When did Daniel Rutherford discover nitrogen?
Daniel Rutherford discovered nitrogen in 1772. He identified a portion of air that could not support life or combustion and called it noxious air.
Common questions about Nitrogen
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who named the element nitrogen and when was the name proposed?
Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal named the element nitrogen in 1800. He derived the name from the French word nitre meaning saltpeter and the suffix -gène meaning producing.
What is the chemical formula and atomic number of nitrogen?
Nitrogen has the chemical symbol N and an atomic number of 7. Its most common form is a diatomic gas with the formula N2.
How does the Haber-Bosch process affect global food production?
The Haber-Bosch process allows for the large-scale synthesis of ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. Today half of global food production relies on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers produced by this method.
What safety risks are associated with liquid nitrogen?
Liquid nitrogen can cause cold burns and severe internal damage if ingested. It expands with a ratio of 1 to 694 at 20 degrees Celsius which can generate tremendous force and lead to catastrophic explosions.
When did the Space Shuttle technicians die from nitrogen asphyxiation?
Two technicians died from asphyxiation shortly before the launch of the first Space Shuttle mission on the 19th of March 1981. They walked into a space pressurized with pure nitrogen.