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Urea


Primarygun

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Urea is an organic compound of carbon' date=' nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, with the formula CON2H4 or (NH2)2CO.

I heard that it is an odourless solid, is it true?

What's its pH?[/quote']

It is also called carbamide, and its pK_a = 0.1

:)

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the problem is that getting the Ph from a solid is difficult, and of course adding water to it will force hydrolysis, and the breakdown product is certainly basic.

if memory serves the Ph is just slightly on the basic side of 7 (I could be wrong).

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I`m not sure off the top of my head, but I`m certain that Ammonium and carbonate ions alone in soln can`t exist without reacting, so my GUESS would be Ammonium Carbonate.

 

again, I could be wrong.

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I`m not sure off the top of my head, but I`m certain that Ammonium and carbonate ions alone in soln can`t exist without reacting, so my GUESS would be Ammonium Carbonate.

 

again, I could be wrong

I thought Ammonium carbonate was somewhat soluble so depending on the concentrations of the solution it may not precipitate and form solid ammonium carbonate. So the products could very well be ammonium ions and carbonate ions.

 

~Scott

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ammonium carbonate is Very Soluble, hence the addition of water to Hydrolyse it, insufficient water and no reaction will take place to it`s entirity, and you`ll get Ammonia gas as a result.

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Urea is hydrolyzed into carbonate and ammonium ions, what are the exactly name of the products?

 

I only left for half a day, and when I came back I found out this mess. :eek::D

No, this is the correct information:

pH = -log a_H {[math]\cf{pH = -log a_H}[/math]}

pK_a = -log K_a {[math]\cf{pK_a = -log K_a}[/math]}

K_a = [H+][b-] / [bH]

*****

In other words Urea is barely acidic, but it is strongly alkaline on heating its aqueous solution because CO2 leaves ammonium hydroxide behind.

:cool::)

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Can you tell me what the main difference between uric acid and urea besides their acidity or alkalinity is?

 

Ok, a bit of biological input:

 

Living beings often ingest and digest protiens. However, they need a way to get rid of the amonia that results from breaking down amino acids. Animals that live in freshwater can just dilute it and flush it out with copious dilute urine. Animals that need to conserve water have a problem: they can't waste water getting rid of amonia, but they can't let it build up because it's toxic. The solution is urea, a nearly totally harmless compound that lets the animal dispose of waste in a concentrated form. (It's also used by sharks and the coelocanth to regular the osmolarity of the body tissues, so whenever you eat shark meat, you're eating urine-soaked meat.)

 

Uric acid is even more concentrated stuff, arranged in rings, and pumps out more nitrogen per molecule. It also is water insoluble (or of very low sulubility), unlike urea, so it can crystalize out in the bladder into a pasty white mass, allowing the animal to conserve even more water. It's the white stuff you see in bird and reptile defecations.

 

Mokele

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