Engineering

New quantum sensing technique reveals magnetic connections

Say you notice a sudden drop in temperature on both your patio and kitchen thermometers. At first, you think it's because of a cold snap, so you crank up the heat in your home. Then you realize that while the outside has ...

Energy & Green Tech

Researchers create green fuel with the flip of a light switch

Researchers at Princeton and Rice universities have combined iron, copper, and a simple LED light to demonstrate a low-cost technique that could be key to distributing hydrogen, a fuel that packs high amounts of energy with ...

Energy & Green Tech

EU proposes emission rules for last combustion engine cars

The European Union's executive arm proposed pollution standards Thursday for new combustion engine vehicles that are expected to remain on European roads well after the 27-nation bloc bans their sale in 2035.

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Nitrogen

Nitrogen (pronounced /ˈnaɪtrədʒɨn/) is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.

Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid, organic nitrates (propellants and explosives), and cyanides, contain nitrogen. The extremely strong bond in elemental nitrogen dominates nitrogen chemistry, causing difficulty for both organisms and industry in converting the N2 into useful compounds, and releasing large amounts of energy when these compounds burn or decay back into nitrogen gas.

The element nitrogen was discovered by Daniel Rutherford, a Scottish physician, in 1772. Nitrogen occurs in all living organisms. It is a constituent element of amino acids and thus of proteins, and of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). It resides in the chemical structure of almost all neurotransmitters, and is a defining component of alkaloids, biological molecules produced by many organisms.

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