Question

How does ammonium hydroxide react with sulfuric acid?

Answer 1

Please notice that the anions swap places from the left side to the right side; this makes it a Double Displacement reaction.

Answer 2

This is an acid base reaction...........

Explanation:

When we write `NH_4OH`, i.e. `"ammonium hydroxide"`, we really mean `H_3N*OH_2`, i.e. aqueous ammonia. Concentrated ammonia solution in water (the type that is retailed) is approx. `15*mol*L^-1` with respect to ammonia.

Now of course, as a weak base, there is SOME ammonium ion in solution according to the following equilibrium:

`NH_3(aq) + H_2O(l) rightleftharpoons NH_4^+ + HO^-`,

but the equilibrium lies to the left, and the dominant species in solution is `NH_3(aq)`.

And so we could rewrite the reaction as:

`H_2SO_4(aq) + 2NH_3(aq) rarr 2NH_4^+ + SO_4^(2-)`.

We could isolate the salt `"ammonium sulfate"`, `(NH_4)_2SO_4` from such a solution. Ammonium sulfate is a ubiquitous agricultural fertilizer.