[victor]

What I got here is when amonium nitrate is get heated till 170^oC, it will broken off and if it get heated again till 350^oC, it will form N₂ with a big blast of energy....
ironically, we oftenly use this bomb as a plant fertilizer aren't we?

[RyanJones]

ironically, we oftenly use this bomb as a plant fertilizer aren't we?

Its not technically explosive without a primer, it needs a detonation to give it the energy to decompose explosivly. otherwise it just decomposes pretty much.

And yes its a good fertilizer though its becoming harder to get hold of because people abuse it.

Cheers,

Ryan Jones

[Jessica]

thermal decomposition results in Nitrous Oxide (Laughing gas).
AN to actualy detonate not only needs a primer but also has a critical diameter, under which diameter will not result in complete detonation, with a sensitiser this diameter can be reduced though.
and as Jdurg says, there aren`t any inorganic nitrates that I can think of either that will react in the way mentioned. at minimum you need a binary mixture or at least a Carbon group  

[constant thinker]

I didn't see this mentioned in here. But....

Has anybody heard about the scientists that are trying to engineer bacteria to clean up mercury. I read about it somewhere.

Sorry I probably sound like a broken record player when I say "I read about it somewhere." I read a lot of random articles online and I read PopSci. On occasion random journals of science.

[mike]

I didn't see this mentioned in here. But....

yes already mentioned above.

when you read an interesting article why not reference it or print it, that way you can post with a bit more accuracy.

[Mitch]

or you could just read the posts above you  

[constant thinker]

I skimmed the posts till I stopped recognizing things in them. I must've missed the one with the bacteria. I think it's cool how scientists are inserting DNA into bacteria to make them do all sorts of neat tricks. The neatest trick of all is making bacteria make penicilan for human use. That has saved who knows how many lives.

[RyanJones]

Indeed it is, that or Insulin which is another big one!

I have a question along these lines - are there any mercury compounds that are not harmful to humans?

Cheers,

Ryan Jones

[constant thinker]

Some teeth fillings contain mercury. A lot of people get fillings. I haven't heard of any cases where mercury poisoning do to teeth fillings has caused a death.

P.S. I had meant to put insulin instead of penicilan. Both have saved many, many lives though.

[jdurg]

As a Type I Diabetic myself, I concur that the production of insulin thanks to bacteria is a great thing indeed.  

For "non-toxic" mercury compounds, there is calomel (Hg₂Cl₂) and Merbromin.  Although the 'non-toxic' part of that is still up for debate.

[RyanJones]

Some teeth fillings contain mercury. A lot of people get fillings. I haven't heard of any cases where mercury poisoning do to teeth fillings has caused a death.

I'm not shure if that counts because even the non-toxity of these arwe still under debate and its not really a compound either :-)

Cheers,

Ryan Jones

[peacefulltortoise]

What I got here is when amonium nitrate is get heated till 170^oC, it will broken off and if it get heated again till 350^oC, it will form N₂ with a big blast of energy....
ironically, we oftenly use this bomb as a plant fertilizer aren't we?

By the way, I have one question:
 if most of amonium salts are pyrolytic, can we get  amonium salts from its solution by heating? For example, I have a NH4NO3 solution, what would happend when I heat this? If NH4NO3 is pyrolytic before water's all gone, how should I do to get pure NH4NO3?

[Borek]

You don't have to go above 100 deg C in order to evaporate solution. Besides, if the solubility changes with the temperature - which is often the case, although not always - is is enough to cool saturated solution to crystallize substantial part of the salt.