What does ammonia mean?
Word: Ammonia
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Ammonia means a colourless gas with a very sharp smell, which also dissolves in water to make a strong liquid.
How do you spell ammonia?
Syllables: am - mo - ni - a
Tricky part: The opening beat is short, so many pupils write one m, but the word needs a double m.
Watch out for: amonia, amoniya
Memory tip: Imagine wrinkling your nose at the smell and going 'mm, no!' That mm is the pair of m's you need.
Ammonia in a sentence
Example 1: The ammonia formula, NH3, was the first one Kabir learnt by heart.
Example 2: The air near the poultry farm smelt faintly of ammonia.
Example 3: Ammonia gas rises because it is lighter than air.
Fun Fact
Two German scientists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, worked out how to make ammonia on a huge scale in the early 1900s, and much of the world's farm fertilizer still depends on their method.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
amm_n_a
a) u, i
b) o, i
c) a, i
d) o, e
Show answer
b) o, i. Said slowly, the word gives o first and then i.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
ammonnia
a) o
b) n
c) a
d) m
Show answer
b) n. The n appears only once in this word.
Mingle-Mangle
The jumbled letters in the sentence hide a word. Choose it.
In the lab, we saw how quickly oimaman dissolves in water.
a) magnolia
b) mahogany
c) ammonia
d) harmonium
Show answer
c) ammonia. Harmonium and mahogany need an h, and magnolia needs a g.
Spell-o-Spell
One of these words is spelt right. Pick the meaning of that word.
1. hidrogen 2. methayne 3. ammonia 4. sulpher
a) the lightest of all the gases
b) a gas made from nitrogen and hydrogen
c) a gas that burns and has no smell
d) a yellow element that burns with a blue flame
Show answer
b) a gas made from nitrogen and hydrogen. Hydrogen takes a y, sulphur has ur at the end and methane finishes in ane; ammonia is the word with no slip.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A shopper who reads 'contains ammonia' on a bottle has most likely picked up ____.
a) a glass and window cleaner
b) a carton of fruit juice
c) a jar of cooking oil
d) a bottle of drinking water
Show answer
a) a glass and window cleaner
2. Which statement about pure ammonia is true?
a) It can be smelt even when it cannot be seen.
b) It is a hard rock used for building walls.
c) It is a soft metal that shines when polished.
d) It is a yellow powder found near volcanoes.
Show answer
a) It can be smelt even when it cannot be seen.
