If ammonia and hydrogen chloride are room temperature gases, how are aqueous solutions of each substance prepared?

1 Answer
anor277
Jun 10, 2017

Both ammonia and hydrogen chloride are indeed room temperature gases......

Explanation:

And you should look up the normal boiling points of each gas so you know that I am not selling pork pies.

However, both ammonia, and hydrogen chloride ARE MIGHTY SOLUBLE in water. When we buy a bottle of conc. ammonia in water, the stuff that brings tears to your eyes if you smell it, this has a molar concentration of approx. #15*mol*L^-1#. On t'other hand, #HCl# is supplied as conc. hydrochloric acid and has an approx. concentration of #10.6*mol*L^-1# (of course in solution protolysis has taken place).

The take home message is that the aqueous solution is not the same material as the parent gas. Note that the relatively elevated normal boiling points of BOTH ammonia and hydrogen chloride, #-33.3# #""^@C#, and #-85.1# #""^@C# respectively (I am spoon-feeding you here!), reflect intermolecular hydrogen bonding, as hydrogen is bound to strongly electronegative elements.

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