Ammonia, NH3, is a gas at room temperature. When dissolved in water, the following equilibrium occurs : NH3 + H2O ↔ NH4+OH-(aq) so ammonium hydroxide is basically ammonia dissolved in water & some chemists may express it as NH3(aq) to distinguish it from NH3(g) .
This term indicates that this type of ammonia does not have any water in the formula. This is one of the differences of ammonia and ammonium hydroxide. Ammonium hydroxide is household ammonia in water. One of their major differences is that ammonia does not have water content while ammonium hydroxide has water. Ammonium hydroxide has water that is why the other terms for it is ammonia with water, ammonia liquor etc. This means ammonium hydroxide is an ammonia solution with water content. It only has a small amount of ammonia and its formula is NH3 (aq). it is used as a cleaning agent as it is, it is called 'ammonia. Ammonium hydroxide has water that is why the other terms for it is ammonia with water, ammonia liquor etc. This means ammonium hydroxide is an ammonia solution with water content. It only has a small amount of ammonia and its formula is NH3 (aq). Ammonium hydroxide is used for different kinds of cleaning agents.