Question

Give two main uses each of

(a) sulphuric acid
(b) hydrochloric acid
(c) nitric acid

Answer 1

(a) Sulphuric acid (${\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4$):
1. It is used to manufacture fertilizers such as ammonium sulphate and superphosphate.
2. It is also used to manufacture detergents, paints, drugs, plastics, paper, etc.

(b) Hydrochloric acid (HCl):
1. It is widely used in the oil industries to dissolve the rocks containing oil.
2. It is also used to manufacture aqua regia. The aqua regia comprises of 3 parts of hydrochloric acid and 1 part of nitric acid. It is mainly used to dissolve noble metals such as gold and platinum.

(c) Nitric acid (${\mathrm{HNO}}_3$):
1. It is used to manufacture fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate.
2. It is also used to manufacture explosives such as TNT (trinitrotoluene) and nitroglycerine.