Ammonium hydroxide and its use

Few people know that a chemical compound with a complex formula NH4OH called ammonium hydroxide appears in our everyday life under many hypostases. This fertilizer for potatoes and beets, it's ammonia, it's a food additive, hiding in factory foods under the mysterious pseudonym E527, and even ... antifreeze. For the chemical industry, the solution of this chemical compound is synthesized in a synthetic manner. And the raw material for it is ordinary coal. In coke ovens, coal emits ammonia, which saturates the water in various proportions.

How to saturate the ammonium hydroxide - then from it and get it. For example, E527, which we so unintentionally absorb from questionable quality bars, is a 25% solution of ammonia. A 18% solution of some mistresses themselves and use - it is known in cooking as ammonia water. Approximately in this percentage composition, the substance is mixed into the cattle feed. As fertilizer, ammonia water is used in a 20.5% solution. By its effectiveness it is not inferior to fertilizers in the form of a powder - nitrates and ammonia.

In industry, ammonium hydroxide is used in the production of dyes, ferroalloys, manganese. It is used for making soda ash. In construction, ammonia water is used to protect the reinforcement from corrosion. It is also added to the cement, which causes it to harden longer and easier to lay. Many drivers also deal with a solution of this substance - it is used to produce antifreeze. It is also indispensable in the production of saltpeter.

In medicine, ammonium hydroxide found almost the most widespread use. A ten percent solution is taken out of syncope and stimulated by vomiting, as the sharp odor of ammonia increases breathing and raises blood pressure. However, the cotton wool with ammonia should be brought to the patient's nose carefully: in some, though individual cases, it can, on the contrary, cause a stop of breathing. To induce vomiting reflex, the substance is strongly diluted with water - undiluted ammonia can cause burns to the walls of the stomach and esophagus, adversely affect the liver. When bites insects, myositis and neuralgia, this solution is used as a lotion, and surgeons wash their hands in warm boiled water with ammonia before the operation. But this substance is contraindicated in some skin diseases (for example, eczema) and do not put it on the skin with cuts and injuries.

Related to the sound of ammonium hydroxide, however, a completely separate substance is ammonium carbonate (also called ammonium carbonate). It is also widely used in the food industry, but under a different code number of the emulsifier: E 503. Naturally, the manufacturers claim that the emulsifier is absolutely harmless to health. Even with the emulsifier E 503, some unscrupulous beer producers replace brewer's yeast. Earlier, E503 for gingerbread and wafers was produced from meat garbage, and now it is produced by chemical synthesis. Colorless crystals of ammonium mistress are used as a baking powder. This compound is also used in fire extinguishers and for the production of ammonium salt derivatives .

Far from chemistry, a person can confuse the names of ammonium hydroxide and silicon hydroxide. However, you can only confuse the names. By appearance, this latter substance favorably differs from the emulsifier extracted from the coal, and by smell - from ammonia. You can not eat it at all. But it's nice to wear on your finger, neck or in your ears! Hydroxides and silicon oxides form a fairly wide group of minerals, close to quartz. This includes a shimmering matte shine opal, and a red carnelian, and smoky chalcedony, and an amethyst or a crystal clear as a tear, rock crystal.