Question

Take about 2 g of lead nitrate in a boiling tube and heat it, what do you observe?

Answer 1

1. Reaction: When lead nitrate ($\mathrm{Pb}{\left({\mathrm{NO}}_3\right)}_2$) is heated, it decomposes to produce lead oxide ($\mathrm{PbO}$), Nitrogen dioxide (${\mathrm{NO}}_2$), and Oxygen (${\mathrm{O}}_2$).
2. Chemical equation:

$$\begin{gathered} 2\mathrm{Pb}{\left({\mathrm{NO}}_3\right)}_2\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\stackrel{∆}{\to }2\mathrm{PbO}\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+4{\mathrm{NO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ \mathrm{Lead}\mathrm{nitrate}\mathrm{Lead}\mathrm{oxide}\mathrm{Nitrogen}\mathrm{Oxygen} \\ \mathrm{dioxide} \end{gathered}$$

3. Observation: The color of the nitrogen dioxide gas is reddish-brown. Hence, reddish-brown fumes are observed when lead nitrate is heated.