Question

The figure given below illustrates the apparatus used in the laboratory preparation of nitric acid:

(i) Name A (a liquid), B( a Solid) and C(a liquid).
(ii) write the balanced chemical equation to show how nitric acid undergoes decomposition.
(iii) Write the balanced chemical equation for the reaction in which copper is oxidized by concentrated nitric acid.

Answer 1

(i) A = Sulphuric acid, B = potassium nitrate, C= nitric acid
(ii) \[\ce{4HNO3 -> 4NO2 + 2H2O + O2}\]
(iii) \[\ce{Cu + 4HNO3 ->[\Delta] Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO2 + 2H2O}\]