How to Make Pure Nitric Acid the Easy Way

[sheradonssheradons]

This vid is named.. How to Make Pure Nitric Acid the Easy Way ..i think you have mistaken the word easy for long ,,lol ,,its much less messing about if you just boil sulfuric acid with a nitrate salt and precipitate the pure nitric acid in to a beaker surrounded with ice all in 1 go,,,

[peacelizabeth]

what about CuSO4?

[Megorniph]

May I ask, what is this 'turbar' you speak off?

[ScienceHideout]

@Megorniph

A turbar is a little magnetic pellet that you use with a turplate. In other languages, it is called a 'stir bar'.

[xoxoXoieoxox]

the phisicl reason the ice is harder to raise in temp. is at the molecular level the moliculs are locked in position in the ice and in the water it is easer to get the water molicules to move so it heats faster ilke wax in its hardend state a microwave has little efect on it but if its already liqud it heats realy fast in the microwave due to the moliculs are lose =3-

[Oxidized181]

you talk funny, but amazing video

[PyroPudding]

The reason the vacuum distillation takes out the NOx impurities is NOT because it sucks up the fumes it is because it lowers the boiling point of the nitric acid to a level that is below the decomposition point of nitric acid into NOx and water.

[TheCrazyFinn]

Is there any way of removing the dissolved NOx from RFNA without diluting?

[ScienceHideout]

@TheCrazyFinn

Yes. It is called vacuum distillation- and it is the organic chemistry nightmare. It is essentially a regular distillation, but all the gas inside the setup gets sucked up and out. This means your pure white fuming nitric acid will condense, and all the NOx impurities will be sucked up.

[TheSolitaryTraveller]

I've heard of red fuming nitric acid, what exactly makes that different from this.

[Khamila1]

@TheSolitaryTraveller red fuming is higher concentration, 95% or better. Yellow is that way because it has more impurities, in this case, nitrogen oxides. His is somewhere between 86% and 94% pure most likely.

[TheSolitaryTraveller]

@Khamila1 Hm I thought it was the process that defined which one it was not the purity

[einarilaatikko]

Can any other acid be used instead of sulphuric acid?

[ScienceHideout]

@einarilaatikko

Good question! Put simply, no. The sulphate ion is transferred to the sodium ion. Sodium sulphate (or bisulphate) will precipitate out of a cold solution. Stuff like sodium chloride probalby wouldn't.

[nickalisse1]

Could u explain in a more concise way what to do, cause frankly with all the things going wrong we don’t always know what we should do or not do. Like: step 1, step 2, etc. just like many does write, in the downside frame of the video. (As a matter of fact NerdRage is doing it & it’s very helpful. Is it necessary to heat the slush or only if there still some chemicals un-reacted? Then is the freezing is also necessary?

[fullmetalvsyou]

add salt to ur ice water it make it colder and it work batter putt lil moer water in and add lil more salt table spoons k i wanna know morw i want a master to show me all plz rifgt back on my face book iam gene mccrory

[joejoewhatwatt]

I bubbled mine in peroxide and it turned blue why

[TerminalRhinoVirus]

Your sulphuric acid looks like molasses.

[98JMA]

@TerminalRhinoVirus

Its probably from a hardware shop . . .they put colours in there in case people mistake it for water.

[Revelde20]

why is this process using H2SO4 better that the process using HCL and cooper use in the videos of nurdage?

[ScienceHideout]

@Revelde20 The process by NurdRage involves bubbling NO2 gas through hydrogen peroxide. Unfortunately, the only concentration if acid you get is around that with the peroxide. Even using 30% peroxide, don't expect to get more than 50% acid... Most only have access to 3%. Our process eliminates the use of peroxides while increasing yield.

[Revelde20]

@ScienceHideout  thank you !

[joejoewhatwatt]

I bubbled mine in peroxide and it turned blue why

[ScienceHideout]

@joejoewhatwatt

To me it sounds like some copper splashed over...

[98JMA]

You continually say 'if we have strong nitric acid'. The strength of an acid is always the same - it strength refers to its dissociation constant (of H+ ions). Concentration, which is what you mean, completely depends on the ratio of acid to other liquids (aka water). In a nutshell, it is how 'watered down' the acid is. Please correct the video, which is otherwise great and intriguing to watch.

[ScienceHideout]

@98JMA

Yes... nitric acid does have a constant pKa of -1.4. However, this means that the pKa of the solution itself can vary based on if water is present and the amout of HNO3 in it. Please understand when I said "if we have strong nitric acid" I was using the word nitric acid to refer to our liquid we were using in that video- not the nitric acid in the liquid. Therefore, although it can be taken in a couple different ways, I feel confident that everyone knows what I meant.

[98JMA]

@ScienceHideout

I understand, the narration was just a little unclear for me I guess. Also, where'd you get your sep/addition funnel?

[ScienceHideout]

@98JMA I have a friend who works at a university, and he helped me stock my lab.

[ScienceHideout]

@98JMA

I have a friend who works at a university. He helped me stock my lab.

[98JMA]

@ScienceHideout

Awesome!

[RbyRngadh8r]

I have a question. I am trying to extract gold and other precious metals from computers. I dissolved the gold pins in Aqua Regina. I poured off the acids, leaving the solids behind. I then added Sodium Meta Bisulfite and the gold precipitated from the acid and settled to the bottom. Once it settled, I poured off the liquid , leaving the "mud". I washed the mud and strained it. I now have the gold mixed with green crystals. What are the green crystals and how do I remove them?

[ScienceHideout]

@RbyRngadh8r Did you use the nitric acid made in this video, or did you buy it? Was any copper around during the process? Green crystals usually signal copper. Try testing for copper by tossing one of your green crystals in a fire. If the fire is green or blue, it is most likely copper compounds, and can be seperated by finding something that the crystals will dissolve in, but not the gold. Good luck!

[MrTruice]

intriguing 

[spotlightman1234]

glad to see you tried this method.

[mirbill24]

whats the intro song

[mcwario13]

Are you gay?

[alexbald12]

Why are you making Nitric acid?

Is it used in model rocket motors?

Interesting how to... but why?

[StefanB2112]

what state r u from

[SurvivalofUS]

I don't get why you said not to wash out the funnel/Flask with water? Is it dangerous to wash out the nitrate salt out of a beaker. Will it produce deadly fumes?

[ScienceHideout]

@SurvivalofUS

In science, we "wash" our funnels to remove extra chemicals clinging to the sides. We don't want to do this, because it will both dilute the nitric acid, and dissolve some of the sodium bisulphate precipitate. After you collect the acid, wash the glass however you like!

[Digadogup]

you have a fucking horrible accent.

[ScienceHideout]

@Digadogup

Thank you! It's called AMERICAN.

[nickbhalo]

Great work! Making nitric acid without a distillation tool.

[QuantumChance]

I'm a physicist. Your comment regarding the specific heat of ice vs. water was spot on. Ice is your friend, cool water will melt ice faster than hot air

[thegodofchemistry]

thanks i will test this this method

[PushingD]

Could you use KNO3 instead of NaO3?

[ScienceHideout]

@PushingD No. We use NaNO3 because of the solubility. Notice how all the sodium sulphate falls right out of the solution. We may not achieve this with KNO3.

[dendog21]

Smoking meth and mixing chemicals not a good mix. . .

[coolliger]

I really would not do this without a fumehood. An open flask with NOx gases coming out is not safe without ventilation. I also would not use plastic funnels for transferring conc. acids. I personally think making strong acids is too much trouble and danger for reagents that can easily be bought, so I dont know if i would do this again.

[ChemCrazy81]

Sorry, but that isn't RFNA, there isn't enough NO2 content. It is a mixture of nitric/sulfuric acids, water, and dissolved salts. The sodium nitrate you had was clumpy, indicating water content. The mixture nitrated the filter paper, reducing yield and concentration, and increasing solubility of salts. Also, visible fuming isn't really a good indicator of concentration, even 70% acid will fume. Other than that, I enjoy watching your videos, keep it up.

[ScienceHideout]

@ChemCrazy81

Thanks for your imput. Although it does have impurities, it is very strong and does have a significant NO2 content. A few tests and titrations show my acid is in the 90ish percent range- so, isn't it fuming nitric acid- maybe a mixture of red and white?

BTW: I made sure there was no H2SO4 contamination by adding extra nitrate, and wouldn't the heat of this reaction get rid of some water?.

[ChemCrazy81]

@ScienceHideout

The acid doesn't look too orange, so I guess it is in between WFNA and RFNA. Pictures of RFNA look significantly more orange/yellow... Also, the actual nitric acid content may be lower than your result, due to dissolved sodium bisulfate. You were right, if NaNO3 was in excess, all sulfuric acid would be converted to bisulfate.

The nitric acid-water azeotrope has a higher boiling point than nitric acid, so by heating you would be driving off nitric acid, not water.

[ScienceHideout]

@ChemCrazy81

Bisulphate isn't very soluble in HNO3, is it? Won't it jest be in continuous equillibrium if it is?

[ChemCrazy81]

@ScienceHideout I have no idea of the exact solubility, but I do know that someone nitrated cellulose with 40mL sulfuric acid and 25g KNO3 and it all dissolved (with some difficulty).

[prometheustwin1970]

@ChemCrazy81 dude!, that's some nasty looking H2SO4!

[Chaoschemiker]

Didn't you use any scale to measure out the quantities you need/your yield??? Why you didn't distilled the nitric acid off, to get really "pure" acid? By the way: conc. nitric acid and nitril gloves: not a good combo.

And if your electricity goes off, just should just get the stuff and yourself out, and stop talking/filming... Don't you use any fumehood?

[ScienceHideout]

@Chaoschemiker

I didn't use a scale because I don't need stoiciometric amounts- the unreacted nitrate just ends up in that slush. Distillation is good to make this purer, but It is too much trouble just to get a bit of acid. And if you saw my other videos w/ nitric acid, I don't wear gloves. You might notice after the stuff is mixed I stop using gloves. I am in the process of getting a fume hood. Thanks for your concerns.