Large quantities of fertilizer are washed into the Mississippi River from agricultural land in the Midwest. The excess nutrients collect in the Gulf of Mexico, promoting the growth of algae and edging out other aquatic life. Corn farmers typically use 5000 kg of ammonium nitrate per square

1) Corn farmers typically use 5000 kg of ammonium nitrate per square kilometer of cornfield per year.

So moles of ammonium nitrate required per square kilometer of cornfield per year = Mass / Molar mass = 5000 X 1000g / 80 = 62500 moles as per balanced equation, one mole of nitric acid is required for one mole of ammonium nitrate so for 62500 moles of ammonium kilometer of cornfield per year. Ammonium nitrate can be prepared by the following reaction. NH3+HNO3 -> NH4NO3

1. How much nitric acid would be needed to make the fertilizer needed for 1 km2 of cornfield per year? _____ kg nitric acid

2. The ammonium ions can be converted into NO3– by bacterial action. If 10% of the ammonium component of 5000 kg of fertilizer ends up as ni trate, how much oxygen would be consumed? NH+ 4+2O2-> NO-3+H2O+2H+ _____ kg oxygen