Question

How to complete this reaction?

${\mathrm{HNO}}_3+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$?

Answer 1

Reaction of Nitric acid with water

• Nitric acid is a relatively strong acid and oxidizing agent.
• It reacts with water to form hydronium ion and nitrate.
• Nitric acid with water reacts as follows:

$\underset{\underset{\left(\mathrm{Acid}\right)}{\mathrm{Nitric}\mathrm{acid}}}{{\mathrm{HNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}+\underset{\underset{\left(\mathrm{Base}\right)}{\mathrm{Wate}}\mathrm{r}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}\rightleftharpoons \underset{\underset{(\mathrm{Conjugate}\mathrm{acid})}{\mathrm{Hydronium}\mathrm{ion}}}{{\mathrm{H}}_3{\mathrm{O}}^{+}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}+\underset{\underset{(\mathrm{Conjugate}\mathrm{base})}{\mathrm{Nitrate}}}{{{\mathrm{NO}}_3}^{-}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}$

• The reaction of Nitric acid with water can be treated as an example of Bronsted acid-base reaction, where hydronium ion acts as a conjugate acid of water and Nitrate ion acts as a conjugate base of Nitric acid.

Nitric acid reacts with water to form hydronium ion which is a conjugate acid, while the nitrate is the conjugate base.