Preparation and Properties of Ammonia

Bassam Z. Shakhashiri, "Preparation and Properties of Ammonia/ Chemical Demonstrations, A Handbook for Teachers of Chemistry, Vol. 2 (The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1985), pp. 202-204. Ammonia gas is produced from the reaction of ammonium chloride with calcium hydroxide and is collected in an Erlenmeyer flask by the displacement of air. The ammonia gas turns moistened litmus paper blue, demonstrating the basic properties of ammonia dissolved in water. When the mouth of an ammonia-filled Erlenmeyer flask is placed below the surface of a pool of water, water rapidly enters the flask to replace ammonia that dissolves in the water. White smoke forms when ammonia vapor is passed over the top of a beaker of concentrated hydrochloric acid forming solid ammonium chloride. 

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