How is Nitric Acid manufactured by Ostwald's Process?

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Solution

Ostwald process to manufacture nitric acid-
Step $1$ : Catalytic oxidation of Ammonia
A mixture of dry air and dry ammonia in the ratio of $10 : 1$ by volume is compressed and then passed into a platinum gauze which acts as catalyst at about $800 ℃$ .
$4 N H_{3} + 5 O_{2} ⟶ 4 N O + 6 H_{2} O + Heat$
Step $2$ : Oxidation of nitric oxide
Nitric oxide combines with oxygen to form nitrogen dioxide at about 50°C.
$2 N O + O_{2} ⟶ 2 N O_{2}$
Step $3$ : Absorption of nitrogen dioxide in water
The nitrogen dioxide and oxygen present in the air react with water to form nitric acid.
$4 N O_{2} + 2 H_{2} O + O_{2} ⟶ 4 H N O_{3} Nitric acid$
Nitric acid obtained is concentrated above $50 %$ . On further distillation, $68 %$ nitric acid is produced.

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Reactants used for manufacturing nitric acid in ostwald process are.

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