Question

During a thunderstorm, the rainwater contains nitric acid. The nitric acid is formed as a result of three chemical reactions. Describe or write balanced chemical equation for these three reactions.

Answer 1

The required reactions are:

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{N}}_2+{\mathrm{O}}_2\stackrel{\mathrm{lightning}}{\to }2\mathrm{NO} \\ 2\mathrm{NO}+{\mathrm{O}}_2\to 2{\mathrm{NO}}_2 \\ 4{\mathrm{NO}}_2+2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}+{\mathrm{O}}_2\to 4{\mathrm{HNO}}_3 \end{gathered}$$