a lot cheaper. These crystals are rhombohedral in shape but when they are subjected to temperatures above 32 degrees Celsius, they change to monoclinic crystals. Its melting point is at 169.6 degrees Celsius or 337.3 degrees Fahrenheit. In room temperature, ammonium nitrate appears in a white crystalline form and it is also colorless. It is composed of nitric acid and salt of ammonia. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the formula NH4NO3.