Equal volumes of 0.2 M ammonia and 0.2 M nitric acid, HNO₃, are mixed. Write the net ionic equation for the reaction and identify the aqueous species that have the highest concentrations at equilibrium. Justify your answer.

The net ionic equation is

H₃O⁺+NH₃ ↔ NH₄⁺+H₂O

Explanation:

To write the net ionic equation, we are required to dissociate the into ions all strong acids and strong bases

Hence, nitric acid which is a strong acid is dissociated as follows

HNO₃+H₂O → H₃O⁺ + NO₃⁻

in the above equation, the nitrate ion NO₃⁻, is a spectator ion because it is only present and does not partake in the chemical reaction so it is left out of the net ionic equation equation

Also the it is required to keep together weak bases in the solution therefore for NH₃ which is a weak base we have

NH₃ + H₃O⁺ → NH₄⁺ + H₂O

Hence, the net ionic equation becomes

H₃O⁺ (aq) + NH₃ ↔ NH₄⁺ (aq) + H₂O (l)