In: Chemistry
(Silberberg, Problem 4.108) Ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer, is used as an explosive in fireworks and by terrorists. In 2006, the RCMP set up a sting operation in Toronto where they arrested 18 members of an alleged terrorist cell who had ordered three metric tonnes (1 tonne = 1000 kg) of ammonium nitrate. If this quantity of ammonium nitrate decomposes explosively to nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapour, calculate the partial pressures (in atm) of each gas formed.