NITRIC ACID

Also called aqua fortis and azotic acid, nitric acid is a colorless to reddish fuming liquid of the composition HNO3, having a wide variety of uses for pickling metals, etching, and in the manufacture of nitrocellulose, plastics, dye-stuffs, and explosives. It has a specific gravity of 1.502 (95% acid) and a boiling point of 86°C, and is soluble in water. Its fumes have a suffocating action, and it is highly corrosive and caustic. Fuming nitric acid is any water solution containing more than 86% acid and having a specific gravity above 1.480. Nitric acid is made by the action of sulfuric acid on sodium nitrate and condensation of the fumes. It is also made from ammonia by catalytic oxidation, or from the nitric oxide produced from air.