Question

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

1. Name A (a liquid), B (a solid), and C (a liquid). (Do not give the formulae.)
2. Write an equation to show how nitric acid undergoes decomposition.
3. Write the equation for the reaction in which copper is oxidised by concentrated nitric acid.

Answer 1

1. A: Conc. sulphuric acid
   B: Sodium nitrate or Potassium nitrate
   C: Nitric acid
2. \[\ce{4HNO3 ->[Heat][Sunlight] 4NO2 + 2H2O + O2}\]
3. \[\ce{Cu + 4HNO3 -> Cu(NO3)2 + 2NO2 + 2H2O}\]