April 25th, 2018
Nomen ___________________________
Skill Drill #5- Polyatomic, Products and Periodic Tables---Don’t forget to use your
Reference Tables!!!
Part A. Define the following terms:
1. Polyatomic ion: _______________________________________________________________________
2. Product (in a reaction): __________________________________________________________________
3. Molar Mass: __________________________________________________________________________
Part B. Identify the polyatomic ion in each compound.
4. NaOH ______________________________
5. H2SO4 ______________________________
6. Na2S2O3 ____________________________
7. HC2H3O2 ___________________________
8. KMnO4 _____________________________
Part B. Identify the Product(s) in each reaction.
1.
A+BC + D
_____________________________________________________________
2. N2(g) + 3H2(g)  2NH3(g)
________________________________________________
3. C2H5OH(l) + 3O2(g)  2CO2(g) + 3H2O(l) ______________________________________________
Part C. Identify the molar mass for each element based on the Periodic Table and round it to the nearest tenth. Don’t
forget to use units.
1. Lead _____________________________
2. Iron ______________________________
3. Sodium ___________________________
4. Zinc ______________________________
Part D. Read the following article on Fritz Haber on the next page and then answer these questions.
1. What were two uses for ammonia? _________________________________________________________
2. Why is it difficult to use the nitrogen from the air? ___________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the difference between ammonia and ammonium? _____________________________________
4. Using your reference table, write out the synthesis reaction of hydrogen and nitrogen that was used to make
ammonia. __________________________________________________________________
5. What table did you use to answer #4? __________________________
The Haber-Bosch Process
Fritz Haber, sketched in 1911 by W. Luntz.
Fritz Haber’s synthesis of ammonia from its elements,
hydrogen and nitrogen, earned him the 1918 Nobel
Prize in Chemistry.
In 1905 Haber reached an objective long sought by
chemists—that of fixing nitrogen from air. Atmospheric
nitrogen, or nitrogen gas, is relatively inert and does not
easily react with other chemicals to form new compounds.
Using high pressure and a catalyst, Haber was able to directly
react nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas to create ammonia. His
process was soon scaled up by BASF’s great chemist and
engineer Carl Bosch and became known as the Haber-Bosch
process, considered by many as one of the most important
technological advances of the 20th century. Haber’s
breakthrough enabled mass production of agricultural
fertilizers and led to a massive increase in growth of crops for
human consumption.
Background
Haber (1868–1934) was from a well-to-do German-Jewish family involved in various manufacturing
enterprises. He studied at several German universities, earning a doctorate in organic chemistry in 1891. After
a few years of moving from job to job, he settled into the Department of Chemical and Fuel Technology at the
Polytechnic in Karlsruhe, Germany, where he mastered the new subject of physical chemistry. His research in
physical chemistry eventually led to the Haber-Bosch process. In 1911 he was invited to become director of
the Institute for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry at the new Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft in Berlin,
where academic scientists, government, and industry cooperated to promote original research.
Poison Gas and a Controversial Legacy
The Haber-Bosch process is generally credited with keeping Germany supplied with fertilizers and munitions
during World War I, after the British naval blockade cut off supplies of nitrates from Chile. During the war
Haber threw his energies and those of his institute into further support for the German side. He developed a
new weapon—poison gas, the first example of which was chlorine gas—and supervised its initial deployment
on the Western Front at Ypres, Belgium, in 1915. His promotion of this frightening weapon precipitated the
suicide of his wife, who was herself a chemist, and many others condemned him for his wartime role. There
was great consternation when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1918 for the synthesis of
ammonia from its elements.
After World War I, Haber was remarkably successful in building up his institute, but in 1933 the anti-Jewish
decrees of the Nazi regime made his position untenable. He retired a broken man, although at the time of his
death he was on his way to investigate a possible senior research position in Rehovot in Palestine (now Israel).
The information contained in this biography was last updated on December 7, 2017.
https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/fritz-haber