Here are four different ways chemists use to show a molecule of ammonia. In the colored molecule models, nitrogen is blue and hydrogen is white.
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Windows to the Universe original artwork by Randy Russell.
Ammonia - NH3
Ammonia is a kind of gas.
Ammonia molecules (NH3)
have hydrogen and nitrogen atoms
in them.
The air you breathe has a tiny bit of ammonia in it. When plants and animals
die and decay, they give off ammonia. Ammonia is part of the Nitrogen
Cycle.
Ammonia can sometimes help get pollution
out of the air. Sometimes the air has acids
like nitric acid
and sulfuric acid
in it. They make acid rain, which
hurts plants and fish. Ammonia combines with these acids to make other chemicals.
Those chemicals are solids called particulates,
which fall out of the air.
Humans make and use lots of ammonia. We use it to make fertilizer and explosives.
It is also in window cleaning products.
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