The key difference between sodium chloride and sodium nitrate is that sodium chloride is a combination of sodium cation and chloride anion whereas sodium nitrate is a combination of a sodium cation and nitrate anion.
Both sodium chloride and sodium nitrate are ionic compounds. They have a cation and an anion combined through an ionic bond. They have different chemical and physical properties because they have different anions combined with similar cations (sodium cations).
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Sodium Chloride
3. What is Sodium Nitrate
4. Side by Side Comparison – Sodium Chloride vs Sodium Nitrate in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Sodium Chloride?
Sodium chloride is an inorganic compound made of sodium cation and chloride anion. The chemical formula of this compound is NaCl. In common, it is “salt” since the salt we consume as a food additive mainly contains sodium chloride along with some trace compounds such as magnesium chloride.
Sodium chloride is an ionic compound. It has 1:1 sodium ions and chloride ions. Sodium chloride is the compound that is responsible for the characteristic taste in seawater. The formula weight of sodium chloride is 58.44 g/mol. Sodium chloride is white when it is pure. It appears as transparent or translucent cubic crystals. The melting point of sodium chloride is 801oC, while the boiling point is 1465oC. It is well soluble in water. In the crystal structure of sodium chloride, each ion is surrounded by six ions of opposite charge. These ions are located in a regular octahedron structure.
Figure 01: Dissociation of Sodium Chloride in Water
Sodium chloride is hygroscopic. That means, it can absorb water vapour from the air when exposed to the atmosphere. Besides, this compound is essential for us to maintain the electrolytic balance in our body. It is also used to preserve some food items.
What is Sodium Nitrate?
Sodium nitrate is an inorganic compound having a sodium cation and nitrate anion. It has the chemical formula NaNO3. It appears as a white-colourless crystalline solid. It is an alkali metal nitrate salt, which is named as Chile saltpetre in mineralogy. This compound is highly water-soluble. Upon dissolution, it forms sodium cations and nitrate anions. Therefore, it is useful as a readily nitrate available source in different synthesis processes, fertilizer production, etc.
Figure 02: Crystals of Sodium Nitrate
The molar mass of sodium nitrate is 84.9 g/mol. It has a sweet odour. In addition to mining from deposits, we can synthesis sodium nitrate in the laboratory as well. There, we can neutralize nitric acid with sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate. It is also possible to do this neutralization using sodium hydroxide. The crystal structure of this produced sodium nitrate can be defined as a trigonal crystal structure, but sometimes, it gives rhombohedral crystal structure.
What is the Difference Between Sodium Chloride and Sodium Nitrate?
The key difference between sodium chloride and sodium nitrate is that sodium chloride is a combination of sodium cation and chloride anion, whereas sodium nitrate is a combination of a sodium cation and nitrate anion. The chemical formula of sodium chloride is NaCl while the chemical formula of sodium nitrate is NaNO3.
The following infographic summarizes the difference between sodium chloride and sodium nitrate.
Summary – Sodium Chloride vs Sodium Nitrate
Sodium chloride and sodium nitrate are ionic compounds. The key difference between sodium chloride and sodium nitrate is that sodium chloride is a combination of sodium cation and chloride anion whereas sodium nitrate is a combination of a sodium cation and nitrate anion.
Reference:
1. Helmenstine, Anne Marie. “What Is Table Salt?” ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, Available here.
2. Helmenstine, Anne Marie. “How To Grow Sodium Nitrate Crystals.” ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, Available here.
3. “Sodium Nitrate.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Available here.
4. “Sodium Chloride.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Available here.
Image Courtesy:
1. “214 Dissociation of Sodium Chloride in Water-01” By OpenStax College – Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site, Jun 19, 2013 (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Sodium Nitrate Crystals” By Vadim Sedov – Own work (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia