Nitrogen, 2022

Kvävgas

Nitrogen. This molecule contains two nitrogen atoms that stick together. Nitrogen gas is often being used during production of medicines. 78% of the air we breathe contains nitrogen gas, but still nitrogen is in the same category as other suffocating gases (together with for example argon) but not necessarily with flammable or toxic gases. If nitrogen leaks out it will displace oxygen in the room space. Without oxygen (or with too little of it), the blood in the body can’t transport enough oxygen to the cells, that is needed for their function, and that can harm for example the brain or the heart if you don’t breathe enough.

Nitrogen’s chemical structure

This molecule has two nitrogen atoms binding with a triple bond. We found here one sigma bond, and the other bindings are called pi bindings. The first one is the strongest kind of a covalent binding. Those two Pi bonds in the nitrogen molecule are also covalent bindings, but their electron paths overlap partly (that is what Pi-binding means). There are different oxides of nitrogen:

(muscle relaxants) 2 NO + O2 ---> 2 NO2

Here above we see when nitric oxide/ nitrogen monoxide reacts with oxygen and forms two molecules of nitrogen oxide. The NO-molecule can be used during hypertension treatment (high blood-pressure treatment), because the blood vessels get relaxed, and the blood flow increases. The product of the reaction is called nitrogen dioxide, and is toxic to everything that lives (compare with chlorine gas).

NaNO3 + NH4Cl ---> N2O (laughing gas) + 2 H2O + NaCl

Another example of an oxide of nitrogen is N2O, dinitrogen monoxide or nitrous oxide, that is medicinally used as pain-relieving/ antidepressants. To generate it in a lab you need to mix NaNO3, sodium nitrate, with NH4Cl, ammonium chloride. And here below comes a third example of a reaction that involves oxides of nitrogen, even though there are many more. We are heating up NH4NO3, ammonium nitrate:

(heat in a lab) NH4NO3 ---> N2O (therapeutic laugh) + H2O