chemistry

Ammonium sulfamate

Ammonium sulfamate is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ammonium sulfamate rather than just read about it. In short: Ammonium sulfamate (or ammonium sulphamate) is a white crystalline solid, readily soluble in water. It is commonly used as a broad spectrum herbicide, with additional uses as a compost accelerator, flame retardant and in industrial processes.

Key takeaways

Ammonium sulfamate belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ammonium sulfamate to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ammonium sulfamate from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Ammonium sulfamate (or ammonium sulphamate) is a white crystalline solid, readily soluble in water. It is commonly used as a broad spectrum herbicide, with additional uses as a compost accelerator, flame retardant and in industrial processes.

Manufacture and distribution It is a salt formed from ammonia and sulfamic acid. Ammonium sulfamate is distributed under the following tradenames, which are principally herbicidal product names: Amicide, Amidosulfate, Ammate, Amcide, Ammate X-NI, AMS, Fyran 206k, Ikurin, Sulfamate, AMS and Root-Out.

Uses

Herbicide Ammonium sulfamate is considered to be particularly useful in controlling tough woody weeds, tree stumps and brambles. Ammonium sulfamate has been successfully used in several major UK projects by organisations like the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, English Heritage, the National Trust, and various railway, canal and waterways authorities. Several years ago the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA) (known as Garden Organic), published an article on ammonium sulfamate after a successful set of herbicide trials. Though not approved for use by organic growers it does provide an option when alternatives have failed. The following problem weeds / plants can be controlled: Japanese Knotweed (Reynoutria japonica, syn. Fallopia japonica), Marestail / Horsetail (Equisetum), Ground-elder (Aegopodium podagraria), Rhododendron ponticum, Brambles, Brushwood, Ivy (Hedera species), Senecio/Ragwort, Honey fungus (Armillaria), and felled tree stumps and most other tough woody specimens.

Compost accelerator Ammonium sulfamate is used as a composting accelerator in horticultural settings. It is especially effective in breaking down the tougher and woodier weeds put onto the compost heap.

Flame retardant Ammonium sulfamate (like other ammonium salts, e.g. ammonium dihydrogen phosphate, ammonium sulfate) is a useful flame retardant. These salt based flame retardants offer advantages over other metal/mineral-based flame retardants in that they are water processable. Their relatively low decomposition temperature makes them suitable for flame retarding cellulose based materials (paper/wood). Ammonium sulfamate (like ammonium dihydrogen phosphate) is sometimes used in conjunction with magnesium sulfate or ammonium sulfate (in ratios of approximately 2:1) for enhanced flame retardant properties.

Other uses Within industry ammonium sulfamate is used as a flame retardant, a plasticiser and in electro-plating. Within the laboratory it is used as a reagent.

Safety Ammonium sulfamate is considered to be only slightly toxic to humans and other animals, making it appropriate for amateur home garden, professional and forestry uses. It is generally accepted to be safe for use on plots of land that will be used for growing fruit and vegetables intended for consumption. It corrodes brass, copper, and iron. Its contact with eyes or skin can be harmful unless it is quickly washed off. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set a permissible exposure limit at 15 mg/m3 over an eight-hour time-weighted average, while the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommends exposures no greater than 10 mg/m3 over an eight-hour time-weighted average. These occupational exposure limits are protective values, given the IDLH concentration is set at 1500 mg/m3. It is also considered to be environmentally friendly due to its degradation to non-harmful residues.

European Union licensing The pesticides review by the European Union led to herbicides containing ammonium sulfamate becoming unlicensed, and therefore effectively banned, from 2008. Its availability and use as a compost accelerator is unaffected by the EU's pesticide legislation.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ammonium sulfamate

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ammonium sulfamate claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ammonium sulfamate before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ammonium sulfamate ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ammonium sulfamate

In research: Ammonium sulfamate appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ammonium sulfamate in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ammonium sulfamate is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ammonium compounds, Herbicides, Sulfamates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ammonium sulfamate outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ammonium sulfamate in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ammonium sulfamate means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ammonium sulfamate out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ammonium sulfamate in simple terms?

Why does Ammonium sulfamate matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ammonium sulfamate?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ammonium sulfamate.