FERTILIZERS

One way which chemistry affect our daily life is our plants through the use of fertilizers. Fertilizers help to increase the yielding of plants. Plants help reduce the green house effect, we get our daily meal from processing parts of some plants, Some plants are used as raw materials for the manufacture of medicinal drugs and pills. There is also an exchange of gases by plants and other living things as plants release oxygen in exchange for carbondioxide.

Fertilizers contain nitrogen,phosphorus and potassium (N.P.K). Nitrogen is supplied in form of ammonia(NH3) which is obtained from fossil fuels. The ammonium compound used are ammonium trioxonitrate(v) and ammonium tetraoxophosphate(vi). Sodium trioxonitrate is also a source of nitrogen. Ammonium tetraoxosulphate(vi) is sometimes retrieved as a by product from the conversion of coal into coke.

Phosphorus is naturally obtained as rock phosphate. It is treated with hydrogentetra-oxosulsphate(vi) acid so as to make it into a suitable form that can be used to prepare fertilizer the phosphorus is transformed into acids which is converted to ammonium tetraoxophosphate(v).


Potassium in form of salt is mined from underground deposit.

These three elements are mixed together in their right N.P.K proportions. A few other elements like zinc, boron, copper and molybdenum are added depending on their needs in certain region to form a suitable fertilizer to grow plants.