Neon

Neon

Statistics of Neon

Neon is a Chemical Element with an

Atomic Number : 10

Atomic Mass: 20.1797 Atomic Mass Units 
Atomic Symbol: Ne
Melting Point: -248.59 °C

Boiling Point: -246.08°C

Period Number: 2

Valence Electrons: 8
Phase of Neon at room temperature: Gas
Group: Noble Gas
Group Number: 18

Density: 0.0009 g/cm³ 

Isotopes: Neon-20 (²⁰Ne), Neon-21 (²¹Ne), Neon-22 (²²Ne)

Allotropes: None
% in Universe: 0.13%

% in Sun: 0.1%

% in Meteorites: N/A

% in Earth's Crust: 3×10^-7% 

% in Oceans: 1.2×10^-8%

% in Humans: N/A

Neon (Greek νέον (néon), neuter singular form of νέος meaning "new"), was discovered in 1898 by the British chemists Sir William Ramsay (1852–1916) and Morris W. Travers (1872–1961) in London, England. Neon was discovered when Ramsay chilled a sample of air until it became a liquid, then warmed the liquid and captured the gases as they boiled off. The gases nitrogen, oxygen, and argon had been identified, but the remaining gases were isolated in roughly their order of abundance, in a six-week period beginning at the end of May 1898. First to be identified was krypton. The next, after krypton had been removed, was a gas which gave a brilliant red light under spectroscopic discharge. This gas, identified in June, was named neon, the Greek analogue of "novum", (new), the name Ramsay's son suggested.^[13] The characteristic brilliant red-orange color that is emitted by gaseous neon when excited electrically was noted immediately; Travers later wrote, "the blaze of crimson light from the tube told its own story and was a sight to dwell upon and never forget." Finally, the same team discovered xenon by the same process, in June.

Neon's scarcity precluded its prompt application for lighting along the lines of Moore tubes, which used nitrogen and which were commercialized in the early 1900s. After 1902, Georges Claude's company, Air Liquide, was producing industrial quantities of neon as a byproduct of his air liquefaction business. In December 1910 Claude demonstrated modern neon lighting based on a sealed tube of neon. Claude tried briefly to get neon tubes to be used for indoor lighting, due to their intensity, but failed, as homeowners rejected neon light sources due to their color. Finally in 1912, Claude's associate began selling neon discharge tubes as advertising signs, where they were instantly more successful as eye catchers. They were introduced to the U.S. in 1923, when two large neon signs were bought by a Los Angeles Packard car dealership. The glow and arresting red color made neon advertising completely different from the competition.

Neon played a role in the basic understanding of the nature of atoms in 1913, when J. J. Thomson, as part of his exploration into the composition of canal rays, channeled streams of neon ions through a magnetic and an electric field and measured their deflection by placing a photographic plate in their path. Thomson observed two separate patches of light on the photographic plate (see image), which suggested two different parabolas of deflection. Thomson eventually concluded that some of the atoms in the neon gas were of higher mass than the rest. Though not understood at the time by Thomson, this was the first discovery of isotopes of stable atoms. It was made by using a crude version of an instrument we now term as a mass spectrometer.

Importance of Neon

Neon, electrically charged in tubes, form orange, red, yellow, white or blue lights which light up places which are dark. Other than that, Neon has no more importance to humans or the environment.The color of the light depends on the gas in the tube. Neon lights were named for neon, a noble gas which gives off a popular orange light, but other gases and chemicals are used to produce other colors, such as hydrogen (red), helium (yellow), carbon dioxide (white), and mercury (blue).

Bad Effects of Neon

Routes of exposure: The substance can be absorbed into the body by inhalation. 
Inhalation risk: On loss of containment this liquid evaporates very quickly causing supersaturation of the air with serious risk of suffocation when in confined areas. 
Effects of exposure: Inhalation: Simple asphyxiant. Skin: On contact with liquid: frostbite. Eyes: On contact with liquid: frostbite. 
Inhalation: This gas is inert and is classified as a simple asphyxiant. Inhalation in excessive concentrations can result in dizziness, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and death. Death may result from errors in judgment, confusion, or loss of consciousness which prevent self-rescue. At low oxygen concentrations, unconsciousness and death may occur in seconds without warning. 
The effect of simple asphyxiant gases is proportional to the extent to which they diminish the amount (partial pressure) of oxygen in the air that is breathed. The oxygen may be diminished to 75% of it's normal percentage in air before appreciable symptoms develop. This in turn requires the presence of a simple asphyxiant in a concentration of 33% in the mixture of air and gas. When the simple asphyxiant reaches a concentration of 50%, marked symptoms can be produced. A concentration of 75% is fatal in a matter of minutes. 
Symptoms: The first symptoms produced by a simple asphyxiant are rapid respirations and air hunger. Mental alertness is diminished and muscular coordination is impaired. Later judgment becomes faulty and all sensations are depressed. Emotional instability often results and fatigue occurs rapidly. As the asphyxia progresses, there may be nausea and vomiting, prostration and loss of consciousness, and finally convulsions, deep coma and death.

Experiment

Want to see a cool experiment on neon? Click on the link to see the cool experiment.

Wasn't that awesome! Helium, and Neon, which are relatively unreactive elements, can make a laser!

How Neon is used and The History of Neon

Its most common application is in advertisement. Neon generates a bright reddish orange color. Neon lights refer to various colors and lights. However, neon lights come from other gases and not necessarily neon. The element is also used in helium neon lasers, television tubes and wave meter tubes. It is also used in lightning arresters. This is used to shield electrical equipment from lightning. There are also high voltage indicators and vacuum tubes that employ it.

Interesting Facts about Neon

1. 0.0018 percent of Earth’s atmosphere is neon.
2. Although it is relatively rare on our planet, neon is the fifth most abundant element in the universe.
3. If you could gather all the neon from the rooms in a typical new home in the United States, you would get 10 liters (2 gallons) of neon gas. 
4. Neon forms in stars with a mass of eight or more Earth suns. Near the end of their lives, these stars enter the carbon burning phase, also making oxygen, sodium and magnesium. (For oxygen production, stars need a mass of ‘just’ five of our suns.)
5. Neon has no stable compounds.

Flourine

Fluorine

Statistics of Fluorine

Fluorine is a Chemical Element with an

Atomic Number : 9

Atomic Mass: 18.9984032 Atomic Mass Units 

Atomic Symbol: F
Melting Point: -219.6 °C

Boiling Point: -118.12°C

Period Number: 2

Valence Electrons: 7
Phase of Fluorine at room temperature: Gas
Group: Halogens
Group Number: 17

Density :0.001696 g/cm³ 

Isotopes: Fluorine-19 (¹⁹F)

Allotropes: Difluorine
% in Universe: 0.00004%

% in Sun: 0.00005%

% in Meteorites: 0.0087%

% in Earth's Crust: 0.054% 

% in Oceans: 0.00013%

% in Humans: 0.0037%

In 1529, Georgius Agricola described fluorite as an additive used to lower the melting point of metals during smelting. He penned the Latin word fluorés (fluo, flow) for fluorite rocks. The name later evolved into fluorspar (still commonly used) and then fluorite. The composition of fluorite was later determined to be calcium difluoride.

Hydrofluoric acid was used in glass etching from 1720 onwards. Andreas Sigismund Marggraf first characterized it in 1764 when he heated fluorite with sulfuric acid, and the resulting solution corroded its glass container. Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele repeated the experiment in 1771, and named the acidic product fluss-spats-syran (fluorspar acid). In 1810, the French physicist André-Marie Ampère suggested that hydrogen and an element analogous to chlorine constituted hydrofluoric acid. Sir Humphry Davy proposed that this then-unknown substance be named fluorine from fluoric acid and the -ine suffix of other halogens. This word, with modifications, is used in most European languages; Greek, Russian, and some others (following Ampère's suggestion) use the name ftor or derivatives, from the Greek φθόριος (phthorios, destructive) .The New Latin name fluorum gave the element its current symbol F; Fl was used in early papers.

Initial studies on fluorine were so dangerous that several 19th-century experimenters were deemed "fluorine martyrs" after misfortunes with hydrofluoric acid. Isolation of elemental fluorine was hindered by the extreme corrosiveness of both it and hydrogen fluoride, as well as the lack of a simple and suitable electrolyte. Edmond Frémy postulated that electrolysis of pure hydrofluoric acid to generate fluorine was feasible and devised a method to produce anhydrous samples from acidified potassium bifluoride; instead, he discovered that the resulting (dry) hydrogen fluoride did not conduct electricity. Frémy's former student Henri Moissan persevered, and after much trial and error found that a mixture of potassium bifluoride and dry hydrogen fluoride was a conductor, enabling electrolysis. To prevent rapid corrosion of the platinum in his electrochemical cells, he cooled the reaction to extremely low temperatures in a special bath and forged cells from a more resistant mixture of platinum and iridium, and used fluorite stoppers. In 1886, after 74 years of effort by many chemists, Moissan isolated elemental fluorine.

In 1906, two months before his death, Moissan received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry,with the following citation: In recognition of the great services rendered by him in his investigation and isolation of the element fluorine ... The whole world has admired the great experimental skill with which you have studied that savage beast among the elements.

Importance of Fluorine

Fluorine is essential for the normal mineralization of bones and the formation of dental enamel. Thus 96% of the Fluoride in the body is found in bones and teeth. The Fluorine and Calcium has strong affinity between them and work together, mainly in the outer parts of bones. It also prevents dental caries, by reducing the solubility of the enamel in acids produced by bacteria. A very small amount of it may help in development of tooth, but excess of it causes dental fluorosis-endemic areas. While also protecting the spleen.

Bad Effects of Fluorine

Fluoride is a highly toxic substance. Consider, for example, the poison warning that the FDA now requires on all fluoride toothpastes sold in the U.S. or the tens of millions of people throughout China and India who now suffer serious crippling bone diseases from drinking water with elevated levels of fluoride. In terms of acute toxicity (i.e., the dose that can cause immediate toxic consequences), fluoride is more toxic than lead, but slightly less toxic than arsenic. This is why fluoride has long been used in rodenticides and pesticides to kill pests like rats and insects. It is also why accidents involving over-ingestion of fluoridated dental products–includingfluoride gels, fluoride supplements, and fluoridated water–can cause serious poisoning incidents, including death.

Experiment

Want to see a cool experiment on fluorine? Click on the link to see the cool experiment.

Wasn't that awesome! You can actually use fluorine to make a fire!

How Flourine is used and The History of Flourine

There was no commercial production of fluorine until the Second World War, when the development of the atom bomb, and other nuclear energy projects, made it necessary to produce large quantities. Before this, fluorine salts, known as fluorides, were for a long time used in welding and for frosting glass.

The element is used to make uranium hexafluoride, needed by the nuclear power industry to separate uranium isotopes. It is also used to make sulfur hexafluoride, the insulating gas for high-power electricity transformers.

In fact, fluorine is used in many fluorochemicals, including solvents and high-temperature plastics, such as Teflon (poly(tetrafluoroethene), PTFE). Teflon is well known for its non-stick properties and is used in frying pans. It is also used for cable insulation, for plumber’s tape and as the basis of Gore-Tex® (used in waterproof shoes and clothing).

Hydrofluoric acid is used for etching the glass of light bulbs and in similar applications.

CFCs (chloro-fluoro-carbons) were once used as aerosol propellants, refrigerants and for ‘blowing’ expanded polystyrene. However, their inertness meant that, once in the atmosphere, they diffused into the stratosphere and destroyed the Earth’s ozone layer. They are now banned.

Interesting Facts about Fluorine

1. Henri Moissan, who first isolated fluorine, also produced the world’s first artificial diamonds by applying huge pressures to charcoal.
2. Fluorine is the most chemically reactive element. It reacts, often very vigorously, with all of the other elements except oxygen, helium, neon and krypton.
3. Fluorine is the most electronegative element. This means that in molecules fluorine attracts electrons more powerfully than any other element can.
4. Hydrofluoric acid, HF, dissolves glass. Its fluoride ions have a high affinity for calcium and can cause death by interfering with the body’s blood calcium metabolism when absorbed through the skin.

Oxygen

Oxygen

Statistics of Oxygen

Oxygen is a Chemical Element with an 
Atomic Number : 8

Atomic Mass: 15.9994 Atomic Mass Units
Atomic Symbol: O
Melting Point: -218.3°C

Boiling Point: -182.9 °C

Period Number: 2

Valence Electrons: 6
Phase of Oxygen at room temperature: Gas
Group: Nitrogen Group
Group Number: 16

Density: 0.001429g/cm³ 

Isotopes: Oxygen-16(¹⁶O),Oxygen-17, Oxygen-18
Allotropes: Dioxygen, Ozone, Tetraoxygen

% in Universe:1%

% in Sun: 0.9%

% in Meteorites: 40%

% in Earth's Crust: 46%

% in Oceans: 86%

% in Humans: 61%

Oxygen was discovered independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele, in Uppsala, in 1773 or earlier, and Joseph Priestley in Wiltshire, in 1774, but Priestley is often given priority because his work was published first. The name oxygen was coined in 1777 by Antoine Lavoisier, whose experiments with oxygen helped to discredit the then-popular phlogiston theory of combustion and corrosion. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς oxys, "acid", literally "sharp", referring to the sour taste of acids and -γενής -genes, "producer", literally "begetter", because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition.

One of the first known experiments on the relationship between combustion and air was conducted by the 2nd century BCE Greek writer on mechanics, Philo of Byzantium. In his work Pneumatica, Philo observed that inverting a vessel over a burning candle and surrounding the vessel's neck with water resulted in some water rising into the neck. Philo incorrectly surmised that parts of the air in the vessel were converted into the classical element fire and thus were able to escape through pores in the glass. Many centuries later Leonardo da Vinci built on Philo's work by observing that a portion of air is consumed during combustion and respiration.

In the late 17th century, Robert Boyle proved that air is necessary for combustion. English chemist John Mayow (1641–1679) refined this work by showing that fire requires only a part of air that he called spiritus nitroaereus or just nitroaereus. In one experiment he found that placing either a mouse or a lit candle in a closed container over water caused the water to rise and replace one-fourteenth of the air's volume before extinguishing the subjects. From this he surmised that nitroaereus is consumed in both respiration and combustion.

Mayow observed that antimony increased in weight when heated, and inferred that the nitroaereus must have combined with it. He also thought that the lungs separate nitroaereus from air and pass it into the blood and that animal heat and muscle movement result from the reaction of nitroaereus with certain substances in the body. Accounts of these and other experiments and ideas were published in 1668 in his work Tractatus duo in the tract "De respiratione".

Importance of Oxygen

We breath oxygen to survive and ozone also protects our body from UV rays (ultra-violet rays) from the sun. Oxygen (O2) is one of the most important elements required to sustain life. Without it, our health begins to suffer and/or we die. Unhealthy or weak cells due to improper metabolism lose their natural immunity and are thus susceptible to viruses and lead the way to all kinds of serious health problems. O2 not only gives us life but destroys also the harmful bacteria in our bodies without affecting the beneficial bacteria that we need. No antibiotic or drug can make that claim. I believe that God’s plan for mankind was for us to lead a physically productive life in a clean environment, following His dietary laws and not require drugs to remain healthy...our bodies would then receive the sustenance it needs.

Bad Effects of Oxygen

There’s a caustic substance common to our environment whose very presence turns iron into brittle rust, dramatically increases the risk of fire and explosion, and sometimes destroys the cells of the very organisms that depend on it for survival. This substance that makes up 21% of our atmosphere is Diatomic oxygen (O2), more widely know as just oxygen.

Experiment

Want to see a cool experiment on Oxygen? Click on the link to see the cool experiment.

Wasn't that awesome! Look at all the cool experiments you can do with Oxygen, an element or substance, in the form of O2 that we breathe everyday!

How Oxygen is used and The History of Oxygen

PVC pipes

The greatest commercial use of oxygen gas is in the steel industry. Large quantities are also used in the manufacture of a wide range of chemicals including nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. It is also used to make epoxyethane (ethylene oxide), used as antifreeze and to make polyester, and chloroethene, the precursor to PVC.

Epoxyethane

Polyester

Oxygen gas is used for oxy-acetylene welding and cutting of metals. A growing use is in the treatment of sewage and of effluent from industry.

Oxygen first appeared in the Earth’s atmosphere around 2 billion years ago, accumulating from the photosynthesis of blue-green algae. Photosynthesis uses energy from the sun to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen passes into the atmosphere and the hydrogen joins with carbon dioxide to produce biomass.

When living things need energy they take in oxygen for respiration. The oxygen returns to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide.

Oxygen gas is fairly soluble in water, which makes aerobic life in rivers, lakes and oceans possible.

Interesting Facts about Oxygen

1. Dry air is 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen and 1 percent other gases.

2. Oxygen does not burn – honestly! It does, however, support the combustion of other substances. Think about it — if oxygen itself actually burnt, striking a match would be enough to burn all of the oxygen in our planet’s atmosphere.

3. Oxygen is about two times more soluble in water than nitrogen is. If it had the same solubility as nitrogen, much less oxygen would be present in seas, lakes and rivers, making life much more difficult for living organisms.

4. Almost two-thirds of the weight of living things comes from oxygen, mainly because living things contain a lot of water and 88.9 percent of water’s weight comes from oxygen.

5. Oxygen (O₂) is unstable in our planet’s atmosphere and must be constantly replenished by photosynthesis in green plants. Without life, our atmosphere would contain almost no O₂.

6. If we discover any other planets with atmospheres rich in oxygen, we will know that life is almost certainly present on these planets; significant quantities of O₂ will only exist on planets when it is released by living things.

7. Just five elements make up over 90 percent of the weight in the Earth’s crust. Almost half of the weight of the crust comes from oxygen. (Silicon, aluminum, iron and calcium are the other four main elements in the crust.)

8. The Northern (and Southern) Lights: The green and dark-red colors in the aurora borealis (and australis) are caused by oxygen atoms.

Highly energetic electrons from the solar wind split oxygen molecules high in earth’s atmosphere into excited (high energy) atoms. These atoms lose energy by emitting photons, producing awe-inspiring light shows.

These are usually polar displays, because solar electrons accelerate along our planet’s magnetic field lines until they hit the atmosphere in the polar regions.

9. Oxygen is made in stars which have a mass of five or more Earth suns when they burn helium and carbon or just carbon in nuclear fusion reactions. Oxygen is part of the ‘ash’ formed by these nuclear fires.

10. A common urban myth is that hyperventilation is caused by breathing in too much oxygen. When we hyperventilate, we breathe too quickly, and this can lead to symptoms such as headache, lightheadedness, dizziness, chest pains, tingling, slurred speech, fainting and spasms. Hyperventilation is really a problem because it forces too much carbon dioxide out of our bodies. We need carbon dioxide in our blood to stop it getting too alkaline. When we hyperventilate, we lose carbon dioxide, which disturbs the equilibrium of substances in our blood, causing its pH to increase; this causes the blood vessels leading to our brains to get narrower, slowing the blood flow, leading to the typical symptoms of hyperventilation.

Nitrogen

Nitrogen

Statistics of Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a Chemical Element with an 
Atomic Number : 7

Atomic Mass: 14.0067 Atomic Mass Units 
Atomic Symbol: N
Melting Point: -210.1°C

Boiling Point: -195.79°C(Given for Diamond)

Period Number: 2

Valence Electrons: 5
Phase of Nitrogen at room temperature: Gas
Group: Nitrogen Group
Group Number: 15

Density: 0.001251 g/cm³ 

Isotopes: Nitrogen-14 (¹⁴N), Nitrogen-15 (¹⁵N)
Allotropes: Dinitrogen
% in Universe: 0.1%

% in Sun: 0.1%

% in Meteorites: 0.14%

% in Earth's Crust: 0.002%

% in Oceans: 0.00005%

% in Humans: 2.6%

Nitrogen is formally considered to have been discovered by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air. Though he did not recognise it as an entirely different chemical substance, he clearly distinguished it from Joseph Black's "fixed air", or carbon dioxide. The fact that there was a component of air that does not support combustion was clear to Rutherford. 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 "mephitic air" or azote, from the Greek word ἄζωτος azotos, "lifeless". In it, animals died and flames were extinguished. This "mephitic air" consisted mostly of N₂, but might also have included more than 1% argon. Lavoisier's name for nitrogen is used in many languages (French, Italian, Polish, Russian, Albanian, Turkish, etc.) and still remains in English in the common names of many compounds, such as hydrazine and compounds of the azide ion. The English word nitrogen (1794) entered the language from the French nitrogène, coined in 1790 by French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1756–1832), from the Greek νίτρον nitron, "sodium carbonate" and the French -gène, "producing" from Greek -γενής -genes, "producer, begetter". The gas had been found in nitric acid. Chaptal's meaning was that nitrogen gas is the essential part of nitric acid, in turn formed from saltpetre (potassium nitrate), then known as niter.

For a long time sources of nitrogen compounds were limited. Natural sources originated either from biology or deposits of nitrates produced by atmospheric reactions. Nitrogen fixation by industrial processes like the Frank–Caro process (1895–1899) and Haber–Bosch process (1908–1913) eased this shortage of nitrogen compounds, to the extent that half of global food production (see applications) now relies on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. At the same time, use of the Ostwald process (1902) to produce nitrates from industrial nitrogen fixation allowed the large-scale industrial production of nitrates as feedstock in the manufacture of explosives in the World Wars of the 20th century.

Importance of Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a required nutrient for all living organisms to produce a number of complex organic molecules like amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, and nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA. The ultimate store of nitrogen is in the atmosphere, where it exists as nitrogen gas (N2).

Bad Effects of Nitrogen

Reactions with haemoglobin in blood, causing the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood to decrease (nitrite), decreased functioning of the thyroid gland (nitrate), Vitamin A shortages (nitrate), fashioning of nitro amines, which are known as one of the most common causes of cancer (nitrates and nitrites) Humans have radically changed natural supplies of nitrates and nitrites. The main cause of the addition of nitrates and nitrites is the extensive use of fertilizers. Combustion processes can also enhance the nitrate and nitrite supplies, due to the emission of nitrogen oxides that can be converted to nitrates and nitrites in the environment. Nitrates and nitrites also form during chemical production and they are used as food conservers. This causes groundwater and surface water nitrogen concentration, and nitrogen in food to increase greatly. The addition of nitrogen bonds in the environment has various effects. Firstly, it can change the composition of species due to susceptibility of certain organisms to the consequences of nitrogen compounds. Secondly, mainly nitrite may cause various health effects in humans and animals. Food that is rich in nitrogen compounds can cause the oxygen transport of the blood to decrease, which can have serious consequences for cattle. High nitrogen uptake can cause problems in the thyroid gland and it can lead to vitamin A shortages. In the animal stomach and intestines nitrates can form nitroamines; dangerously carcinogenic compounds. Experiment Want to see a cool experiment on Carbon? Click the Url Link to see the cool experiment. Nitrogen Video Wasn't that awesome! The rubber, after being frozen in liquid nitrogen, shattered! How Nitrogen is used and The History of Nitrogen Nitrogen is important to the chemical industry. 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 gas is also used to provide an unreactive atmosphere. It is used in this way to preserve foods, and in the electronics industry during the production of transistors and diodes. Large quantities of nitrogen are used in annealing stainless steel and other steel mill products. Annealing is a heat treatment that makes steel easier to work. Liquid nitrogen is often used as a refrigerant. It is used for storing sperm, eggs and other cells for medical research and reproductive technology. It is also used to rapidly freeze foods, helping them to maintain moisture, colour, flavour and texture.  Nitrogen is cycled naturally by living organisms through the ‘nitrogen cycle’. It is taken up by green plants and algae as nitrates, and used to build up the bases needed to construct DNA, RNA and all amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.  Animals obtain their nitrogen by consuming other living things. They digest the proteins and DNA into their constituent bases and amino acids, reforming them for their own use.  Microbes in the soil convert the nitrogen compounds back to nitrates for the plants to re-use. The nitrate supply is also replenished by nitrogen-fixing bacteria that ‘fix’ nitrogen directly from the atmosphere.  Crop yields can be greatly increased by adding chemical fertilisers to the soil, manufactured from ammonia. If used carelessly the fertiliser can leach out of the soil into rivers and lakes, causing algae to grow rapidly. This can block out light preventing photosynthesis. The dissolved oxygen soon gets used up and the river or lake dies. Interesting Facts about Nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number of 7. Under normal conditions nitrogen is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas. Nitrogen makes up around 78% of the air you breathe. Nitrogen is present in all living things, including the human body and plants. Nitrogen gas is used in food storage to keep packaged or bulk foods fresh. It is also used in the making of electronic parts, for industrial purposes and has many other useful applications. Nitrogen gas is often used as an alternative to carbon dioxide for storing beer in pressurized kegs. The smaller bubbles it produces is preferred for some types of beer. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, has an atmosphere nearly entirely made of nitrogen (over 98%). It is the only moon in our solar system known to have a dense atmosphere. Nitrogen is in a liquid state when at a very low temperature. Liquid nitrogen boils at 77 kelvin (−196 °C, −321 °F). It is easily transported and has many useful applications including storing items at cold temperatures, in the field of cryogenics (how materials behave at very low temperatures), as a computer coolant (a fluid used to prevent overheating), removing warts and much more. Decompression sickness (also known as the bends) involves nitrogen bubbles forming in the bloodstream and other important areas of the body when people depressurize too quickly from scuba diving. Similar situations can occur for astronauts and those working in unpressurized aircraft. Nitrous oxide (also known as laughing gas or by its chemical formula N2O) is used in hospitals and dental clinics as an anesthetic (removing or reducing pain and general awareness for various surgeries). Nitrous oxide is also used in motor racing to increase the power of engine and speed of the vehicle. When used for this purpose it is often referred to as nitrous or NOS. Nitrous oxide is a considerable greenhouse gas and air pollutant. By weight is has nearly 300 times more impact than carbon dioxide. Nitroglycerin is a liquid used to create explosives such as dynamite. It is often used in the demolition and constructio n industries as well as by the military. Nitric acid (HNO3) is a strong acid often used in the production of fertilizers. Ammonia (NH3) is another nitrogen compound commonly used in fertilizers.