nitrous acid

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. an acid, HNO 2 , known only in solution.

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nitrous acid British  

noun

1. Systematic name: dioxonitric(III) acid.  a weak monobasic acid known only in solution and in the form of nitrite salts. Formula: HNO 2

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nitrous acid Scientific  

1. A weak inorganic acid existing only in solution or in the form of its salts. It can act either as an oxidizing agent or as a reducing agent. Chemical formula: HNO ₂ .

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Etymology

Origin of nitrous acid

First recorded in 1670–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nitrous acid

The reaction of N2O3 with water gives a pale blue solution of nitrous acid, HNO2.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

The addition of sodium nitrite to meat products is controversial because nitrous acid reacts with certain organic compounds to form a class of compounds known as nitrosamines.

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

Which of the following structures would we expect for nitrous acid?

From Textbooks ● Feb. 14, 2019

But Nobel Prizewinning Wendell M. Stanley, head of Berkeley's Virus Laboratory, believes that the original action of the nitrous acid was to change one kind of RNA base into another.

From Time Magazine Archive

The nitrous acid unites with phlogiston, alkalis, metallic substances, and calcareous earth.

From Heads of Lectures on a Course of Experimental Philosophy: Particularly Including Chemistry by Priestley, Joseph