NITROGEN

General
Name, symbol,
nitrogen, N, 7
number
Element category nonmetal
Group, period, block 15, 2, p
Appearance colorless gas
Standard atomicweight 14.0067(2) g·mol−1
Electron configuration 1s2 2s2 2p3
Electrons per shell 2, 5
Physical properties
Phase gas
(0 °C, 101.325 kPa)
Density
1.251 g/L
63.15 K
Melting point
(-210.00 °C, -346.00 °F)
77.36 K
Boiling point
(-195.79 °C, -320.3342 °F)
Critical point 126.19 K, 3.3978 MPa
Heat of fusion (N2) 0.360 kJ·mol−1
Heat of vaporization (N2) 5.56 kJ·mol−1
(25 °C) (N2)
Specific heat capacity
29.124 J·mol−1·K−1
Vapor pressure
P/Pa 1 10 100 1k 10 k 100 k
at T/K 37 41 46 53 62 77
Atomic properties
Crystal structure hexagonal
5, 4, 3, 2, 1,[1], -1, -3
Oxidation states
(strongly acidic oxide)
Electronegativity 3.04 (Pauling scale)
Ionization energies 1st: 1402.3 kJ·mol−1
(more) 2nd: 2856 kJ·mol−1
3rd: 4578.1 kJ·mol−1
Atomic radius 65 pm
Atomic radius (calc.) 56 pm
Covalent radius 75 pm
Van der Waals radius 155 pm
Miscellaneous
Magnetic ordering diamagnetic
(300 K) 25.83 ×
Thermal conductivity
10−3 W·m−1·K−1
Speed of sound (gas, 27 °C) 353 m/s
CAS registry number 7727-37-9
 • Nitrogen was first discovered in 1772 by Daniel Rutherford, a Scottish physician
and chemist.
• Elementary nitrogen constitutes three-forth of air by weight
• It is also abundant in the combined state as salpetre(KNO3),sodium nitrate (chile
salpetre) and ammonium salts.
• Nitrogen (Latin nitrogenium, where nitrum (from Greek nitron) means "saltpetre"
, and genes means "forming") is formally considered to have been discovered by
Daniel Rutherford in 1772, who called it noxious air or fixed air.
• Nitrogen is an essential constituent of all vegetable and animal proteins
•

NITROGEN GROUP
*The elements N , P, As, Sb, Bi , Uup Constitute the fifteenth group of periodic table.this
group is called nitrogen group

* This group consists of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), antimony (Sb),
bismuth (Bi) and ununpentium (Uup) (unconfirmed)

* The general E.C of the group is ns 2 np 3

*This group has the defining characteristic that all the component elements have 5
electrons in their outermost shell, that is 2 electrons in the s subshell and 3 unpaired
electrons in the p subshell

* These electrons are equally distributed as px1 py1 pz1 which correspond to half filled
configuration

*These elements are also noted for their stability in compounds due to their tendency for
forming double and triple covalent bonds

*When these substances react with various chemicals of the body, they create strong free
radicals not easily processed by the liver, where they accumulate. Paradoxically it is this
strong bonding which causes nitrogen and bismuth's reduced toxicity (when in
molecules), as these form strong bonds with other atoms which are difficult to split,
creating very unreactive molecules. For example N2, the diatomic form of nitrogen, is
used for inert atmosphere in situations where argon or another noble gas would be
prohibitively expensive

*As we go round the group , the two electrons present in the valence s-orbitol becomes
inert and only the three electrons present in the outer most p-orbitols are involved in
chemical combinations
*this is known as inert pair effect

* as we move from nitrogen to bismuth, the penta valency becomes less pronounced
while trivalency becomes more pronounced

FIXATION OF NITROGEN IN NATURE

* Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its natural, relatively
inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds
(such as ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide).

MANUFACTURE OF AMMONIA
• Joseph priestly was the first one to prepare hydrogen in 1744 by heating slaked
lime with sal ammonic
• Ammonia is an important chemical that is used to manufacture fertilizers such as
ammonium sulphate, and ammonium phosphate.
• It is also used in the preparation of plastics, nylon etc;

• A mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen in the ratio 1:3 under pressure (200-900 atm)
is passed over a catalyst finely divided iron and molybdenum as promoter,heated
to about 770k
• N2 + 3H2 2NH3
• The ammonia so manufactured can be oxidised to nitric oxide by passing a
mixture of ammonia and air over heated platinum guaze at 1070k.
• Nitric oxide combines with more of oxygen to give nitrogen dioxide which when
observed in water in the presence of exess of air, gives nitric acid(Ostwald’s
process)
• 4NH3 + 5O2 4NO+6HO2

• 2NO+O2 2NO2
• 4NO2+2H20+O2 4HNO3
• Ammonia and nitric acid manufactured above may be converted into ammonium
salts and nitrates suitable as fertilizers.Thus these meathods of nitrogen fixation
are of vital importance to the agriculturists.
NITROGEN FIXATION IN NATURE
• Due to electrical disturbances atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen combine to give
nitric oxide which gets further oxidised to nitrogen dioxide.
• This reacts with rain water in the presence of exess of oxygen to produce nitric
acid and is washed down to earth.
• Here it reacts with bases of the soil to give nitrates.
• In addition to this certain bacteria living in the nodules on the routes of
leguminous plants e.g. pea, beans, etc; convert nitrogen into nitrogenous
compounds which can be directly assimilated by the plant.

NITROGEN CYCLE

• Ther is a continoul turnover of nitrogen between the atmosphere, the soil, the sea
and living organisms.
• The nitrogen passes from atmosphere to plants and animals, converted into useful
products like ammonia,nitric acid etc.
• And still its percentage in the atmosphere remains practically unchanged
• This is due to the fact that combined nitrogen is constantly passing back to the
atmosphere.
• This cycle of changes involved is known as nitrogen cycle.

USES OF NITROGEN COMPOUNDS

 • Liquid ammonia is used as solvent
• Ammonia is used as a refrigerant in ice plants
• Ammonia is used in the manufacture of artificial silk,urea,manures,washing soda
etc;
• Nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen is used as anaesthetic for minor operations in
dentidtry and surgery.
• Nitrous acid is used in the manufacture of azo-dyes.
• Nitric acid is used in the manufacture of fertilizers , explosives like TNT,GTN,etc.
• Nitric acid is used in the purification of gold and silver.
• Nitric acid is used in picking of stainless stell.
• Nitric acid is used in the manufacture of perfumes , artificial silk , medicine etc.
• Liquid nitrogen is used as a refrigerant.

Other uses:

*Fertilizer

Approximately 83% (as of 2003) of ammonia is used as fertilizers either as its salts or as
solutions. Consuming more than 1% of all man-made power, the production of ammonia
is a significant component of the world energy budget.

Precursor to nitrogenous compounds

Ammonia is directly or indirectly the precursor to most nitrogen-containing compounds.

Practically all synthetic and all inorganic nitrogen compounds are prepared from
ammonia. An important derivative is nitric acid. This key material is generated via the
Ostwald process by oxidisation of ammonia with air over a platinum catalyst at 700 - 850
°C, ~9 atm. Nitric oxide is an intermediate:

NH3 + 2 O2 → HNO3 + H2O

Nitric acid is used for the production of fertilizers, explosives, and natural organonitrogen
other chemical compounds.

Minor and emerging uses

Refrigeration - R717

Ammonia's thermodynamic properties made it one of the refrigerants commonly used

prior to the discovery of dichlorodifluoromethane. Ammonia's toxicity complicates this
application. Anhydrous ammonia is widely used in industrial refrigeration applications
because of its high energy efficiency and low cost. Ammonia is used less frequently in
commercial applications, such as in grocery store freezer cases and refrigerated displays
due to its toxicity.

For remediation of gaseous emissions

Ammonia used to scrub SO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, the resulting product is
converted to ammonium sulfate for use as fertilizer. Ammonia neutralizes the nitrogen
oxides (NOx) pollutants emitted by diesel engines. This technology, called SCR
(selective catalytic reduction), relies on a vanadia-based catalyst.

As a fuel

Ammonia was used during World War II to power buses in Belgium, and in engine and
solar energy applications prior to 1900. Liquid ammonia was used as the fuel of the
rocket airplane, the X-15. Although not as powerful as other fuels, it left no soot in the
reusable rocket engine and its density approximately matches that for the oxidizer, liquid
oxygen, which simplified the aircraft's design.

As a vehicle fuel

Ammonia is proposed as a practical and clean alternative to fossil fuel for internal
combustion engines. The biggest obstacle is the enormous increase in production required
since present production, although the second most produced chemical, is a very small
fraction of world petroleum usage. Ammonia has no more serious issues, as an alternative
vehicle fuel compared to petrol or diesel, including toxicity, flammability, use in engines,
pollution, energy density .It does require twice the storage volume of petrol/diesel. It can
run in existing engines. It is already widely produced and distributed, and can be
manufactured from renewable energy sources, coal or nuclear power. The main down
side is that overall it is significantly less efficient than batteries. The 60 MW Rjukan dam
in Telemark Norway, was producing ammonia via electrolysis of water for many years
from 1913 producing fertilizer for much of Europe. Ammonia is already produced,
transported and stored on a vast scale. In combination with coal gas it was used to run 20
buses on 8 routes covering many tens of thousands of miles with no injuries or engine
damage.It can be used in existing engines with only minor modifications to carburetors /
injectors. If produced from coal, the CO2 can be readily sequestrated. (the combustion
products are nitrogen and water). In 1981 a Canadian company converted a 1981
Chevrolet Impala to operate using ammonia as fuel. The use of ammonia as fuel
continues to be discussed. There are prototype solid state processes to use electricity to
convert nitrogen and water directly to ammonia, which are claimed to be cheaper, more
efficient and capable of much smaller scale application ie to otherwise stranded assets
such as remote wind turbines.

The calorific value of ammonia is 22.5 MJ/kg (9690 BTU/lb) which is about half that of
diesel. In a normal engine, in which the water vapor is not condensed, the calorific value
of ammonia will be about 21% less than this figure.

Textile

Liquid ammonia is used for treatment of cotton materials, give a properties like
mercerisation using alkalies. And also used for pre-washing of wool.

Poison treatment

Solutions of ammonia in water can be applied on the skin to lessen the effects of acidic
animal poisons, especially insect poison and jellyfish poison.
FIXATION OF NITROGEN IN NATURE

* Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its natural, relatively
inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds
(such as ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide).

MANUFACTURE OF AMMONIA
• Joseph priestly was the first one to prepare hydrogen in 1744 by heating slaked
lime with sal ammonic
• Ammonia is an important chemical that is used to manufacture fertilizers such as
ammonium sulphate, and ammonium phosphate.
• It is also used in the preparation of plastics, nylon etc;

• A mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen in the ratio 1:3 under pressure (200-900 atm)
is passed over a catalyst finely divided iron and molybdenum as promoter,heated
to about 770k
• N2 + 3H2 2NH3
• The ammonia so manufactured can be oxidised to nitric oxide by passing a
mixture of ammonia and air over heated platinum guaze at 1070k.
• Nitric oxide combines with more of oxygen to give nitrogen dioxide which when
observed in water in the presence of exess of air, gives nitric acid(Ostwald’s
process)
• 4NH3 + 5O2 4NO+6HO2

• 2NO+O2 2NO2
• 4NO2+2H20+O2 4HNO3
• Ammonia and nitric acid manufactured above may be converted into ammonium
salts and nitrates suitable as fertilizers.Thus these meathods of nitrogen fixation
are of vital importance to the agriculturists.

NITROGEN FIXATION IN NATURE

• Due to electrical disturbances atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen combine to give
nitric oxide which gets further oxidised to nitrogen dioxide.
• This reacts with rain water in the presence of exess of oxygen to produce nitric
acid and is washed down to earth.
• Here it reacts with bases of the soil to give nitrates.
• In addition to this certain bacteria living in the nodules on the routes of
leguminous plants e.g. pea, beans, etc; convert nitrogen into nitrogenous
compounds which can be directly assimilated by the plant.

NITROGEN CYCLE

• Ther is a continoul turnover of nitrogen between the atmosphere, the soil, the sea
and living organisms.
• The nitrogen passes from atmosphere to plants and animals, converted into useful
products like ammonia,nitric acid etc.
• And still its percentage in the atmosphere remains practically unchanged
• This is due to the fact that combined nitrogen is constantly passing back to the
atmosphere.
• This cycle of changes involved is known as nitrogen cycle.

USES OF NITROGEN COMPOUNDS

• Liquid ammonia is used as solvent
• Ammonia is used as a refrigerant in ice plants
• Ammonia is used in the manufacture of artificial silk,urea,manures,washing soda
etc;
 • Nitrous oxide mixed with oxygen is used as anaesthetic for minor operations in
dentidtry and surgery.
• Nitrous acid is used in the manufacture of azo-dyes.
• Nitric acid is used in the manufacture of fertilizers , explosives like TNT,GTN,etc.
• Nitric acid is used in the purification of gold and silver.
• Nitric acid is used in picking of stainless stell.
• Nitric acid is used in the manufacture of perfumes , artificial silk , medicine etc.
• Liquid nitrogen is used as a refrigerant.

Other uses:

*Fertilizer

Approximately 83% (as of 2003) of ammonia is used as fertilizers either as its salts or as
solutions. Consuming more than 1% of all man-made power, the production of ammonia
is a significant component of the world energy budget.

Precursor to nitrogenous compounds

Ammonia is directly or indirectly the precursor to most nitrogen-containing compounds.

Practically all synthetic and all inorganic nitrogen compounds are prepared from
ammonia. An important derivative is nitric acid. This key material is generated via the
Ostwald process by oxidisation of ammonia with air over a platinum catalyst at 700 - 850
°C, ~9 atm. Nitric oxide is an intermediate:

NH3 + 2 O2 → HNO3 + H2O

Nitric acid is used for the production of fertilizers, explosives, and natural organonitrogen
other chemical compounds.

Minor and emerging uses

Refrigeration - R717

Ammonia's thermodynamic properties made it one of the refrigerants commonly used

prior to the discovery of dichlorodifluoromethane. Ammonia's toxicity complicates this
application. Anhydrous ammonia is widely used in industrial refrigeration applications
because of its high energy efficiency and low cost. Ammonia is used less frequently in
commercial applications, such as in grocery store freezer cases and refrigerated displays
due to its toxicity.

For remediation of gaseous emissions

Ammonia used to scrub SO2 from the burning of fossil fuels, the resulting product is
converted to ammonium sulfate for use as fertilizer. Ammonia neutralizes the nitrogen
oxides (NOx) pollutants emitted by diesel engines. This technology, called SCR
(selective catalytic reduction), relies on a vanadia-based catalyst.

As a fuel
Ammonia was used during World War II to power buses in Belgium, and in engine and
solar energy applications prior to 1900. Liquid ammonia was used as the fuel of the
rocket airplane, the X-15. Although not as powerful as other fuels, it left no soot in the
reusable rocket engine and its density approximately matches that for the oxidizer, liquid
oxygen, which simplified the aircraft's design.

As a vehicle fuel

Ammonia is proposed as a practical and clean alternative to fossil fuel for internal
combustion engines. The biggest obstacle is the enormous increase in production required
since present production, although the second most produced chemical, is a very small
fraction of world petroleum usage. Ammonia has no more serious issues, as an alternative
vehicle fuel compared to petrol or diesel, including toxicity, flammability, use in engines,
pollution, energy density .It does require twice the storage volume of petrol/diesel. It can
run in existing engines. It is already widely produced and distributed, and can be
manufactured from renewable energy sources, coal or nuclear power. The main down
side is that overall it is significantly less efficient than batteries. The 60 MW Rjukan dam
in Telemark Norway, was producing ammonia via electrolysis of water for many years
from 1913 producing fertilizer for much of Europe. Ammonia is already produced,
transported and stored on a vast scale. In combination with coal gas it was used to run 20
buses on 8 routes covering many tens of thousands of miles with no injuries or engine
damage.It can be used in existing engines with only minor modifications to carburetors /
injectors. If produced from coal, the CO2 can be readily sequestrated. (the combustion
products are nitrogen and water). In 1981 a Canadian company converted a 1981
Chevrolet Impala to operate using ammonia as fuel. The use of ammonia as fuel
continues to be discussed. There are prototype solid state processes to use electricity to
convert nitrogen and water directly to ammonia, which are claimed to be cheaper, more
efficient and capable of much smaller scale application ie to otherwise stranded assets
such as remote wind turbines.

The calorific value of ammonia is 22.5 MJ/kg (9690 BTU/lb) which is about half that of
diesel. In a normal engine, in which the water vapor is not condensed, the calorific value
of ammonia will be about 21% less than this figure.

Textile

Liquid ammonia is used for treatment of cotton materials, give a properties like
mercerisation using alkalies. And also used for pre-washing of wool.

Poison treatment

Solutions of ammonia in water can be applied on the skin to lessen the effects of acidic
animal poisons, especially insect poison and jellyfish poison.