Chemical Tips Sharing – Potassium Nitrate
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With the chemical formula KNO3, this natural substance is commonly known as potash nitrate, gunpowder nitrate, or earth nitrate. It can be found at the bases of walls in rural houses, on the ground, on rock surfaces, as well as in limestone areas, salt marshes, and desert regions. Colorless, transparent, hexagonal prismatic crystals, or white crystalline powder. It is brittle, has a glassy luster, and possesses an irritatingly cool salty taste; it decomposes at 400°C into potassium nitrite KNO2 and oxygen. Soluble in water, dilute ethanol, and glycerin; endothermic upon dissolution. Insoluble in anhydrous ethanol; does not deliquesce in air. The aqueous solution is neutral, and its solubility is greatly affected by temperature: 13 g can dissolve in 100 g of water at 0°C, 32 g at 20°C, and 246 g at 100°C. It is commonly used to manufacture gunpowder, fuse, glass, matches, and fireworks. It is also used as a fertilizer (serving both as a potassium and nitrogen fertilizer) as well as in laboratory analysis reagents. It can be prepared by reacting a sodium nitrate solution with potassium chloride.
It is also listed in the catalog of explosives precursors.
In the market, when farming, I haven’t seen potassium nitrate used as a fertilizer! Growing flowers and plants is useful, but it’s too expensive; potassium sulfate and potassium chloride are commonly used!