Question
Explain why:
Nitric acid is kept in a reagent bottle for a long time.

Answer

Pure nitric acid is unstable to heat or sunlight. In the presence of sunlight, it decomposes even at room temperature.
$
4 HNO _3 \xrightarrow[\text { Sunlight }]{\text { Heat }} 4 NO _2+2 H _2 O + O _2
$
Nitric acid stored in a bottle turns yellow. This colour is due to dissolved $NO _2$ in $HNO _3$. To avoid decomposition, nitric acid is normally stored in coloured bottles.

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