Overview

Ammonia (uh-MOH-nyah) is a colorless gas with a strong, suffocating odor. It was present in the primordial (original) atmosphere of the Earth. Scientists believe that it may have been the source of nitrogen for the earliest forms of life. Ammonia was the first chemical compound to be found in interstellar space, the space between stars. It is a major component of the atmosphere of many planets in our solar system.

Early chemists learned to produce ammonia from animal parts, such as the horns of deer. But it was the English chemist and physicist Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) who first collected and studied the pure gas. In 1785, the French chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet (1748–1822) determined the correct chemical formula for the gas, NH₃.

Key Facts

Other Names:

None

Formula:

NH₃

Elements:

Nitrogen, hydrogen

Compound Type:

Inorganic base

State:

Gas

Molecular Weight:

17.03 g/mol

Melting Point:

−77.7°C (−108°F)

Boiling Point:

−33.35°C (−28.03°F)

Solubility: