I cann't find how to compound sodium nitrate on the net. How do I do this (for a honors chem report & project) ?

 

I did find one process that resulted in silver oxide and sodium nitrate but I don't know how to seperate it, how is this done?

you will need a precipitation reaction. Unfortunately sodium nitrate is soluble, so you'd have to do one which precipitates the waste product, filter that off and then distill off the water, leaving you with sodium nitrate.

 

May I ask what u want sodium nitrate for?

If you need sodium nitrate out of ordinary household compounds, you can make it from ammonium nitrate and sodium bicarbonate. Here is how you get the chemicals:

 

Ammonium Nitrate - Is found in granular form in instant-cold packs(I get mine at wal0mart). Just remove the bag of water and crush up the little spheres of ammonium nitrate.

 

Soduim bicarbonate - It's just baking soda.

 

How i make it is mix Sodium Bicarbonate and Ammonium Nitrate in equal amounts in a beaker. Then I add some water to dissolve it. The reaction goes : NaHCO3 + NH4NO3 = NaNO3 + NH4HCO3. Boil the solution and then the Ammonium Bicarbonate(NH4HCO3) will decompose into ammonia gas, carbon dioxide, and water. The reaction goes: NH4HCO3 + Heat = NH3 + CO2 + H2O. If you keep boiling until all the water is boiled off, you will be left with a white crystalline solid, which is Sodium Nitrate.

 

Note: Do this entire process outside, because ammonia gas is a irritant to the lungs, and smells like public bathroom.

 

Have fun and be safe!

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Edited March 2, 200916 yr by Sedit
Consecutive posts merged.