What is chemistry of Nitrogen?

Nitrogen is basically the non-metal which belongs to Group 15 and 2nd period. Nitrogen is the element that has electronegativity less than Florine and oxygen. Basically, electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons. Nitrogen is considered an electronegative species that has a lone pair on it. In order to explain the chemistry of nitrogen it is must to elaborate what is nitrogen?

Nitrogen is a species that is pentavalent and is the lightest non-metal of group 15 so it is also called pnictogens. It is also an abundant gas in the earth’s atmosphere approximately 79%. Some justification suggests that Nitrogen in the liquid form act as an active cooling agent in the refrigerator. In biological research, Nitrogen is an active participant in the nitrogen cycle.

History of Nitrogen

First of all an Egyptian scientist discover Nitrogen when he heat the mixture of salt, urine, and dung. It has discovered in the form of sal ammonia which is actually an ammonium chloride Then Henry Canvendish and Joseph Priestley discover it in 1760 when performed an experiment. He removes oxygen from the air. The remaining constituent obtain is nitrogen of at least about 80%. And in last, in 1772, a young chemist, student Daniel Rutherford discovered nitrogen.

Basic Facts about Chemistry of Nitrogen

Chemistry of Nitrogen:

According to approximation, nitrogen is the 7th most abundant chemical in the universe. It is the essential part of amino acids, nucleic acids, and proteins. It makes 78.1% of the atmosphere. This gas is created by the distillation of liquid or gaseous air. Commercial nitrogen is the side product created in steel making process. It is less expensive than argon.

The word Nitrogen derive from the Greek work Nitron and genes mean niter forming. Nitrogen exists in the allotropic form of a dinitrogen molecule. It is a p – block element means that its valance shell has two subshells s & p. Normally, the atomic number of nitrogen is 7 but in the molecular form, it is 14.

Periodic Properties:

Its atomic data suggested that the atomic radius of the nitrogen atom is 1.55 pm. But according to the Pauling scale, the electronegativity is 3.04 KJ/mol. Its ionization energy values go on increasing because when we excite or remove an electron from the nitrogen atom, the electron far away from the nucleus excites easily at a low ionization energy value on the other hand electrons close to the nucleus require more ionization energy value due to strong nuclear attraction.

Bond Enthalpies, Oxidation states:

Important terminology is of Bond enthalpy which means that strength in the bond. Nitrogen may exist as a single bond, double bond, and triple bond. In the case of single bond Bond enthalpy is 163 KJ/mol. In the case of a double bond, it is 418 KJ/mol. In the case of a triple bond, it is 944 KJ/mol. So, the conclusion is that Bond enthalpy is proportional to the no. of bonds.

It exists in approximately six oxidation states +5, +4, +3, +2, and -3. Its specific heat capacity value is 1040 J / Kg K. At 20 degrees it behaves just like a gas uses for different purposes. Nitrogen is a colorless and odorless gas.

Uses and Applications:

Nitrogen is important in the manufacturing of many chemicals, fertilizers, paints, and dyes.
It is an essential component in the manufacturing of ammonia by Haber’s process.
Nitrogen is an essential component in the formation of an unreacted atmosphere.
Detectors used in the process of spectrophotometry are transistors doped by nitrogen.
A large quantity of nitrogen use in the annealing process. Annealing is a process of heating that makes the steel easier to work.

Compounds of Nitrogen:

Nitrogen possesses many compounds such as oxides, hydrides, and halides. The most important oxides are NO2 and N2O. N2O is also called the laughing gas. Many oxides are volatile means that these are air pollutants.

To discuss the hydrides we will discuss ammonia NH3. NH3 is manufactured by Haber’s Process. ammonia is further converted into the nitric acid HNO3 and nitrates which are basically the salts and ester of nitric acid.

Nitrogen in Liquid Form (Liquid Nitrogen):

Liquid nitrogen is basically nitrogen in liquid form. This act as a cooling agent in the refrigerators which allows preserving food and pickles. In industry, it produce when the fractional distillation processes take place. Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen at a low temperature. It is a cryogenic fluid that is difficult to handle, it handle in thermal insulations. It stores in the vacuum flask which holds it for different hours to few weeks.

How cold is liquid nitrogen?

Liquid nitrogen is a cryogenic fluid that is inert. It is very cold. Its temperature is -196 degrees. If we place a banana in the container having liquid nitrogen, this banana will convert into a solid structure showing that the liquid nitrogen has a temperature of 32 Fahrenheit.

Facts About the Subatomic Particles present in Nitrogen

There is a very wide difference between electrons and valance electrons. Electrons have negative charge on them. The total number of electrons present in an atom are the electrons, Some of these are present in valance shell and some are not but valance electrons only refer to the number of electrons in the valance and outermost shell. Subatomic particles refer to the electron, proton, and neutron present in the shells and nucleus.

Nitrogen contains 7 total electrons in its atom and also so that is it is a neutral one because it posses the same number of electrons and protons which cancel out their effect converting it to a neutral species. According to subshells division, there are 5 no. of electrons in the valance shell of the nitrogen atom. It attains the electronic configuration of 1s2, 2s2, 2p3 and valance shell configuration is 2s2, 2p3.

The atomic number of a nitrogen atom is 7 means that it has 7 protons in the nucleus but its mass number is 14 because the mass number is the sum of no. of protons and neutrons present in the nucleus.

What is chemistry of Nitrogen?

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History of Nitrogen