Nitric acid is a strong, highly corrosive mineral acid (HNO₃) that mainly acts as a powerful oxidizing and nitrating agent, and is widely used to make fertilizers, explosives, and to process metals. Because it is so reactive, it is also dangerous: it can burn skin, damage lungs if inhaled as fumes, and aggressively corrode many materials.

What nitric acid does chemically

  • It acts as a strong acid in water, donating protons and forming nitrate ions. This makes solutions highly acidic and reactive.
  • It is a strong oxidizing agent, meaning it strips electrons from other substances, which is why it can dissolve many metals and organic materials.
  • It can add nitro groups (−NO2-NO_2−NO2​) to organic molecules (“nitration”), an important step in making dyes, drugs, and explosives.

Main industrial and practical uses

  • Fertilizers: Most of the world’s nitric acid is used to make nitrate-based fertilizers like ammonium nitrate, critical for modern agriculture.
  • Explosives and propellants: It is used in producing TNT and other explosives, and as an oxidizer in some liquid rocket fuels.
  • Metals and manufacturing: It cleans and purifies metals (including gold and silver), helps etch and passivate metal surfaces, and is used in plastics, fibers such as nylon, dyes, and pharmaceuticals.

Lab and small-scale uses

  • Common lab reagent: It is used to dissolve samples, as an oxidizing agent, and in analytical techniques to detect or measure elements and compounds.
  • Cleaning and preparation: Concentrated nitric acid is used to clean glassware and metal by removing organic residues and oxides.
  • Medical niche uses: In controlled, professional settings, concentrated nitric acid can be used to chemically remove warts and certain skin lesions.

Dangers and safety

  • Contact hazards: It causes severe burns to skin and eyes; concentrated solutions can also stain skin yellow from chemical reactions with proteins.
  • Inhalation risk: Nitric acid fumes can damage lungs and airways, sometimes with delayed symptoms; exposures are treated as medical emergencies.
  • Handling rules: Work only with proper ventilation, eye and face protection, acid-resistant gloves, and always add acid to water (never the reverse) when diluting to reduce splashing and heat hazards.

Why it is a trending topic sometimes

  • Environmental and industrial news: Nitric acid appears in news about fertilizer plants, chemical accidents, pollution control, and regulations on industrial emissions.
  • Online forums: Chemistry and safety forums often discuss safe handling, accident stories, and “fun experiments,” but experts strongly warn against casual or unsupervised use because of its severe hazard profile.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.