Question

Write a chemical equation to illustrate the acidic nature of nitric acid.

Answer 1

Acid: An acid is a substance that releases hydrogen $\left({\mathrm{H}}^{+}\right)$ ion in its aqueous solution.

• Nitric acid is reacting with water and produces Hydronium ions and Nitrate ions.

${\mathrm{HNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)\to {\mathrm{H}}^{+}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)$

• The chemical equation to illustrate the acidic nature of nitric acid is :

$\underset{(\mathrm{Nitric}\mathrm{acid})}{\underbrace{{\mathrm{HNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}}+\underset{(\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{hydroxide})}{\underbrace{\mathrm{NaOH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}}\to \underset{(\mathrm{Sodium}\mathrm{Nitrate})}{\underbrace{{\mathrm{NaNO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}}+\underset{\left(\mathrm{Water}\right)}{\underbrace{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

Nitric acid reacts with the basic hydroxide to give salt and water.

Hence, Nitric acid is acidic in nature.