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What happens if you mix nitric acid with hydrazine?
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+ Chemical reactions
+ Hydrazine
+ Acids
+ Chemistry
+ Organic chemistry
+ Nitric acid
Posted by
Marc Mularz
What happens if you mix nitric acid with hydrazine?
Hypergolic.
Basically that’s a fancy word meaning “you mix ’em and they go POOF right away!”, used for mixtures suitable for rocket fuel.
The interesting thing is that an acid/ base reaction COULD happen, since hydrazine is a weak base and nitric acid- well, the name says it all. This isn’t very likely though, unless both materials are highly diluted with water or a similar substance such as alcohols. Hydrazine is a very strong reductant and nitric acid a powerful oxidizer, so the net reaction of concentrated materials is an immediate and vigorous (read explosive) redox reaction that has been used for rocket propellant- no spark plug required.
The actual reaction is 2 HNO3 + 2 HNNH > 3 H2O + NOx’s/N2/some O2 or ozone (unfavoured) to balance the remaining N and O. Water and nitrogen are the preferred products but the reaction is over oxidized, therefore the NOx’s or oxygen production as well.
The interesting thing, if you look at it, is that this is only partially redox reaction- or combustion. A large portion of the energy released also involves the rearrangement of H/N and O/N bonds, similar to what you’d find in…..high explosives!
Basically that’s a fancy word meaning “you mix ’em and they go POOF right away!”, used for mixtures suitable for rocket fuel.
The interesting thing is that an acid/ base reaction COULD happen, since hydrazine is a weak base and nitric acid- well, the name says it all. This isn’t very likely though, unless both materials are highly diluted with water or a similar substance such as alcohols. Hydrazine is a very strong reductant and nitric acid a powerful oxidizer, so the net reaction of concentrated materials is an immediate and vigorous (read explosive) redox reaction that has been used for rocket propellant- no spark plug required.
The actual reaction is 2 HNO3 + 2 HNNH > 3 H2O + NOx’s/N2/some O2 or ozone (unfavoured) to balance the remaining N and O. Water and nitrogen are the preferred products but the reaction is over oxidized, therefore the NOx’s or oxygen production as well.
The interesting thing, if you look at it, is that this is only partially redox reaction- or combustion. A large portion of the energy released also involves the rearrangement of H/N and O/N bonds, similar to what you’d find in…..high explosives!
Hypergolic.
Basically that’s a fancy word meaning “you mix ’em and they go POOF right away!”, used for mixtures suitable for rocket fuel.
The interesting thing is that an acid/ base reaction COULD happen, since hydrazine is a weak base and nitric acid- well, the name says it all. This isn’t very likely though, unless both materials are highly diluted with water or a similar substance such as alcohols. Hydrazine is a very strong reductant and nitric acid a powerful oxidizer, so the net reaction of concentrated materials is an immediate and vigorous (read explosive) redox reaction that has been used for rocket propellant- no spark plug required.
The actual reaction is 2 HNO3 + 2 HNNH > 3 H2O + NOx’s/N2/some O2 or ozone (unfavoured) to balance the remaining N and O. Water and nitrogen are the preferred products but the reaction is over oxidized, therefore the NOx’s or oxygen production as well.
The interesting thing, if you look at it, is that this is only partially redox reaction- or combustion. A large portion of the energy released also involves the rearrangement of H/N and O/N bonds, similar to what you’d find in…..high explosives!
Hypergolic.
Basically that’s a fancy word meaning “you mix ’em and they go POOF right away!”, used for mixtures suitable for rocket fuel.
The interesting thing is that an acid/ base reaction COULD happen, since hydrazine is a weak base and nitric acid- well, the name says it all. This isn’t very likely though, unless both materials are highly diluted with water or a similar substance such as alcohols. Hydrazine is a very strong reductant and nitric acid a powerful oxidizer, so the net reaction of concentrated materials is an immediate and vigorous (read explosive) redox reaction that has been used for rocket propellant- no spark plug required.
The actual reaction is 2 HNO3 + 2 HNNH > 3 H2O + NOx’s/N2/some O2 or ozone (unfavoured) to balance the remaining N and O. Water and nitrogen are the preferred products but the reaction is over oxidized, therefore the NOx’s or oxygen production as well.
The interesting thing, if you look at it, is that this is only partially redox reaction- or combustion. A large portion of the energy released also involves the rearrangement of H/N and O/N bonds, similar to what you’d find in…..high explosives!
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