Nitrogen (N) - Chemical properties, Health and Environmental effects (2024)

FAQs

What are the chemical properties of nitrogen? ›

In terrestrial ecosystems, the addition of nitrogen can lead to nutrient imbalance in trees, changes in forest health, and declines in biodiversity. With increased nitrogen availability there is often a change in carbon storage, thus impacting more processes than just the nitrogen cycle.

Nitrogen (N2) is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that makes up 78.09% (by volume) of the air we breathe. It is nonflammable and it will not support combustion. Nitrogen gas is slightly lighter than air and slightly soluble in water. It is commonly thought of and used as an inert gas; but it is not truly inert.

Nitrogen is a key contributor to climate change

This gas is 300 times more potent at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. It also remains active in the atmosphere for more than 100 years. Algal blooms in lakes and waterways, often caused by fertilizer run-off, also emit greenhouse gases.

* Exposure to Nitrogen is dangerous because it can replace Oxygen and lead to suffocation. Only NIOSH approved self-contained breathing apparatus with a full facepiece operated in the positive pressure mode should be used in Oxygen deficient environments.

Nitrogen is an essential component of the human body. It is required for nucleotide synthesis in the cell. Also, nitrogen is a principal compound in amino acids and helps in protein synthesis. Nitrogen is required for the proper digestion of food and the growth of the human body.

Excess nitrogen in the atmosphere can produce pollutants such as ammonia and ozone, which can impair our ability to breathe, limit visibility and alter plant growth. When excess nitrogen comes back to earth from the atmosphere, it can harm the health of forests, soils and waterways.

Environmental and health effects of nitrogen oxides

Elevated levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause damage to the human respiratory tract and increase a person's vulnerability to, and the severity of, respiratory infections and asthma. Long-term exposure to high levels of nitrogen dioxide can cause chronic lung disease.

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for the production of amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, etc., and stone fruit trees require an adequate annual supply for proper growth and productivity. Nitrogen is primarily absorbed through fine roots as either ammonium or nitrate.

Inhalation of nitrogen gas rapidly empties the body of life, and a person would know they are dying – from the inside out. Nitrogen is an asphyxiant. It will snuff out a burning candle and extinguish a life by displacing oxygen. Pure nitrogen, when inhaled, will not get you high.

What are the exceptional properties of nitrogen? ›

Nitrogen is a component of proteins and of the genetic material (DNA/RNA) of all plants and animals. Under ordinary conditions, nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas. It boils at 77 K and freezes at 63 K. Liquid nitrogen is a useful coolant because it is inexpensive and has a low boiling point.

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.

Nitrogen is found in soils and plants, in the water we drink, and in the air we breathe. It is also essential to life: a key building block of DNA, which determines our genetics, is essential to plant growth, and therefore necessary for the food we grow.

NO₂ and other nitrogen oxides in the outdoor air contribute to particle pollution and to the chemical reactions that make ozone. It is one of six widespread air pollutants for which there are national air quality standards to limit their levels in the outdoor air.

Problems with excess levels of nitrogen in the environment

Lake and reservoir eutrophication can occur, which produces unsightly sc*ms of algae on the water surface, can occasionally result in fish kills, and can even "kill" a lake by depriving it of oxygen.

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.

Nitrogen family elements display a wide range of physical and chemical properties. Their compounds may be transparent, either diamagnetic or paramagnetic at room temperature, and may conduct electricity when heated. Because the atoms form double or triple bonds, the compounds tend to be stable and potentially toxic.

What is a chemical property? A chemical property is a characteristic of a particular substance that can be observed in a chemical reaction. Some major chemical properties include flammability, toxicity, heat of combustion, pH value, rate of radioactive decay, and chemical stability.

Nitrogen reacts with electropositive elements to produce solids that range from covalent to ionic in character. Reaction with electropositive metals produces ionic nitrides, reaction with less electropositive metals produces interstitial nitrides, and reaction with semimetals produces covalent nitrides.