
It is non- hygroscopic, in contrast to silver fluoroborate and silver perchlorate. Silver nitrate is the least expensive salt of silver it offers several other advantages as well.

Uses Precursor to other silver compounds Most metal nitrates thermally decompose to the respective oxides, but silver oxide decomposes at a lower temperature than silver nitrate, so the decomposition of silver nitrate yields elemental silver instead. Qualitatively, decomposition is negligible below the melting point, but becomes appreciable around 250 ☌ and fully decomposes at 440 ☌. The silver nitrate reacts with copper to form hairlike crystals of silver metal and a blue solution of copper nitrate:Ģ AgNO 3(l) → 2 Ag(s) + O 2(g) + 2 NO 2(g) Ī typical reaction with silver nitrate is to suspend a rod of copper in a solution of silver nitrate and leave it for a few hours. The Ag-O distances range from 2.384 to 2.702 Å. Each Ag + center is bonded to six oxygen centers of both uni- and bidentate nitrate ligands.

In the common orthorhombic form stable at ordinary temperature and pressure, the silver atoms form pairs with Ag-Ag contacts of 3.227 Å. The structure of silver nitrate has been examined by X-ray crystallography several times. The stoichiometry of the reaction depends upon the concentration of nitric acid used.ģ Ag + 4 HNO 3 (cold and diluted) → 3 AgNO 3 + 2 H 2O + NO Ag + 2 HNO 3 (hot and concentrated) → AgNO 3 + H 2O + NO 2 Indeed silver nitrate can be prepared by dissolving silver in nitric acid followed by evaporation of the solution. Synthesis and structure Īlbertus Magnus, in the 13th century, documented the ability of nitric acid to separate gold and silver by dissolving the silver. In solid silver nitrate, the silver ions are three- coordinated in a trigonal planar arrangement. It was once called lunar caustic because silver was called luna by ancient alchemists who associated silver with the moon. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula AgNOģ. Test prior to class.Crystals of silver nitrate under a microscope. The ethylene diamine will oxidize with time. (Add more ammonia to make it go away.) Make the ethylene diamine solution fresh if there are crystals present in the solution or if it's more than a year old. Hint: Any green precipitate formation is due to Ni(OH) ₂ precipitate.

In a second large hydrometer place 200 mL 0.1M NiSO ₄.In a large hydrometer cylinder place 100 mL 0.1M NiSO ₄ (this is the reference solution).Nickel compounds are considered cancer suspect agents. Facility Announcements & Equipment LogbooksĬolorful aqueous complexes of nickel are made using ammonia, ethylene diamine and dimethylglyoxime ligands.Additional Info for Prospective Students.
