Ch 12: Nitrogen

• Nitrogen's unreactivity is due to its strong triple bond and it takes a lot of energy to break this bond
• Ammonia is a weak base and common alkaline gas
• Nitrogen is the main unreactive gas in the air that dilutes the effects of oxygen, a reactive gas
• The dative covalent bond acts like an ordinary covalent bond so the ammonium ion is a tetrahedral shape.
• Nitrogen and Oxygen react together during thunderstorms
• In ammonia, the lone pair of nitrogen is able to accept a proton relatively easily to form ammonium ion

  
• If NaOH is added to an ammonium salt and is warmed, then ammonia gas will be evolved.
• This rxn can be used to test the presence of ammonium ion. The ammonia will turn damp red litmus paper blue

  
• Uses of ammonia:

  • making fertilizers
  • ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate
  • making nitric acid
• Uses of nitric acid

  • make fertilizers
  • ammonium nitrate
  • make explosives
  • making various dyes, drugs, polymers
• Environmental consequences of nitrate fertilizers:

  • very soluble so they wash into rivers
  • nitrates then fertilize the algae
  • algae block out sunlight -> other plants die
  • bacteria feeding on decaying plants use the oxygen in water and river life dies
  • Eutrophication