Nitrogen

June 3, 2010 Science Mrs. Ferhani

You’ve probably heard of Nitrogen. The boiling point is -196 ° C, its melting point is -210 ° C. it’s colorless, tasteless, and odorless. The density is 1.3g. It has 7 protons, 7 neutrons, and 7 electrons.

Chemist Daniel Rutherford discovered Nitrogen in 1772 in Edinburgh, England. In a lab he removed oxygen and carbon dioxide from air and leaving pure nitrogen gas. Showed that the gas would not support living organisms. The French Chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier mistakenly named me “//aztos”, which// is Greek for “//without life//”. Nitrogen is in food, DNA, protein, organic products, poison and nuclear weapons.

Nitrogen is also found in small stars. It makes up 78% of our atmosphere. Every time you breathe in, you take in some nitrogen. Beer companies use pressurized nitrogen that allows beer to be packaged in cans and bottles. As ammonium (NH4+), a solution of NaOH evolves ammonia gas when heated which is detected by its sharp odor.

Nitrogen is unreactive at room temperature. Nitrogen is usually used in fertilizers, acids, explosives, plastics, dyes, etc. When nitrogen is heated, it combines directly with magnesium, lithium, or calcium. When mixed with oxygen and subjected to electric sparks, it forms nitric oxide (NO) and then the dioxide (NO2).

About 50 million tones of nitrogen are extracted every year, mainly for use in making fertilizer, but also for making plastics, dyes and explosives. Nitrogen Bibliography

1.[|http://www.ptable.com/] 2.[|http://www.rsc.org/chemsoc/visualelements/pages/pertable_fla.htm]