LaMotte SMART 2 Electronic Soil Lab - Manual (Page 53)

AMMONIA-NITROGEN
NESSLERIZATION METHOD CODE 3642-SC
QUANTITY CONTENTS CODE
30 mL Ammonia Nitrogen Reagent #1 V-4797-G
2 x 30 mL *Ammonia Nitrogen Reagent #2 *V-4798-G
1 Pipet, 1 mL, plastic 0354
*WARNING: Reagents marked with a * are considered to be potential health hazards. To view
or print a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for these reagents see MSDS CD or
www.lamotte.com. To obtain a printed copy, contact LaMotte by e-mail, phone or fax.
A fertile soil may be expected to give a low ammonia nitrogen test reading,
unless there has been a recent application of nitrogenous fertilizer in forms
other than the nitrate. The rapid disappearance of ammonia after fertilizer
application indicates the desired transformation of the ammonia to the more
available nitrate compounds. In forest soils, ammonia is the most abundant
available form of nitrogen. If there is a satisfactory rate of nitrogen
transformation, the humus layers of a forest soil will produce very high
concentrations of ammonia nitrogen.
RANGE: 0.00-200.00 lb/acre Ammonia-Nitrogen
METHOD: Ammonia forms a colored complex with Nessler’s
Reagent in proportion to the amount of ammonia
present in the sample. Rochelle salt is added to
prevent precipitation of calcium or magnesium in
undistilled samples.
INTERFERENCES: Sample turbidity and color may interfere. Turbidity
may be removed by filtration procedure. Color
interferences may be eliminated by blanking the
instrument with a sample blank.
SMART2 SOIL MANUAL 1.07 53