Hello there, everybody - and happy Sunday! Let's see what we can talk about today…
Facts about nitrogen
Symbol: N
Electron configuration: [He] 2s22p3
Atomic number: 7
Key isotopes: 14N
Relative atomic mass: 14.007
Melting point: -210 °C
Boiling point: -195.8 °C
Electronegativity: 3.04
1st ionisation energy: 1402.3 kJ mol-1
Electron configuration: [He] 2s22p3
Atomic number: 7
Key isotopes: 14N
Relative atomic mass: 14.007
Melting point: -210 °C
Boiling point: -195.8 °C
Electronegativity: 3.04
1st ionisation energy: 1402.3 kJ mol-1
Nitrogen - it's the most common gas in the Earth's atmosphere. In its molecular form, N2, it floats around above and around us, making sure we don't spontaneously combust because of the oxygen. This form is so stable that one of the only things in nature that can break it free of said form is lightning!
A lot of nitrogen finds use in the form of ammonia [NH4]. This colourless - yet repulsively-smelling - gas can then be used to make fertilisers, nitric acid, dyes and even nylon! Also, an interesting tidbit (of sorts) about nitrogen is that if it isn't in its N2 form, it does everything possible to return to that form - this is what gives explosives their raw power. (Ammonia isn't unstable, though.)
Take, for example, the tongue-twisting compound azidoazide azide [C2N14]. If you set a block of it down in a cold, sealed box with no radiation whatsoever, it will still explode. That's how much nitrogen likes to be a gas. In fact, we don't know how reactive C2N14 is. All we know is that it's too reactive to measure.
Our friend nitrogen also plays a HUGE role in our bodies - without nitrogen, we wouldn't have DNA, for example. Nitrogen is also critical in amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, as they need an amine group [-NH2] on the end to be an amino acid.
Of course, nitrogen also has other uses. It can be used to provide an unreactive atmosphere (to stop things from going off) - or it can be used in its liquid form to freeze things solid instantly. (I've heard it makes lovely ice cream, too!)
And that's the seventh element - nitrogen! Bye for now, and I'll see everyone back here again at the same time next week!
A lot of nitrogen finds use in the form of ammonia [NH4]. This colourless - yet repulsively-smelling - gas can then be used to make fertilisers, nitric acid, dyes and even nylon! Also, an interesting tidbit (of sorts) about nitrogen is that if it isn't in its N2 form, it does everything possible to return to that form - this is what gives explosives their raw power. (Ammonia isn't unstable, though.)
Take, for example, the tongue-twisting compound azidoazide azide [C2N14]. If you set a block of it down in a cold, sealed box with no radiation whatsoever, it will still explode. That's how much nitrogen likes to be a gas. In fact, we don't know how reactive C2N14 is. All we know is that it's too reactive to measure.
Our friend nitrogen also plays a HUGE role in our bodies - without nitrogen, we wouldn't have DNA, for example. Nitrogen is also critical in amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, as they need an amine group [-NH2] on the end to be an amino acid.
Of course, nitrogen also has other uses. It can be used to provide an unreactive atmosphere (to stop things from going off) - or it can be used in its liquid form to freeze things solid instantly. (I've heard it makes lovely ice cream, too!)
And that's the seventh element - nitrogen! Bye for now, and I'll see everyone back here again at the same time next week!