Nitrogen

on
Nitrogen - as it's liquid state
Photo Credit: PeriodicTable.com
Group: 15
Block: P
Atomic Number: 7
Relative Mass: 14

Nitrogen is a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas which is the most abundant element in the atmosphere. Nitrogen is not toxic and will not combust. Like Carbon, Nitrogen is an essential part of all living matter - But doesn't support life just by itself.

 Nitrogen was discovered/isolated in 1772 by the Scottish chemist Daniel Rutherford. Daniel Rutherford wasn't the only person to discover Nitrogen. But, he was the first to write about the element.
Earlier in 1760s, two scientists Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestley obtained Nitrogen gas by removing Oxygen from the air. The pair noted that a lighted candle had been extingushed and a mouse would eventually die if the oxygen was taken from the air. Neither of them noted that there was another element in play. Only Daniel Rutherford was the first person to suggest it. At the time, Daniel Rutherford was a young student studing his doctorate thesis.
Another chemist named Carl Wilhelm Scheele also produced some work in 1772, showing that he believed to air to be a mixture of two gases. Not knowing what these gases were, Daniel Rutherford called one of them fire air because it aided combustion - this would later be found out to be Oxygen. Meanwhile, the other gas in the mixture was called foul air because it was normally left after fire air was used up - this one was Nitrogen.

In truth, the air is actually a mixture of several different gases - not just the two originally proposed by the Swedish, Carl Scheele. These gases are Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (20.9%), Argon (0.9%) and Carbon dioxide (0.04%).

Nitrogen was named by the scientist Jean Antoine-Claude Chaptal in 1790. Its name comes from the Greek words nitron and genes which means 'nitre forming'.

Biological Uses
  • Nitrogen is an essential part of amino acids. Therefore, Nitrogen is within protein, DNA and RNA. 
  • It is cycled naturally by living organisms - going through a process known as the Nitrogen cycle. 
  • Taken up by green plants and algae in a form of Nitrates.

Uses
  • Important to the Chemistry industry as it was used for the production of fertiliser, nitric acid, Nylon and explosives
  • Nitrogen is involved with the Haber process which makes 150 million tonnes of Ammonia every year!
  • Nitrogen gas is used to provide an unreactive atmosphere which is utilised to preserve food. 
  • Large quantities of nitrogen are used to anneal (heat treatment) stainless steel along with other steel mill products

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