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Ok, so today i'll be explaining this concept.
So first off, i want you to imagine a lump of soil in front of you. Now, this soil has certain fertilisers in in that actually make it a little bit acidic. This is of course NOT good for the crops that are growing in it. So what do we do? Well, this farmer comes in, and he chucks in some lime (CaO) into the lump. This is all good because it neutralises this acidity. However, by mistake, he adds in a little more, and more, and more. This is NOT good. Why? Well, the CaO basically reacts with water in the soil. This is normal, but when there is TOO much CaO reacting, we will get a lot of SLAKED LIME. Slaked lime is Ca(OH)2 / calcium hydroxide and it is formed by the reaction of CaO and H2O. Alrighty. Now, the bad thing about this is that calcium hydroxide is a strong alkaline. And what happens is that it takes part in this 'displacement reaction', where by it displaces ammonia from its ammonium salts. Well what does that mean? Allow me to explain this using the word equation:
Ammonium chloride + calcium hydroxide --> ammonia + calcium chloride + water
What happened is that calcium hydroxide displaced ammonia from its ammonium salt. The ammonia produced escapes as a gas. Why is this bad? Well the plants needed the ammonium chloride! Now its gone! Not good for their growth.
Thats it! Its really easy if you understand it, and i hope i made everything nice and clear! Good luck.
So first off, i want you to imagine a lump of soil in front of you. Now, this soil has certain fertilisers in in that actually make it a little bit acidic. This is of course NOT good for the crops that are growing in it. So what do we do? Well, this farmer comes in, and he chucks in some lime (CaO) into the lump. This is all good because it neutralises this acidity. However, by mistake, he adds in a little more, and more, and more. This is NOT good. Why? Well, the CaO basically reacts with water in the soil. This is normal, but when there is TOO much CaO reacting, we will get a lot of SLAKED LIME. Slaked lime is Ca(OH)2 / calcium hydroxide and it is formed by the reaction of CaO and H2O. Alrighty. Now, the bad thing about this is that calcium hydroxide is a strong alkaline. And what happens is that it takes part in this 'displacement reaction', where by it displaces ammonia from its ammonium salts. Well what does that mean? Allow me to explain this using the word equation:
Ammonium chloride + calcium hydroxide --> ammonia + calcium chloride + water
What happened is that calcium hydroxide displaced ammonia from its ammonium salt. The ammonia produced escapes as a gas. Why is this bad? Well the plants needed the ammonium chloride! Now its gone! Not good for their growth.
Thats it! Its really easy if you understand it, and i hope i made everything nice and clear! Good luck.
