[matthew]

Hi guys, I'm new here.

This is my problem:

Lithium carbonate reacts with excess nitric acid.

LiCO3 + 2HNO3 ‐‐> CO2 + H2O + 2 LiNO3

Is CO2 the only gas produced? Is it possible that a significant amount of water vaporizes?

Thanks

[DevaDevil]

LiCO3

what is the valence of lithium? And of carbonate?


other than that you can take the lithium and the nitrate out of the equation as they do not react.

it becomes a reaction of carbonate with acid... with only CO₂ as gas and water as products indeed.
This is an exothermic reaction, which indeed may vaporize some of the water

[matthew]

what is the valence of lithium? And of carbonate?

Yes, my bad.

This is an exothermic reaction, which indeed may vaporize some of the water

As much as 30% of the water under standard conditions and in less than a minute?

[DevaDevil]

that depends on how much water was present in the first place. If the volume is large, then no, 30% should not evaporate.

[matthew]

I had 20ml of nitric acid (8M) reacting with 2g of lithium carbonate.
I guess this is not much water.

[DevaDevil]

that is indeed a very small amount of water. I would not be surprized to see much of it evaporated (or just lost by the "fizzing" evolution of CO₂)

you will have noticed the extreme heat this reaction produces in such a small quantity of water I presume

[matthew]

Yes, this makes sense to me.
Thank you!

[typhoon2028]

Also, realize a small amount of NOx gas may be generated.

Nitric acid + heat -> NOx