Key learning points

1. Fertilisers contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compounds to promote plant growth.
2. Ammonia is a feedstock for manufacture of fertilisers, explosives, plastics, dyes and cleaning products.
3. Ammonia can be used to manufacture ammonium salts and nitric acid.
4. Phosphate rock is used in the production of fertilisers.
5. The laboratory preparation of ammonium salts is not the same as the industrial preparation.

Keywords

• Fertiliser - A mixture of soluble chemicals added to soil that replace the mineral ions needed by plants, to promote plant growth.

• Eutrophication - A term used to describe when nutrients accumulate in bodies of water, which results in an increased growth of microorganisms that reduce the oxygen availability in the water.

• Salt - An ionic compound formed from positive and negative ions electrostatically attracted to each other.

• Batch process - A manufacturing method made up of discrete stages, rather than a product being constantly produced.

• Continuous process - A manufacturing method where a product is constantly produced.

Common misconception