Make Nitric Acid from Sodium Bisulfate and Sodium Nitrate

In this video we Make Nitric Acid from Sodium Bisulfate and Sodium Nitrate.
I actually try a few methods like dissolving them in water first and varying the amount of reagents. Overall the best method i found was to thoroughly mix 43g of sodium nitrate with 150g of sodium bisulfate and then directly distill off the nitric acid. Yield was about 95% nitric acid at 75% concentration.
To remove unsightly dissolved nitrogen dioxide, hydrogen peroxide, ammonia or urea may be added in small portions to react it away.
Related videos:
making sulfuric acid by the copper chloride process: • Make Sulfuric Acid by ...
Old video on making nitric acid (which sucks): • Make Nitric Acid - The...
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[@chotramnauthprabhu7538]

Its so nice to hear that scary voice in these troubling times ❤❤I've missed u

[@dontfeedthepirates]

Me too!

[@joe_bhop]

( ͡ʘ ͜ʖ ͡ʘ)

[@meinwurstkaput7556]

👁👄👁

[@saw141]

I am not a chemist, I've never re-created any of your experiments. However, I have been following you for ~10 years and I still absolutely love your videos. You've taught me so much and I feel like I can follow along with your procedures. Thank you for still doing this, I hope you continue to for many, many, many more years.

[@NurdRage]

thank you!

[@tachikoma7937]

​@@NurdRage Not a chemist as well. However, my father was one, and as I was interested in chemistry as a kid (age 12 -16) I got all the chemicals I needed for experiments that I found in chemistry books from the local library from him. He basically explained to me the possible dangers and then let me have fun with it. It was mostly inorganic chemistry and yes, the 5kg KNO3 he gave me ended up mostly in smoke ;) As I got older my interests shifted (computers were my second hobby) and I stopped doing experiments. However, when I came across your channel a year ago I decided to get back to my old hobby, bought some glassware and am experimenting again for pure joy and the entertainment of my kids now (they love it). So thanks a lot and I hope you continue for a long time, for me it's the best entertainment for me on youtube. I never thought about patreon - but I'm going to see how it works and you will be the first one I'd contribute to.

[@BillAnt]

Riiiiight.... how's that MDMA reaction coming along?! xD

[@ZeroMass]

@@BillAnt projection- the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds. For example, individuals who are in a self-critical state, consciously or unconsciously, may think that other people are critical of them. The concept was introduced to psychology by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

[@proffesordickfacejr.4886]

I have too lol... I remeber finding this channel in 2009. 😉

[@NurdRage]

I might do a couple more videos on nitric acid like completely acid-free methods to make it and maybe redo the sulfuric acid version since my original video from ten years ago sucks compared to today's standards. My electrochemistry work has been slow since some of the chemicals are taking too long to get here.

[@elburropeligroso4689]

Can you show how to make white fuming nitric acid?

[@ElectronicsShow]

Please can you reply on the video of the liquid tin .what is the use of the 1g of acid sulfuric and if i dont have it ? Does the soulution work

[@sdfxcvblank5756]

so there is a lawsuit that could make patron go belly up, might want to jump ship...

[@NurdRage]

Electronics show: it should still work, just work badly. sdfxcv blank: There is? well that sucks. I just got youtube memberships working so hopefully people can move there. we'll see.

[@sdfxcvblank5756]

@@NurdRage I still heavily recommend looking into subscribe star. it's best to get the setup process done and just have it in your back pocket

[@logigustafsson]

NurdRage always uses a PPPS (Positive Pressure Personnel Suit) driven by a tank of SF6 in every video as you can hear, so NurdRage is always safe and sound during every experiment. Thanks for lighting up our day, @NurdRage You've been missed.

[@GarryBoyer]

Caution, sulfur hexafluoride is a super greenhouse gas.

[@VerbenaIDK]

@@GarryBoyer sulfur hexafluoride and hydrogen fluoride are toxic, work outside or in a fume hood. sulfuric acid and hydrogen fluoride is corrosive, wear gloves when handling it.

[@germanwidow4621]

He is back , this is worth celebrating

[@JATmatic]

Me: I should be going to sleep... NurdRage: Nope, here is a video.

[@doomhunta1094]

i fucking love going to bed and put some chemistry videos for sleeping, its so relaxing!! then the day after i watch the video again :P

[@science_and_anonymous]

@@doomhunta1094 the best

[@meowmeow5]

Welcome back nurdrage!!! It’s been a while!!!

[@dedkeny]

Your depth of explanation has kept me from getting injured more than once... Thank you

[@chriscarley9951]

Love the alternative methods. I'm looking forward to your follow up video. Glad to see you're back & Thank you for your ongoing efforts.

[@Amariachan]

whoohoooo i totaly forgot about this channel happy to see it still exists :D

[@PCReboot]

The hell haha. Exactly the same after watching Nielred I was like humm maybe he still makes videos haha

[@fft2020]

So good to see another of your videos NR ! You are an internet legend !

[@nattsurfaren]

Thanks for this awesome video NurdRage.

[@FullModernAlchemist]

This is awesome! I was going to make some nitric acid again soon and I think I’ll try this because it’ll save my valuable concentrated sulfuric acid. Thanks a lot!

[@kariminalo979]

I just turned 18, have been following your experiments since I was 12. Hadn't I found your channel I'd never understand chemistry and grow an interest for it, your videos are the reason why I'm still studying chem.

[@Ghostontherun]

How is it going in your chemistry work?

[@TheRealDohnJoe]

YES YES YES! So glad to see you back! You make chemistry interesting!

[@austinrosh6491]

Your a saint was just about to whip up some nitric tonight looks like I got a new experiment:)

[@dimitar4y]

There needs to be an indexed database of all these reactions. Like a wikipepdia of sorts. So you can just keep a copy of it and any time you need a chemical, find it by name, or by common uses, and it'll give you list of source ingredients and steps.

[@GRBtutorials]

Well, there’s the ScienceMadness Wiki. Though maybe NurdRage could make his own wiki.

[@EarlofDestruction]

Well, there is www.orgsyn.org/

[@dimitar4y]

@@EarlofDestruction just organic tho and not indexed

[@dhananjaychakraborty9056]

Thank you, my friend, for this valuable video..... I appreciate your successful attempt to prepare nitric acid in a cheap and efficient way.... Thank you very much.

[@JoeSkylynx]

Nurd, you have answered the prayers of reloaders everywhere, thank you.

[@NurdRage]

You're welcome! Btw does "reloader" have a special meaning in your phrasing? (I keep thinking KZbin reuploaders but that can't be what you're talking about)

[@JoeSkylynx]

@@NurdRage just gun ammo reloading. Election years tend to cause a massive scare, and ammo prices tend to skyrocket or the ammo is just simply not there.

[@SoulDelSol]

@@JoeSkylynx is nitric acid needed to reload ammo?

[@JoeSkylynx]

@@SoulDelSol it's about getting smokeless powder in its most basic forms.

[@Schwarzvogel1]

@@JoeSkylynx You just had to go and mention using nitric acid for use in explosives, didn't you? :( Ever wonder why we amateur chemists even have to go through all these steps to make our own nitric acid instead of just buying it from the hardware store like in the good old days? Or why honest KZbin chemists keep getting channel strikes for purely wholesome and educational content (whilst objectively offensive and hateful content is allowed to remain on KZbin?) It's because of people like you whose first thought is to use any chemical for producing explosive substances. This is why we can't have nice things. When _I_ hear about nitric acid, my first thought is to use it for refining precious metals or as an oxidizer for liquid-fuel rockets. *Don't* try to make your own smokeless powder at home unless you relish the possibility of turning your barrel into a metal flower and place relatively little value on your hands and fingers. Considering how easy it is to blow up your firearm with an improper charge of _factory produced propellants_ or even to get other terrifying/undesirable results just by using the _wrong sort_ of powder (e.g. reloading rifle cartridges with pistol powder or mixing rifle and pistol powders), making your own smokeless powder to deal with high ammo prices is extremely foolish. To be fair, it wouldn't be hard to make rudimentary propellants like cordite, but good luck finding reliable data for reloading modern cartridges like .223 with cordite, given that that propellant has been obsolete since the sun finally set on the British Empire. And even once you have your cordite, you'd have a long and tortuous battery of trial-and-error experiments awaiting you: good luck figuring out the correct grain size, shape, and burn rate to achieve decent, consistent performance somewhere between squib loads and kabooms. And this is all while avoiding frightening accidents in the production stage such as runaway nitration and accidental ignition of reagents/products that have plagued even industrial ammo manufacturers over the years. If you somehow have the setup to produce high-quality, reliable, and consistent smokeless powder at home with a healthy margin of safety, then you probably have the means to either hire private security or to buy out every box of ammo in your preferred calibers within the tri-state area.

[@anonviewerciv]

Sodium nitrate + sodium bisulfate. (8:35) 1:45 Dry method. 4:48 Wet method.

[@TeslaFactory]

Would definitely be interesting to test the percentage yield against the molar excess of the bisulphate. Really awesome result, NurdRage! :)

[@avael2451]

Went outside to do the wet process. For context I live near Timmins/Sudbury and it's January 13th. My nitric froze during the distillation in the condenser and in the receiving flask. Neat looking crystals at least. Never thought I'd need to use water in my condenser for heating... Canada moment.

[@jdove6883]

Excellent as usual.

[@piotrkrawczyk2390]

Finally! A "normal" video from NurdRage!

[@piotrkrawczyk2390]

@@tfwmemedumpster I meant not some water purification, garden in beaker... Some good old chemistry. Waiting for sodium metal 😉

[@samholmes5552]

Hell ya thank you this is going to help me with my pgm refineing so much

[@socialexperimentgaming4808]

New sub, great content!!

[@FutureAIDev2015]

Yay, a NurdRage video!!!

[@UnitSe7en]

NurdRage: Bringing you chemistry that you can do with as few items of glassware as possible. :D

[@rofljohn23]

It’s weird. I’m somehow still in the ”Nurdrage has not posted in months” mindset despite you having posted quite a decent amount of videos lately. When I saw this, I was like:”Holy moly, is Nurdrage finally back?!”, then I remembered this is your 3rd video in a month :D Anyway, great video! Thank you for sharing and have a nice day!

[@miketoreno4969]

Thank you for the video.

[@FantomZap]

Please keep the videos coming

[@ChemSketch777]

These are the the type of videos I want to see

[@drmarine1771]

Your a legend, as your comment bellow, cant wait.

[@sciencefusion5352]

Love u NurdRage

[@Flederratte]

Very nice! I like the video. I have a liter of conc. Sulfuric acid which I do rarely need but I can not get any nitrate salts...

[@deltaxcd]

Interesting choice of chemicals. As in my place sulfuric acid is sold in the supermarket next to the socks and soap LOL along with air fresheners for cars. it is known as an electrolyte for car batteries and I never saw this "Sodium Bisulfate" anywhere in existence.

[@Energetics_Testing]

Hahaha if u don't have a pool it's normal that u don't know what it is

[@LateNightHacks]

Hey man, good to have you back! Love the series where you tackle synthetis of essential lab ingredients, endlessly useful. Never seen anyone take on Hydrogen Proxide, industrial method looks super complicated. Is there a method to actually make some instead of dealing with low quality and contaminated "over the shelf" stuff?

[@xenonram]

OTC stuff should all be USP. So it shouldn't be contaminated.

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

OTC usually has inhibitors to stop the peroxide from degrading, but every brand is different.

[@VerbenaIDK]

making hydrogen peroxide is an absolute pain but in most places you can buy 35% peroxide, hell, here you can buy 50% unless you are european, otherwise good luck with your 12% peroxide at best

[@LateNightHacks]

@@VerbenaIDK yeah, also surprisingly hard to find information on its synthetis One could say the same about sodium metal, but he managed to find a good solution for the home chemist Not easy to buy anything over %3 OTC without it having additives where I live

[@VerbenaIDK]

@@LateNightHacks well, ig you just have to deal with the peroxide you have h2o2 is extremely hard to make

[@markflores9055]

Thank you

[@Spongman]

“You can even have violent decomposition” creepy timing...

[@pyroman1013]

watched the vid as soon as it come out, ordered everything the same day, just finished distilling about 10 mins ago.. 95% yield. ( With Potassium Nitrate ) THANKYOU!1!! =)

[@pyroman1013]

@Ahapid KNO3/NaNO3 + NaHSO4 has a eutectic melting point of only 220°C.. so your safe, hope that helps =))

[@pyroman1013]

@Ahapid best of luck, this produces VAST amounts of NOx so be prepared :D

[@StevenSchoolAlchemy]

Yeah! where you at? perhaps i could move in! Got to get to the laboratory and do some experiments!

[@jamesmy6044]

It would be cool to see a video how to recalculate the Stoichiometry.

[@aga5897]

Cool bit of Science ! Nice one. If i only had a peat bog and some plant pots ...

[@NurdRage]

You and me both!

[@aga5897]

@@NurdRage Time to subvert and go Bio !

[@aga5897]

I suppose a barrel and the correct conditions/bio-matter would do it. Finding the Right conditions would need some Scientists with the Will to find out ... Maybe spawn a 'NurdRage Collective Project' e.g. your fans ?

[@trailblazingfive]

Any plans for videos about retrosynthetic analysis software?

[@kamilc8398]

Wow! I'm from the EU and we require a licence for explosive and poisonous precursors (I just got email confirmation I was granted my licence, after 37 WORKING DAYS waiting for a reply, with tip top paperwork), this includes Nitric Acid at concentrations above 3%. Can't believe you can make it with just NaHSO4 and NaNO3 to such high concentrations and with such high yields! almost defeats the purpose of having a licence! Great video and explanation, might try it myself!

[@kamilc8398]

On further research, NaNO3 is also a restricted substance in the UK and not easy to purchase, while you can buy it anywhere in mainland Europe no problem... fml

[@merich4940]

Really? Here in Sweden you find sodium nitrate in the herbs/spice section. And yes, it's pretty interesting that making concentrated nitric acid so easily.

[@SuperAngelofglory]

Here HNO3 is available to buy as limescale remover for heating systems made of aluminium, but you can only buy a 5 or 10 liters jug

[@electronicscrapper4956]

Wanted to stop and thank you for taking the time to make all of this public

[@abasabasi2328]

Dear NR thanks o lot for your useful videos we learn chemistry simple but plz if possible describe in detail the reactions mechanism as in some reactions na replaced by H and in the other vice versa.thanks

[@SuicideScientists]

Another way to remove the NO2 and create perfectly clear nitric acid is to use an aquarium air pump or something similar. Just let it blow air into the flask for an hour and the acid is clear. If you have a multi-neck flask you can even do this during the distillation. If you really care about the purity you can first clean the air flow with some NaOH (to remove CO2, etc..) and dry it with CaCl2.

[@karolus28]

very cool

[@cauhxmilloy7670]

I'm curious if doing the distillations under vacuum would help any. Perhaps, lower temperatures could be used, leading to less decomposition.

[@florian_ght5998]

Hi could you make a video about perchlorate synthesis like potassium or sodium perchlorate by electrolysis

[@htomerif]

Thank you! The wet method is horse browns and now maybe people will stop intentionally making dilute nitric acid only to have to distill it 2 or 3 times to make it useful. It is bizarre that you live in a land where ammonium nitrate grows on trees but sulfuric acid is a magical unicorn. I can buy a gallon of 95 percent sulfuric acid for $20 at any hardware store but I can't get any nitrate whatsoever. I don't know if the oxidizer component of tannerite can be safely used as a nitrate source. I find it a little ass-backwards that I would be buying actual explosives to make nitric acid.

[@dustingary2167]

Could you make a video showing how the chemical phenol is made

[@zee7705]

You can get a high percent sulfuric acid at the auto parts store it is for automotive batteries and it's cheap.

[@EdwardTriesToScience]

and boil it down to get 98%, although most of the auto parts store I've went to don't want to sell it to individuals, but I found sulfuric acid drain opener, so sulfuric isn't a problem for me now.

[@crashmatrix]

Hey Nurd, I see that one of your repaired hotplate stirrers is still in operation, it's been a few years, how are the repairs holding up nowadays?

[@uxleumas]

yay, new vid!

[@GarryBoyer]

Sulfuric acid drain cleaner is pretty easy to get. But it has anti corrosion compounds, which are organic compounds that you can remove with a little peroxide.

[@gaulix69]

Above 15% H2SO4 is now ban in all UE

[@jfcrow1]

Good to know

[@bpark10001]

What about adding "trace" of water to the "dry" process? Can the high temperature be lowered without excessively lowering the acid concentration?

[@NotoriousSRG]

The one dislike is from a Sodium atom

[@sashimanu]

No sodium atoms were harmed during the production of this video.

[@stephenjacks8196]

Calcium Nitrate is less watched agrichem and dried gives conc Nitric Acid. FINELY powdered added to 0°C H2SO4 gives blue nitrating solution.

[@what-kr9rb]

What are the white deposits that collect on the lid of the nitric acid storage container?

[@user-dr6tm4wc4m]

Do you need some kind of grease between the jpints of the glassware?

[@llamafromspace]

This is real alchemy

[@stephenjacks8196]

Water vacuum device goes down to 12mm (boiling point of cold water). And less NO2 because Nitric acid distills at lower temp.

[@C4pungMaster]

Its actually really easy for me to get sulphuric acid commercially then hydrochloric acid... different country different situation i guess

[@bobwerner6512]

so cool

[@peppenapoli6764]

Hi I need some nitric acid to refine some gold that I alloyed to the wrong colour and am wondering 1. where do those plastic tubes go and 2. What are the names of the glassware items that you are using. Thanks

[@Prchemist06]

Can you make a video on extraction of bio active compounds without soxhelt extractor

[@gareebtunio]

Dear Sir, Can you make iron oxide along with ammonium chloride which dissolves completely in water?

[@ihatecath]

ooo i rikey dis one yes!

[@GRBtutorials]

So if anhydrous sodium bisulphate was used instead, this method could theoretically produce fuming nitric acid? After all, that's still less temperature than what's required to distill sulphuric acid.

[@hklausen]

I have anhydrous Sodium Bisulfate. Can I add a little water to the mixture of Sodium Bisulfate and Sodium nitrate and get the same yield as the dry method? Pool PH down will be anhydrous Sodium Bisulfate.

[@rodhempel400]

Did you have shematic of chrmical procces how it's works to deeply understanding

[@MrTk6969]

Hi I just had one question about your chart you state raw product in grams what is that because it's different on every line but at the bottom you have stated that every run used 43 g of sodium bisulfate just trying to figure out what the raw product in grams means

[@garethdean6382]

'Sodium bisulfate is corrosive' *Idly grabs handfuls out of a bag while cleaning the pool* Wait, I think I missed something..

[@jmah1710]

@NurdRage If I had to guess, the sodium bisulfate acid making method is an application of the Bronsted Lowry acid-base theory?

[@snarky_user]

So, say you're dissolving silver. Could you add the hydrogen peroxide to assist the reaction? Or, capture the escaping NO2 with hydrogen peroxide to form NO3?

[@ZoonCrypticon]

Nurdrage...could you theoretically lead the exhaust of Diesel cars through a cooled water tank to obtain nitric acid and nitrous acid "on the fly" in desirable quantities? In the aftereffect you could reduce emissions of these gases and would not need urea additives.

[@dimaminiailo3723]

I'm afraid that's not possible. Do not be sad: nitrogen oxides do not pollute the environment for a long time

[@science_and_anonymous]

Every time I see your video in my feed I become immensely over joyed!!

[@NurdRage]

I'm so glad!

[@science_and_anonymous]

@@NurdRage I would like to personally thank you for all you have done. Because of your great work among this world you have inspired me to study chemistry. Your knowledge passionately pushing me to remain curious, to question the world around me, to avidly want to experiment, create. I could go on and on, but I know your time is valuable. Thank you, truly, thank you.

[@burtreynolds3143]

I'm curious about the white residue left over. Is that Ammonium Nitrate ?

[@charade993]

Hi again!

[@petarzdravkov544]

I am curious - can you make fuming nitric acid if you heat up sodium bisulfate and sodium nitrate separately to evaporate moisture before mixing them?

[@bigdick12372]

Is there a way for this to give a higher purity, or is the max 75?

[@emeraldnick9216]

Would it be possible to replace the NaNO3 with KNO3 (with the same stoichiometric proportion)?

[@Berghiker]

I use the same method to make conc. fuming HCL. I mix equal proportions of Sodium Hydrogen Sulphate (PH Minus) with NaCl and heat. The gases I bubble into distilled water.

[@karolus28]

very cool, I also thought about trying that out

[@Berghiker]

@@karolus28 Both chemicals must melt otherwise you'll only get weak acid.

[@karolus28]

@@Berghiker so NaCl must melt too?

[@Berghiker]

@@karolus28 No. It will just mix well with the molten sodium bisulphate. You will see lots of bubbling meaning you have the right temperature. Start off with a very high temperature from a torch flame until it starts to bubble and boil a bit. Just be careful it does not boil over.

[@karolus28]

@@Berghiker ok

[@ScrotN]

Have you tried the platinum method to make nitric acid?

[@joeylo2302]

The na2so4 crystals can trap some hno3 thus lowering the yelid

[@industrialadhesive6357]

I'm not sure if it's true but are you Canadian and if so do you know the legality of HNO3 here among amateur chemists?

[@hakatackagaming4634]

if anyone sees this comment and also live in australia, you can legally buy a chemical mix called moflo, drain cleaner really, its 98% sulfuric acid and rust inhibitor, you can clean it yourself but its an excellent source

[@jozsefienciu2325]

Hello Calcium Nitrate is also good? Thanks.

[@jeremiehawley182]

Can you double the ingredients to make more at a time

[@bk-sl8ee]

What if you covered magnet in glass and then use it for stirring.

[@dalitas]

isnt it the case that using a (Na/K)HSO4 mix will lead to a eutectic that melts even sooner?

[@Zeke-id2bo]

Where are you finding cheap sodium bisulfate monohydrate?

[@jimwill48]

Could you give the amount of potassium nitrate needed. Guess I'm dense right now and doing the stoichiometry and is just not working for me. The number i keep getting i know is wrong. Loved the video as I do almost all of yours...thanks

[@NurdRage]

if you're using the same amount of NaHS04 as in the video (150g), then use 50g of KNO3

[@jimwill48]

@@NurdRage thank you,for some reason i was coming up 50% greater, I'm sure it's me having a total brain fart....your the man...

[@alammd.samsul8424]

amara to k nitrate o sulfuric acid deye toiri kori ...er sobidhaki?...amd. k nitrete na bole dohare a k soora bola hoy ...thanks for helping us ..with love amd.nb. e kaz apni korle poro apnar risk e korben...notonra mone rakben its a very dagerous work....amd. nice science club ,dhaka

[@stephenjacks8196]

Dinitrogen tetroxide liquifies at ice salt temps. Can you make pure N2O4?

[@yanziNie]

I can’t find your sodium nitrate video!

[@nato7.62mm4]

Considering difficulty or expense of obtaining sulphuric acid by some, I wish to put forth the following info. sulphuric acid Typically referring to the type of acid used in rechargeable lead-acid batteries, like the ones used in cars, battery acid is made of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) that has been diluted with purified water to a concentration of around 30-50%.