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Nitrogen
hideNitrogen (pronounced /ˈnaɪtrədʒɨn/) is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.
Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates (propellants and explosives), and cyanides, contain nitrogen. The extremely strong bond in elemental nitrogen dominates nitrogen chemistry, causing difficulty for both organisms and industry in converting the N2 into useful compounds, and releasing large amounts of energy when these compounds burn or decay back into nitrogen gas.
The element nitrogen was discovered by Daniel Rutherford, a Scottish physician, in 1772. Nitrogen occurs in all living organisms. It is a constituent element of amino acids and thus of proteins, and of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). It resides in the chemical structure of almost all neurotransmitters, and is a defining component of alkaloids, biological molecules produced by many organisms.
For more information about Nitrogen, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with nitrogen
New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Cornell University in the U.S. have found a new way of breaking two of the strongest chemical bonds, at ambient temperature and pressure, and this breakthrough could lead to ...
Lasers used to make first boron-nitride nanotube yarn (w/ Video)
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have used lasers to create the first practical macroscopic yarns from boron nitride fibers, opening the door for an array of applications, from radiation-shielded spacecraft to ...
Wolves, moose and biodiversity: An unexpected connection
Nov 02, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Moose eat plants; wolves kill moose. What difference does this classic predator-prey interaction make to biodiversity?
Deep-Sea Microbes May Answer Long-Standing Question About Earth's Nitrogen Cycle
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 15, 2009 |
4.6 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have identified an unexpected metabolic ability in a symbiotic community of deep-sea microorganisms. It may help solve a lingering mystery about the world's nitrogen cycle.
New ancient fungus finding suggests world's forests were wiped out in global catastrophe
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 01, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (25) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists beleive extinct fungus species capitalised on a world-wide disaster and thrived on early Earth.
Planet's nitrogen cycle overturned by 'tiny ammonia eater of the seas'
Sep 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- It's not every day you find clues to the planet's inner workings in aquarium scum. But that's what happened a few years ago when University of Washington researchers cultured a tiny organism from the bottom ...
Discovery brings new type of fast computers closer to reality
Sep 27, 2009 |
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Physicists at UC San Diego have successfully created speedy integrated circuits with particles called "excitons" that operate at commercially cold temperatures, bringing the possibility of a new type of extremely ...
Diamonds May Be the Ultimate MRI Probe, Say Quantum Physicists
Sep 22, 2009 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Diamonds, it has long been said, are a girl's best friend. But a research team including a physicist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology has recently found that the gems ...
New insights, and a new angle, on high-temperature superconductivity
Jun 29, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (15) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Princeton-led research team has revealed surprising information about how electron behavior influences the conduction of electricity in a class of high-temperature superconductors. An increased ...
Carbon Nanotube Artificial Muscles for Extreme Temperatures
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Mar 20, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (18) |
6
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the UT Dallas Alan G. MacDiarmid NanoTech Institute have demonstrated a fundamentally new type of artificial muscle, which can operate at extreme temperatures where no other ...
Trading carats for nanometers - and defective diamonds for crystal clear microscopy
Mar 02, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Large, perfect diamonds are precious to almost all of us but to some scientists, it is the defects that really matter. This is because defects can form nanoscopic color centers, which play ...
Billions of years ago, microbes were key in developing modern nitrogen cycle
Biology /
Feb 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world marks the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, there is much focus on evolution in animals and plants. But new research shows that for the countless billions of tiniest creatures - microbes ...
New imaging nano-technique to change the way we see disease
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 08, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New nano-technology being developed by physicists at Macquarie University could help medical professionals better understand and more effectively treat cancer and other diseases.
First Pump-Probe Experiment at Linac Coherent Light Source Completed
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (12) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first experiment using the Linac Coherent Light Source to illuminate molecules via a "pump-probe" technique has been completed by an international team of more than 30 scientists from ...
Like humans, ants use bacteria to make their gardens grow
Nov 19, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Leaf-cutter ants, which cultivate fungus for food, have many remarkable qualities.
