Nitric acid is a highly corrosive chemical used in a variety of industrial applications. Some common synonyms for nitric acid include aqua fortis, nitrogen trioxide, and hydrogen nitrate. Aqua fortis, which means "strong water" in Latin, was a common name used in alchemy and refers to the acid's ability to dissolve noble metals such as gold and platinum. Nitrogen trioxide is another term used to describe nitric acid due to its chemical formula of NO3. Hydrogen nitrate is simply another name for the compound consisting of hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. Regardless of the name, nitric acid should be handled with extreme care due to its highly reactive properties.