nitrogen

Also known as element 7, N, ₇N

Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at seventh in total abundance in the Milky Way and the Solar System. At standard temperature and pressure, two atoms of the element bond to form N2, a colourless and odourless diatomic gas. N2 forms about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, making it the most abundant chemical species in air. Because of the volatility of nitrogen compounds, nitrogen is relatively rare in the s

OverviewAI-generated

Nitrogen is a chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. It is classified as a nonmetal and an atmophile element. The element was discovered in 1772 in the United Kingdom by Daniel Rutherford. Its name is derived from nitre and life.

Nitrogen has an atomic mass of 14.007 and an electronegativity of 3. Its electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p³. It is part of period 2 and group 15, and its chemical formula is N₂. The element exhibits oxidation states of -3, -2, -1, and 1. It is used as a food additive.

Synthesized by Vinony from 25 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Key facts

Nitrogen.engvar: en-GB

via Wikipedia infobox

Research

355,044 papers

Prospects and challenges for nitrogen-atom transfer catalysis.ReviewNature reviews. Chemistry · 2023Cosio MN, Powers DCDOI: 10.1038/s41570-023-00482-1
The function of high-affinity urea transporters in nitrogen-deficient conditions.ReviewPhysiologia plantarum · 2021Beier MP, Kojima SDOI: 10.1111/ppl.13303
Technologies to recover nitrogen from livestock manure - A review.ReviewThe Science of the total environment · 2021Pandey B, Chen LDOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147098
Air-breathing and excretory nitrogen metabolism in fishes.ReviewActa histochemica · 2018Ip YK, Chew SFDOI: 10.1016/j.acthis.2018.08.013
Dissolved inorganic nitrogen as an overlooked precursor of nitrogenous disinfection byproducts - A critical review.ReviewWater research · 2025Li X, Bond T, Tan X et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.122654
The Intramolecular Povarov Tool in the Construction of Fused Nitrogen-Containing Heterocycles.ReviewTopics in current chemistry (Cham) · 2023Masdeu C, de Los Santos JM, Palacios F et al.DOI: 10.1007/s41061-023-00428-7
Stereocontrolled 1,3-nitrogen migration to access chiral α-amino acids.Nature chemistry · 2022Ye CX, Shen X, Chen S et al.DOI: 10.1038/s41557-022-00895-3
Regulatory links between carbon and nitrogen metabolism.ReviewCurrent opinion in microbiology · 2006Commichau FM, Forchhammer K, Stülke JDOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2006.01.001

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~56 min read

Encyclopedic overview

28 sections

Contents

History
Properties
Atomic
Isotopes
Allotropes
Chemistry and compounds
Dinitrogen complexes
Nitrides, azides, and nitrido complexes
Hydrides
Halides and oxohalides
Oxides
Oxoacids, oxoanions, and oxoacid salts
Organic nitrogen compounds
Occurrence
Production
Applications
Gas{{anchor|Nitrogen_gas}}
Equipment
Execution
Liquid
Safety
Gas
Liquid
Oxygen deficiency monitors
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

It was first discovered and isolated by Scottish physician Daniel Rutherford in 1772 and independently by Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Henry Cavendish at about the same time. The name was suggested by French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal in 1790 when it was found that nitrogen was present in nitric acid and nitrates. Antoine Lavoisier suggested instead the name azote, from the "no life", as it is an asphyxiant gas; this name is used in a number of languages, and appears in the English names of some nitrogen compounds such as hydrazine, azides and azo compounds.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “nitrogen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.