Potassium nitrate (KN03) is used as a fertilizer. %K,O (oxide basis) content of

Question

Potassium nitrate (KN03) is used as a fertilizer. %K,O (oxide basis) content of KNO3 fertilizer? Compare your values with the rating under "fertilizer" at the potassium nitrate Wikipedia site: https:/len.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium nitrate. Actual fertilizers have "bag label" values less than the theoretical ones because they contain inert materials and the values represent guaranteed minimum content (i.e, values are conservative on the low side for commercial purposes). 4. What would be the theoretical %N-% 5. Assume the nitrogen (N) content of wastewater efluent from the University plant is 15 mg L NO,-N. If the effluent is used to irrigate corn requiring 125 pounds of N per acre, how many inches of wastewater will need to be applied to satisfy the corn N requirement? Assume no N losses through volatilization, leaching, or runoff.

Explanation / Answer

4. The molar mass of KNO3 = 101.1 g/mol

The atomic mass of N = 14 g/mol

The theoretical %N = 1*14/101.1 = 13.85%

The theoretical %P2O5 = 0% (since there is no phosphorus present in the fertilizer)

The theoretical %K = 1*39.1/101.1 = 38.67%

The theoretical %K2O = %K*1.2 = 38.67*1.2 = 46.41%

(Note: The atomic mass of K = 39.1 and that of K2O = 94.2 g/mol

Now, the ratio of atomic masses of K2O and K = 94.2/39.1 = 2.4

Since, each K2O molecule has two K-atoms, the %K2O will be 2.4/2 = 1.2 times of the %K)

The theoretical %N-%P2O5-%K2O = 13-0-44

Here, the theoretical values are slightly lower than the calculated values.

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