Nitrogen
1.
The cosmic abundance of nitrogen is 2.48x10 6 atoms per 106 atoms of silicon.
Nitrogen has 2 stable isotopes. This means that these stable nitrogen isotopes
can stay in their form in the natural universe for long periods of time and
therefore are relatively abundant.
2. Nitrogen has seven naturally occurring isotopes. Only 2 are stable. The stable
nuclides are nitrogen-14 and nitrogen-15. The unstable nuclides are 12N, 13N, 16N,
17
N, and 18N. The longest-lived (most abundant) radioactive isotopes are:
Thorium-232, T1/2 = 14.010x109a (daughter: Lead-208)
Uranium-238, T1/2 = 4.468x109a (daughter: Lead-206)
and
Rhenium-187, T1/2 = 45.6x109a (daughter: Osmium-187)
3. Nitrogen has very strong bonding tendencies. It exhibits every oxidation state
from –3 to +5. Being at the top left corner of the periodic table, nitrogen has
very high electronegativity, with an electronegativity of 3.0.
4. ionic radius:
0.16 Å (N+3)
0.13 Å (N+5)
Nitrogen is a major element.
5. The main use of nitrogen is in the production of ammonia. Ammonia is a leading
industrial chemical and is used for preparing fertilizers, fibers and plastics
(such as nylons and acrylics), and explosives. Other uses for nitrogen include
storage for reactive chemicals and processing food. It is inexpensive and inert.
Liquid nitrogen at –196oC is used for freezing food and as an environment for low
temperature reactions.
Also used in production of N2H4 (rocketfuel), and solid covalent nitrides (eg. BM)
for cutting and drilling.
6. On the Earth's surface, nitrogen occurs in many compounds. The most
prominent nitrogen use is the nitrogen cycle, in which nitrogen appears as N 2(gas),
NO, NO2, NH4+, NO2-, NO3-.
For use in question #5, basically just the production of NH 3, ammonia. This
process was made possible by Fritz Haber in 1090, called the Haber process:
N2(g) +3H2(g)  2NH3 (g)