I was needing a little help balancing an equation: I'm exploring various ways of making NH4NO3. (And if your contribution is to tell me I'll end up on some watch list for even mentioning the compound, please keep your ridiculous ill-informed paranoia to yourself - if I was a terrorist, I'd be buying NH4NO3 fertiliser, not making a few grams!).
Having successfully mixed NaHSO4 with NaNO3 and neutralised with NH3, I balanced to give Na2SO4 + NH4NO3. So I replaced the nitrate salt with KNO3, and expected an eqimolar precipitate of Na2SO4 and K2SO4 (and of course the NH4NO3 in solution). However, I've tried a few equation balancers online, and they tell me it's an "impossible reaction". Am I wrong, or are they?
(My reasoning is that the NO3 and the NH3 combine, mopping up the extra H's liberated by the highly acidic NaHSO4/KNO3 mixture. This leaves K and 2Na and SO4 floating around combining with one another)
S'Ok - think I've done it:
2 NaHSO4 + 2 KNO3 + 2 NH3 = K2SO4 + Na2SO4 + 2 NH4NO3