NITRICACID

Nitric acid

Nitric acid, also known as aqua fortis and spirit of niter, is a highly corrosive strong mineral acid. The pure compound is colorless, but older samples tend to acquire a yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen and water. Most commercially available nitric acid has a concentration of 68%. When the solution contains more than 86% HNO3, it is referred to as fuming nitric acid. Depending on the amount of nitrogen dioxide present, fuming nitric acid is further characterized as white fuming nitric acid or red fuming nitric acid, at concentrations above 95%.

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nitric acid

Noun

  1. A transparent, colourless to pale yellow, fuming corrosive liquid, HNO3; a highly reactive oxidizing agent used in the production of fertilizers, explosives, and rocket fuels and in a wide variety of industrial processes; once called aqua fortis.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: nitric acid
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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