What is the difference between ammonia and urea?

So much. This is the structure of ammonia: ​ And this is the structure of urea: ​ (Images shamelessly ripped from Wikipedia) As you can probably see, urea is a much larger molecule, is planar (flat) and organic (contains carbon). It also contains ammonium ions - the two side groups - so in that way it's related to ammonia. read more

This is the structure of ammonia: And this is the structure of urea: As you can probably see, urea is a much larger molecule, is planar (flat) and organic (contains carbon). It also contains ammonium ions - the two side groups - so in that way it's related to ammonia. read more

As nouns the difference between urea and ammonia is that urea is (biochemistry|uncountable) a water-soluble organic compound, co(nh 2) 2, formed by the metabolism of proteins and excreted in the urine while ammonia is (inorganic compound) a gaseous compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, nh 3, with a pungent smell and taste. read more

Both are Nitrogen based molecules, but Urea(in urine) is CO(NH2)2, whereas ammonia is NH3. Excess nitrogen in mammals is toxic, and is removed from the body either in the form of urea or ammonia. Urea is produced in the liver, extracted from the blood by the kidneys, then excreted in the urine. read more