Nitrogen | Chemistry

Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School, Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Nitrogen, 7, Fletcher's Meadow Secondary School, Brampton ON

Nitrogen: Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in the Earth’s Atmosphere and therefore the background is blue symbolizing the fact that nitrogen is 78% by volume in Earth’s Atmosphere. It is important in the formation of amino acids, which are essential components of proteins and nucleic acids. Thus I decided to draw a molecule of DNA to show that nitrogen essential for life. Bacteria living in the roots of plants such as peas take in atmospheric nitrogen — along with other microorganisms — convert the gas to ammonium salts and nitrates. Plants get the nitrogen they need from the inorganic nitrogen compounds in the soil. The nitrogen content of soil, where the nitrogen cycle starts, is enriched and renewed by excretion and decay of animals and plants. Some of the trapped nitrogen is returned to the air as bacteria in soil decompose the nitrogen compounds releasing the element back into the environment as a gas.

Marina Petrychkovych, Fletcher's Meadow Secondary School, Brampton Ontario, Canada

Atomic properties*

Name:

Nitrogen

Symbol:

N

Atomic number:

7

Atomic mass:

14.0067 amu

Melting point:

-210.0°C

Boiling point:

-195.8°C

Density:

0.0012506 g/cm³

Electronegativity:

3.04

# of Isotopes:

2

State:

Gas

Colour:

Colourless±

Classification:

Non-metallic±

* Haynes, W. M. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 91st edition: http://www.hbcponline.com/ Retrieved April 7, 2011

± Winter, M. (2010). Home of the Periodic Table. Retrieved April 8, 2011, from Web Elements: http://www.webelements.com/