Feeding the world! Nitrogen meets Hydrogen
Nitrogen hardly ever reacts, so factories squeeze it together with hydrogen at huge pressure over a hot iron catalyst. Slowly they join into ammonia.
The result
- What it makes
- Ammonia
- Equation
- N₂ + 3H₂ → 2NH₃
- When it happens
- In a factory, with high pressure and a catalyst
Fun fact from Fizzy: Ammonia made this way is used in fertiliser that grows about half the food in the world!
🥽 Ammonia has a very strong smell and stings eyes and lungs.