Sciencemadness Discussion Board

leaching of ammonium nitrate fertiliser

jjc - 29-1-2007 at 16:58

i would like to ask what is the equation for leaching of NH4NO3 fertiliser into streams. one mole of NH4NO3 gives 2 moles of NH3. one way i thought of was since NH4NO3 has 2 N atoms, so there will be 2 NH3. but i would like to know the full equation of what's going on. in alkaline soil, NH4+ will be converted into NH3. is there any relation here to leaching?

The_Davster - 29-1-2007 at 17:09

Leaching is not a chemical process. It is simply ammonium nitrate dissolving in water and being carried elsewhere by water flow where it can cause problems.

Levi - 30-1-2007 at 02:58

It may be worth noting that even though there are two nitrogen atoms, they are in different oxidation states. The NH<sub>4</sub>+ ion contains the -3 state whereas the NO<sub>3</sub>- ion contains the +5 state. In order for 2 moles of NH<sub>3</sub> to be removed as you suggested, the +5 state would need to be reduced all the way to -3 which means there would have to be a redox reaction occuring and not simply dissolving in water.