Nitrogen (IPA: /ˈnʌɪtrə(ʊ)dʒən/) is a chemical element which has the symbol N and atomic number 7 in the periodic table. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% percent of Earth's atmosphere. Nitrogen is a constituent element of all living tissues and amino acids. Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, and cyanides, contain nitrogen.
Nitrogen (Latin nitrogenium, where nitrum (from Greek nitron) means "native soda" (see niter), and genes means "forming") is formally considered to have been discovered by Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air or fixed air. That there was a fraction of air that did not support combustion was well known to the late 18th century chemist. Nitrogen was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as azote, from the Greek word αζωτος meaning "lifeless". Animals died in it, and it was the principal component of air in which animals had suffocated and flames had burned to extinction. This term has become the French word for "nitrogen" and later spread out to many other languages.
Compounds of nitrogen were known in the Middle Ages. The alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis (strong water). The mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia (royal water), celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold (the king of metals). The earliest industrial and agricultural applications of nitrogen compounds used it in the form of saltpeter (sodium- or potassium nitrate), notably in gunpowder, and much later, as fertilizer, and later still, as a chemical feedstock.
2006-10-19 13:42:10
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Nitrogen is the largest single component of the Earth's atmosphere (78.084% by volume, 75.5% by weight).
Nitrogen (Latin nitrum, Greek Nitron meaning "native soda", "genes", "forming") is formally considered to have been discovered by Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air or fixed air. That there was a fraction of air that did not support combustion was well known to the late 18th century chemist. Nitrogen was also studied at about the same time by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley, who referred to it as burnt air or phlogisticated air. Nitrogen gas was inert enough that Antoine Lavoisier referred to it as azote, from the Greek word a??t?? meaning "lifeless". Animals died in it, and it was the principal component of air in which animals had suffocated and flames had burned to extinction. This term has become the French word for "nitrogen" and later spread out to many other languages.
Compounds of nitrogen were known in the Middle Ages. The alchemists knew nitric acid as aqua fortis (strong water). The mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids was known as aqua regia (royal water), celebrated for its ability to dissolve gold (the king of metals). The earliest industrial and agricultural applications of nitrogen compounds used it in the form of saltpeter (sodium- or potassium nitrate), notably in gunpowder, and much later, as fertilizer, and later still, as a chemical feedstock.
Nitrogen gas has a wide variety of applications, including serving
as a more inert replacement for air where oxidation is undesirable;
-to preserve the freshness of packaged or bulk foods (by delaying rancidity and other forms of oxidative damage)
-on top of liquid explosives for safety
-in the production of electronic parts such as transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits
-dried and pressurized, as a dielectric gas for high voltage equipment
-in the manufacture of stainless steel
-for filling automotive and aircraft tires
WIKI
http://www.toseeka.com/search.php?q=Nitrogen&type=source=google_c+020+082_content_Nitrogen
2006-10-19 21:13:51
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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All I know for sure is that it was discovered in 1772.
2006-10-19 20:17:18
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answer #3
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answered by Donny B 2
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