Except LiNO₃, nitrates of IA group on heating give,

Except LiNO₃, the remaining alkali metal nitrates on thermal decomposition liberates only one gaseous product, which is

$$\begin{gathered} 4{\mathrm{LiNO}}_3\stackrel{∆}{\to }2{\mathrm{Li}}_2\mathrm{O}+4{\mathrm{NO}}_2+{\mathrm{O}}_2 \\ 2{\mathrm{NaNO}}_3\stackrel{∆}{\to }2{\mathrm{NaNO}}_2+{\mathrm{O}}_2 \end{gathered}$$

LiNO₃ decomposes differently when compared to the nitrates of other IA group elements.