Facts About Nitrogen

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Though we breathe oxygen to live, nitrogen is the major component in air. Nitrogen is found in many foods that we consume every day. Nitrogen is the basic building block of life. Nitrogen is denoted by the symbol ‘œN’ and has an atomic number of 7.

Some of the interesting fact about this element are:

Fact 1: Nitrogen is colorless, tasteless, and odorless.

Fact 2: Earth’s atmosphere contains 78.1% by volume of nitrogen gas.

Fact 3: Nitrogen gas has a melting point of -346° F and a boiling point of -320.4° F.

Fact 4: Nitrogen is the most common element found in the universe and is about seventh in total abundance both in the Milky Way and the Solar System.

Fact 5: When ionized, nitrogen is passed through a gas discharge tube. It produces a purple glow inside the discharge tube.

Fact 6: Nitrogen exists in all living organisms. Some soil bacteria has the capability of converting nitrogen into a form that can be used by plants and animals to make proteins and amino acids.

Fact 7: The human body contains three percent nitrogen by weight.

Fact 8: Some colors like: orange-red, blue-green, violet,  and purple exist because of nitrogen.

Fact 9: Nitrogen is also named ‘œazote’ which means ‘œwithout life’ by a French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoiser. Nitrogen is also referred to as burnt or dephlogisticated air.

Fact 10: Nitrogen can be used for chemical processing, food, glass manufacturing, electronics, and petroleum refining.

Fact 11: Nitrogen can be prepared by liquefaction and fractional distillation methods.

Fact 12: The electron configuration of Nitrogen is: 1s2 2s2 2p3.

Fact 13: Nitrogen is usually mixed with carbon dioxide to preserve the freshness of packaged foods.  Nitrogen, when mixed with carbon dioxide, delays rancidity and prevents oxidative damage to food products thereby preserving freshness.

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