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Re: Ammonia/um

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: Ammonia/um
From: Paul Sears <psears at nrn1_NRCan.gc.ca>
Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 16:55:26 -0500 (EST)
In-Reply-To: <200001282048.PAA23349 at actwin_com> from "Aquatic Plants Digest" at Jan 28, 2000 03:48:02 PM

> From: "Buckley, Kevin" <kevin.buckley at nectech_co.uk>
> Subject: Ammonia/Ammonium
> 
> I'm curious to know which (or both?) of either Ammonia (NH3) or Ammonium
> (NH4+) plants can use directly & browsing the archives hasn't helped.

	The equilibrium between the two is _very_ fast.  It just consists
of the NH4+ losing a proton (usually to H2O to form H3O+), or NH3
gaining a proton.  These reactions are fast even by chemists' standards.
If something can use NH3, then it will be able to use both NH3 and NH4+,
in effect, because interchange between the two is so quick.  So, the
plants will use both.

	Equilibrium consists of _both_ reactions happening at the
same time, not nothing happening.
> 
> Is the Ammonia/Ammonium ratio particularly temperature dependent?  What
> would the ratio be at pH=8.2 & temperature=24C?

	Not different enough to worry about.

-- 
Paul Sears        Ottawa, Canada

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