Today we had a really good look at what Ammonia was.

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 What fun it is learning science not in the class room.  We  both think we are clever just working out the Ammonia and its chemical symbol of NH3  is one atom of Nitrogen and three atoms of Hydrogen.  All these things sound extremely explosive and they are.  Fertilizer factory blew four suburbs to pieces, that is explosive.
Our body produces this substance in our urine.  The kidneys secrete NH₃ to neutralize excess acid.

Nitrogen inversion in ammonia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HISTORY

The Romans called the ammonium chloride deposits they collected from near the Temple of Amun (Greek Ἄμμων Ammon) in ancient Libya 'sal ammoniacus' (salt of Amun) because of proximity to the nearby temple. Salts of ammonia have been known from very early times; thus the term Hammoniacus sal appears in the writings of Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern sal-ammoniac (ammonium chloride).

In the form of sal-ammoniac (nushadir) ammonia was important to the Muslim alchemists as early as the 8th century, first mentioned by the Persian chemist Jābir ibn Hayyān, and to the European alchemists since the 13th century, being mentioned by Albertus Magnus.

Old stills from an early edition of Geber (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It was also used by dyers in the Middle Ages in the form of fermented urine to alter the colour of vegetable dyes. In the 15th century, Basilius Valentinus showed that ammonia could be obtained by the action of alkalis on sal-ammoniac. At a later period, when sal-ammoniac was obtained by distilling the hooves and horns of oxen and neutralizing the resulting carbonate with hydrochloric acid, the name "spirit of hartshorn" was applied to ammonia.

Gaseous ammonia was first isolated by Joseph Priestley in 1774 and was termed by him "alkaline air". Eleven years later in 1785, Claude Louis Berthollet ascertained its composition.

Salammoniac-3d78b (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Haber-Bosch process to produce ammonia from the nitrogen in the air was developed by Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch in 1909 and patented in 1910. It was first used on an industrial scale by the Germans during World War I, following the allied blockade that cut off the supply of nitrates from Chile. The ammonia was used to produce explosives to sustain their war effort.

Prior to the availability of cheap natural gas, hydrogen as a precursor to ammonia production was produced via the electrolysis of water or using the chloralkali process.

Fertilizer

Approximately 83% (as of 2004) of ammonia is used as fertilizers either as its salts or as solutions. When applied to soil, it helps provide increased yields of crops such as corn and wheat.

 I use cow and chicken or horse manure and some lime at times to sweeten the soil but I do not use chemical fertilizers in my garden at all.  I soak cow manure in water and water with this liquid for boost and for garden health.
Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr

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