Calcium nitride is the
inorganic compound
An inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bondsthat is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemistry''.
Inorgan ...
with the
chemical formula
A chemical formula is a way of presenting information about the chemical proportions of atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound or molecule, using chemical element symbols, numbers, and sometimes also other symbols, such as pare ...
Ca3 N2. It exists in various forms (
isomorph
An isomorph is an organism that does not change in shape during growth. The implication is that its volume is proportional to its cubed length, and its surface area to its squared length. This holds for any shape it might have; the actual shape d ...
s), α-calcium nitride being more commonly encountered.
Structure
α-Calcium nitride adopts an anti-
bixbyite structure, similar to
Mn2O3, except that the positions of the ions are reversed: calcium (Ca
2+) take the oxide (O
2−) positions and nitride ions (N
3−) the manganese (Mn
3+). In this structure, Ca
2+ occupies tetrahedral sites, and the nitride centres occupy two different types of octahedral sites.
Synthesis and reactions
Calcium nitride is formed along with the oxide,
CaO
Cao or CAO may refer to:
Mythology
*Cao (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology
Companies or organizations
* Air China Cargo, ICAO airline designator CAO
* CA Oradea, Romanian football club
* CA Osasuna, Spanish football club
* Canadian ...
, when calcium burns in air. It can be produced by direct reaction of the elements:
:3 Ca + N
2 → Ca
3N
2
It reacts with water or even the moisture in air to give
ammonia
Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...
and
calcium hydroxide
Calcium hydroxide (traditionally called slaked lime) is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula Ca( OH)2. It is a colorless crystal or white powder and is produced when quicklime ( calcium oxide) is mixed with water. Annually, approxim ...
:
:Ca
3N
2 + 6 H
2O → 3 Ca(OH)
2 + 2 NH
3
Like
sodium oxide
Sodium oxide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is used in ceramics and glasses. It is a white solid but the compound is rarely encountered. Instead "sodium oxide" is used to describe components of various materials such as glasses and f ...
, calcium nitride absorbs hydrogen above 350 °C:
:Ca
3N
2 + 2 H
2 → 2 CaNH +
CaH2
General references
*
References
External links
WebElements entry
Nitrides
Calcium compounds
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