




Page history last edited by Haley F 7 years, 8 months ago



By:Haley Finch 


     The element nitrogen was first manufactured in Egypt by combining salt, urine, and dung. Later, it was again discovered by Henry Cavendish and Joseph Priestly, but they identified it by separating oxygen from air.

They noticed that nitrogen extinguished a lit candle, and a mouse who inhaled a large quantity soon died. But neither one of them though it to be an element. In September of 1772, Daniel Rutherford, a Scottish physician, was the first to suggest that it was an element. It's name comes from the Greek 'nitron' and 'genes' meaning nitre forming. 




     A major usage of nitrogen is for producing ammonia, which is then used to create fertilizers. Ammonia is made by the Haber process, which is combining nitrogen and hydrogen. Nitrogen is crucial to the process of making ammonia because it is one of the two components used to make ammonia. Plastics, dyes, and explosives are also other things that use nitrogen. Liquid nitrogen is also used in missile work and by oil companies. They use the liquid nitrogen to create pressure in oil wells and force the crude oil upwards. Lastly, liquid nitrogen is used for medication in clinics. Liquid nitrogen's purpose is for the removal of warts. They apply the frozen liquid nitrogen (it is in a gas/liquid form) to the affected area, which freezes and kills the germs of the wart/infection.   



Atomic number and mass: 

     The atomic number of an element is the number of protons an atom contains. Nitrogen's atomic number is 7, which means an atom of nitrogen has 7 protons. An element's average atomic mass is the amount of protons plus neutrons in an atom. The average atomic mass is nitrogen is 14.0067, that's the amount of protons and neutrons together in a single atom.


Did you know...

 -That the earth's atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen.

-Many people use liquid nitrogen as a medication to remove warts.

-It's the fifth most abundant element in the universe. 

-Although nitrogen can be a fatal gas, ironically it's a crucial part of sustaining human life. The reason being it is a part of our DNA make up, so we need it to survive.

-It also makes up 78% of the volume of Earth's air.


Lastly, another interesting fact, is this picture and its representation to nitrogen. The importance

of nitrogen is shown in this picture through the wheat and lightning. It shows nitrogen's importance to agriculture growth, fertilizers, and the "nitrogen cycle". 

Here is a short quiz I made about Nitrogen!


Here is a cool video on how nitrogen can change the shape of a ballon!

*A good time to skip to is 1 min, then watch until 2 min 15 sec.*


Sites used:





Images used:




http://www.google.ca/imgres? q=history&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1126&bih=595&tbm=isch&tbnid=AGYz3MEelbBmFM:&imgrefurl=http://www.dryiceinfo.com/history.htm&docid=0LjUCbhlHq6jeM&imgurl=http://www.dryiceinfo.com/immages/history.gif&w=491&h=508&ei=S2-EUPG_LqLCyQHl8IGABQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=122&vpy=192&dur=1706&hovh=228&hovw=221&tx=110&ty=95&sig=103300802418194137421&page=2&tbnh=149&tbnw=144&start=16&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:20,i:215



(liquid nitrogen)


(question marks)



















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