Question

What is the nature of urea? Is it acidic, basic / neutral? How can we verify it?

Answer 1

Hint :The organic compound urea, also known as carbamide, has the chemical formula CO(NH₂)₂. Two –NH₂ groups are joined by a carbonyl functional group in this amide. Urea is the primary nitrogen-containing agent in mammalian urine and plays an important function in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
The organic compound urea, also known as carbamide, has the chemical formula CO(NH₂)₂. Two –NH₂ groups are joined by a carbonyl functional group in this amide. Urea is the primary nitrogen-containing agent in mammalian urine and plays an important function in the metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds by animals.
Litmus paper is a type of paper that has been treated with a particular indicator—a mixture of 10 to 15 natural dyes derived from lichens (mostly Roccella tinctoria) that turns red when exposed to acid (pH 7). The dye is purple when the pH is neutral (pH = 7).
Urea, also known as carbamide, is the carbonic acid diamide.
In the urea cycle, two ammonia molecules (NH₃) are combined with a carbon dioxide (CO₂) molecule to produce UREA. It is neither acidic nor basic when dissolved in water. Urea is a non-toxic substance.
The two "-NH₂" in urea are amides, which are organic functional groups with a carbonyl group (C=O) connected to a nitrogen atom (N). Amides lose their fundamental properties due to the oxygen atom. As a result, amides don't have as obvious acid-base properties in water.
Hence we conclude that Urea is neutral in Nature.

Note :
Litmus paper with urea shows purple colour. Litmus paper gives red colour with acidic solution and turns to blue colour when react with basic solution. Our litmus paper test with urea gives purple colour which shows its neutral nature.