Salmiak glass
It is an ammonium salt of hydrogen chloride. It is a white crystalline salt that is highly soluble in water. Solutions of ammonium chloride are mildly acidic. In its naturally occurring mineralogic form, it is known as salammoniac. The mineral is commonly formed on burning coal dumps from condensation of coal-derived gases. It is also found around some types of volcanic vents.
It is mainly used as fertilizer and a flavouring agent in some types of liquorice.
It is a product of the reaction of hydrochloric acid and ammonia. It is a product of the Solvay process used to produce sodium carbonate : [ 3 ]. Not only is that method the principal one for the manufacture of ammonium chloride, but also it is used to minimize ammonia release in some industrial operations. Ammonium chloride is prepared commercially by combining ammonia NH 3 with either hydrogen chloride gas or hydrochloric acid water solution : [ 3 ].
Ammonium chloride occurs naturally in volcanic regions, forming on volcanic rocks near fume-releasing vents fumaroles.
Salmiakki - the Finnish salty liquorice - Big In Finland
The crystals deposit directly from the gaseous state and tend to be short-lived, as they dissolve easily in water. Ammonium chloride appears to sublime upon heating but actually reversibly decomposes into ammonia and hydrogen chloride gas: [ 3 ]. Ammonium chloride reacts with a strong base, like sodium hydroxide , to release ammonia gas:. Similarly, ammonium chloride also reacts with alkali-metal carbonates at elevated temperatures, giving ammonia and alkali-metal chloride:.
Salty liquorice - Wikipedia
Some reactions of ammonium chloride with other chemicals are endothermic , such as its reaction with barium hydroxide and its dissolving in water. The main crops fertilized this way are rice and wheat in Asia. Ammonium chloride was used in pyrotechnics in the 18th century but was superseded by safer and less hygroscopic chemicals. Its purpose was to provide a chlorine donor to enhance the green and blue colours from copper ions in the flame.
It had a secondary use to provide white smoke, but its ready double decomposition reaction with potassium chlorate producing the highly unstable ammonium chlorate made its use very dangerous. Ammonium chloride is used as a flux in preparing metals to be tin coated, galvanized or soldered. It works as a flux by cleaning the surface of workpieces by reacting with the metal oxides at the surface to form a volatile metal chloride.
For that purpose, it is sold in blocks at hardware stores for use in cleaning the tip of a soldering iron, and it can also be included in solder as flux. Ammonium chloride is used as an expectorant in cough medicine. Its expectorant action is caused by irritative action on the bronchial mucosa, which causes the production of excess respiratory tract fluid, which presumably is easier to cough up.
Ammonium salts are an irritant to the gastric mucosa and may induce nausea and vomiting. Ammonium chloride is used as a systemic acidifying agent in treatment of severe metabolic alkalosis , in oral acid loading test to diagnose distal renal tubular acidosis, to maintain the urine at an acid pH in the treatment of some urinary-tract disorders.
Salty Liquorice: The ‘Treat’ of Scandinavia
Ammonium chloride, under the name sal ammoniac or salmiak is used as food additive under the E number E, working as a yeast nutrient in breadmaking and as an acidifier. In Turkey, Iran, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan and Arab countries it is called "noshader" and is used to improve the crispness of snacks such as samosas and jalebi. Ammonium chloride has been used historically to produce low temperatures in cooling baths.
Ammonium chloride solutions with ammonia are used as buffer solutions including ACK Ammonium-Chloride-Potassium lysis buffer.
salmiak glass2
In paleontology , ammonium chloride vapor is deposited on fossils , where the substance forms a brilliant white, easily removed and fairly harmless and inert layer of tiny crystals that covers up any coloration the fossil may have, and if lighted at an angle highly enhances contrast in photographic documentation of three-dimensional specimens.
In organic synthesis saturated NH 4 Cl solution is typically used to quench reaction mixtures. It has a lambda transition at Giant squid and some other large squid species maintain neutral buoyancy in seawater through an ammonium chloride solution which is found throughout their bodies and is less dense than seawater.