World Nitrogen Use Efficiency for Cereal Production is 33%
Agronomy Journal 91:357| Facts: | - N has no odor, is tasteless, and colorless.
- Nitrogen gas (N2) makes up 78.1% of the Earth's atmosphere
- Atmosphere contains an estimated 4,000 trillion tons of N2
- Nitrogen is not a metal.
- Nitrogen gas is inert. Some soil bacteria can 'fix' nitrogen into a form that plants and animals can use to make amino acids and proteins.
- French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier named nitrogen azote, meaning without life.
- Nitrogen was sometimes referred to as 'burnt' or 'dephlogisticated' air.
- Nitrogen compounds are found in foods, fertilizers, poisons, and explosives.
- Nitrogen is responsible for the orange-red, blue-green, blue-violet, and deep violet colors of the aurora.
- One way to prepare nitrogen gas is by liquefaction and fractional distillation from the atmosphere.
- Nitrogen has a valence of 3 or 5.
- Discovery: Scottishphysician Daniel Rutherfordin1772
- Fifth most abundant element in the universe
Atomic Number 7 (more)Periodic Table
Atomic Mass 14.0067
Commercial fertilizer is responsible for 40 to 60% of the worlds food production (Roberts, 2009) Roberts, T.L. 2009. The role of fertilizer in growing the world's food. Better Crops: 93:12-15)
| Physical properties of Nitrogen | | Boiling Point at 1 atm
Freezing Point at 1 atm
Density of the gas at 21.1 C and 1 atm
| -195.8 C
-209.9 C
1.153 kg/m3
|
| | Uses of Nitrogen | | Nitrogen finds use in diverse commercial applications, including: | | Chemical Processing ... to inert vessels and oxygen-sensitive chemicals, creating an oxygen-deficient environment that reduces safety hazards; to propelliquids through pipelines; and to manufacture ammonia.
| | | Food ... to extend shelf-life in packaged foods by preventing spoilage from oxidation, mold growth, moisture migration and insect infestation; to rapidly freeze; and to refrigerate perishables during transport.
| | | Petroleum Recovery and Refining ... to improve recovery and maintain pressure in oil and gas reservoirs; to blanket storage tanks and product loading/unloading; to purge pipelines; and to strip volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from waste streams or to cool vent streams. Controlling VOC emissions helps refiners comply with U.S. Clean Air Act requirements.
| | | Metal Production andFabrication ... to protect metals such as steel, copper and aluminum during annealing, carburizing and sintering operations in high temperature furnaces; to cool extrusion dies; and to shrink fit metal parts; utilized as a purge gas with stainless steel tube welding. Also used to support plasma cutting.
| | | Electronics ... to prevent oxidation in the manufacture of semiconductors and printed circuits; and to enhance solvent recovery systems by eliminating the use of chlorofluorocarbons for cleanup.
| | | Glass Manufacturing ... to cool furnace electrodes and prevent oxidation during manufacturing; and to lower air temperatures for optimum cooling rates.
| | | Research and Health Services ... to freeze and preserve blood, tissue, sem*n and other biological specimens; to freeze and destroy diseased tissue in cryosurgery and dermatology; and to pre-cool or insulate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), conserving the more costly helium.
| | | Construction ... to suppress the pour temperature of concrete mixtures, inhibiting the formation of cracks; and to stabilize the ground as in the restoration of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. |
|
| Fertilizer Consumed, 2014, FAOSTAT, 2014
| | | |
FAQs
nitrogen (N), nonmetallic element of Group 15 [Va] of the periodic table. It is a colourless, odourless, tasteless gas that is the most plentiful element in Earth's atmosphere and is a constituent of all living matter.
What are 10 uses of nitrogen? ›
Some examples include:
- Food industry. Nitrogen gas is also used to provide an unreactive atmosphere. ...
- Light bulbs industry. ...
- Fire suppression systems. ...
- Stainless steel manufacturing. ...
- Tire filling systems. ...
- Aircraft fuel systems. ...
- Chemical analysis and chemical industry. ...
- Pressurised beer kegs.
Nitrogen is an abundant element in the Earth's atmosphere. It makes the sky blue, forms the foundation of proteins in our bodies and helps make soils fertile.
What are 10 facts about nitrogen? ›
Top 10 Facts About Nitrogen!
- Nitrogen makes up around 78% of the Earth's atmosphere. ...
- Every living thing needs nitrogen to survive. ...
- Nitrogen is used when making ice cream! ...
- Nitrogen expands and contracts depending on the temperature. ...
- Lightning can convert nitrogen gas into compounds. ...
- It's used to preserve food!
Nitrogen has no color, taste, or smell. On its own it is not very active. It must be combined in compounds to be used by living things. Nitrogen compounds help plants grow and make up protein in animals.
Is nitrogen flammable? ›
Nitrogen gas is a colorless, odorless, and non-toxic gas. It is neither flammable nor explosive. On the contrary, nitrogen is a fire suppressant that helps regulate oxygen levels and extinguishes flames. Its exposure to flames also doesn't result in any harmful by-products.
How is nitrogen made? ›
Industrial nitrogen gas is produced by cryogenic fractional distillation of liquefied air, separation of gaseous air by adsorption, or permeation through membranes. Cryogenic distillation of air is the oldest method of nitrogen production and was developed in 1895 (1).
How is nitrogen used? ›
It is used to make fertilisers, nitric acid, nylon, dyes and explosives. To make these products, nitrogen must first be reacted with hydrogen to produce ammonia. This is done by the Haber process. 150 million tonnes of ammonia are produced in this way every year.
What are 5 things nitrogen is used for? ›
Nitrogen is used to reduce fire hazards in some aircraft fuel systems. Nitrogen is also important to the chemical industry. It is used in the production of fertilisers, nitric acid, nylon, dyes and explosives. Nitrogen is used for filling in light bulbs since it is a non-reactive gas.
What are five examples of nitrogen? ›
Examples of organic nitrogen compounds are amides, amines, imines, imides, azides, azo compounds, cyanates, isocyanates, nitrates, nitrites, nitro compounds, and so on. Nitrogen is one of the major component elements of the nitrogenous bases, nucleic acids, amino acids, and proteins.
Facts About Nitrogen
- Nitrogen in its liquid state is very cold and can cause severe frostbite and damage to the skin if it comes in contact with liquid nitrogen.
- Nitrogen is seventh on the list of most abundant elements found on earth.
- About 3 per cent of our body mass is made up of nitrogen.
Nitrogen is a chemical element with symbol N and atomic number 7. Classified as a nonmetal, Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature.
What color is nitrogen? ›
Nitrogen appears as a colorless odorless gas. Noncombustible and nontoxic.
What are the 5 types of nitrogen? ›
Nitrogen in the Environment: Nitrogen's Most Common Forms
| Nitrogen form | Symbol |
|---|
| Dinitrogen (Atmospheric Nitrogen) | N2 |
| Nitrate | NO3 |
| Ammonium Nitrogen | NH4 |
| Organic Nitrogen | C-NH2 (where C is a complex organic group) |
Sep 27, 2017
