What is the nomenclature for nitric acid?
1 Answer
Apr 23, 2014
HNO₃ is usually called nitric acid.
Nitric acid is the "acid name". It applies to aqueous solutions of HNO₃.
The pure compound has a "molecular name", hydrogen nitrate, but most people still call it nitric acid.
Obsolete names are aqua fortis and spirit of niter.
The IUPAC names are hydroxidotrioxidonitrogen and hydrogen(trioxidonitrate). These names are almost never used.
So just call HNO₃ nitric acid.
Here is a video which can provide some additional help with naming acids.
