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Lameck Fimbo

What happens when Zn reacts with concentrated HNO3?

Blake Bartmus  Follow

When zinc reacts with nitric acid, it forms zinc nitrate, nitrogen dioxide and water.The balanced chemical reaction is as:

  1. Zn+HNO3 ~ Zn(NO3)2 +NO2 +H20 
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Azizi Gill  Follow

Concentrated nitric acid is a strong oxidizing agent which when paired up with Zinc, produces various complex redox reactions:

3Zn + 7HNO3 ---> Zn(NO3)2 + NH2OH + 2H2O

4Zn + 9HNO3 ----> 4Zn(NO3)2 + NH3 + 3H2O

4Zn + 10HNO3 ----> 4Zn(NO3)2 + N2O + 5H2O

5Zn + 12HNO3 ----> 5Zn(NO3)2 + N2 + 6H2O

The primary product is still zinc nitrate.

The reaction of zinc with a diluted nitric acid on the other hand is simply:

Zn + 2 HNO3 (dilute) ---> Zn(NO3)2 + H2

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