Characteristic

Silver nitrate is an inorganic compound with chemical formula AgNO₃. In solid silver nitrate, the silver ions are three-coordinated in a trigonal planar arrangement.

Chemical formula：AgNO₃

Molar mass： 169.872 g·mol⁻¹

Appearance： colorless solid

Odor： Odorless

Density： 4.35 g/cm3 (24 °C)   3.97 g/cm3 (210 °C)

Melting point： 209.7 °C (409.5 °F; 482.8 K)

Boiling point： 440 °C (824 °F; 713 K)   decomposes

Solubility in water：122 g/100 mL (0 °C)  170 g/100 mL (10 °C)  256 g/100 mL (25 °C)  373 g/100 mL (40 °C)  912 g/100 mL (100 °C)

Solubility： Soluble in acetone,[1] ammonia, ether, glycerol

Solubility in acetic acid： 0.776 g/kg (30 °C)  1.244 g/kg (40 °C)  5.503 g/kg (93 °C)

log P： 0.19

Magnetic susceptibility (χ)：−45.7·10⁻⁶ cm³/mol

Refractive index (nD)：1.744

Viscosity： 3.77 cP (244 °C)  3.04 cP (275 °C)

Crystal structure：Orthorhombic, oP56

Application

This compound is a versatile precursor to many other silver compounds, such as those used in photography. It is far less sensitive to light than the halides. It was once called lunar caustic because silver was called luna by the ancient alchemists, who believed that silver was associated with the moon.