Nitrogen and its Compounds
Non-metals · Nitrogen
Syllabus tag: KCSE | Chemistry | Form 3 | Topic 15 Nitrogen and its Compounds
Lesson objectives
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
- Describe the preparation, properties and uses of nitrogen.
- Describe the preparation, properties and test for ammonia.
- Describe the Haber process and the manufacture of nitric acid.
- Describe the oxides of nitrogen, nitrates and the nitrogen cycle.
Summary
Nitrogen is an unreactive gas making up 78 per cent of air, its inertness caused by the strong triple bond. Ammonia is the only common alkaline gas, turning damp red litmus blue and giving white fumes with hydrogen chloride. The Haber process makes ammonia, and the Ostwald process converts it to nitric acid.