Ammonia_Nitrate

Ammonium Nitrate ( NH4NO3 ) [pic][pic] [pic][pic] Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound which is the nitrate of ammonia also with a chemical formula NH4NO3. In standard pressure and room temperature it is a white crystalline solid. Also it is commonly used as a high-nitrogen fertilizer in agriculture and is used as an oxidizing agent in explosives also with IED (Improvised explosive devices aka roadside bombs.) Ammonium nitrate is a main component to a very popular explosive known as ANFO (Ammonium nitrate fuel oil). The mixture is a widely used bulk industrial explosive mixture. Ammonium nitrate is used in instant cold packs which are devices that contain two bags, one with water and the other with ammonium nitrate. Once the inner bag has been squeezed, the ammonium nitrate dissolves into the water in an endothermic reaction. Endothermic reaction is a process where the system absorbs energy from the surroundings in the form of heat. Heating ammonium nitrate may cause explosion or violent combustion. This chemical compound reacts with combustible and reducing material since it is a strong oxidant. A great thing about ammonium nitrate is that it is a great fertilizer. Fertilizers are important when growing crops since they help keep the soil healthy. A lot of farmers benefit from this fertilizer compound on their vegetables or fruits since it is very affordable and does a good job bolstering the vegetables or fruits. Farmer’s aren’t the only ones who take advantage of the uses of ammonium nitrate, construction companies also have too. They prefer to use the explosive rather than using dynamite since it’s more stable than dynamite and it won’t burst without a carbon and hydrogen compound. Disadvantages of the compound are that people use it to harm others. An example which set in 1995 at a Federal Building in Oklahoma City when a truck bomb which contained two tons of the fertilizer which was used by a terrorist and lost 168 people their lives and also destroying the building. A way to dispose ammonium nitrate is to use it as a fertilizer for your plants and make sure to pour a gallon of water over it so it would make the solution weak enough to be helpful to plants. Ammonium nitrate is not much of a hazardous chemical since it is used for fertilizing plants. But for the chances of having direct personal exposure to the chemical is pretty low since the use of ammonium nitrate is done at early stages of plant growth and isn’t detectable on the harvested plants. Acute health effects would be ingestion, skin contact, eye contact, and inhalation. Long term effects would be Carcinogenic effects, Mutagenic effects, Teratogenic effects, Developmental toxicity, and prolonged exposure. The chemical compound reacts with alkali metal hydroxides, releasing ammonia and forming alkali metal nitrate. The chemical compound also gives ammonium chloride and nitric acid upon reaction with hydrochloric acid and it leaves no residue when heated. This fertilizer has proven to be beneficial when it comes to agricultural but people are worried that it should be strictly regulated for safety reasons. It could hurt the general public but regardless where ever you stand on the issue of ammonia nitrate that it is always around you. References: -Ammonium nitrate,Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate, Mar/24/12 -Instant cold pack, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_cold_pack , Mar/24/12 -Ammonium nitrate fertilizer, Gardening Central, http://www.gardeningcentral.org/ammonium_nitrate_fertilizer/ammonium_nitrate_fertilizer.html , Mar/24/12 - Ammonium nitrate fertilizer, Ammonium nitrate fertilizer, http://www.ammoniumnitratefertilizer.net/, Mar/24/12 -ANFO, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANFO, Mar/24/12 -Ammonium nitrate, Yahoo education, http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/ammonnit, Mar/25/12