When was nitrogen first used in farming?
In 1909, a German chemist named Fritz Haber developed a high-temperature, energy-intensive process to synthesize plant-available nitrate from air. And so agriculture’s millennia-old nitrogen-cycling problem was solved. Today’s industrial-scale farms would not be possible without it.
Why was nitrate extracted in Chile?
Through its military triumph, Chile acquired a monopoly on the world’s supply of natural nitrates. Using the British-derived Shanks process of producing carbonate of soda, the ore was crushed and mixed with water, permitting the extraction of the pure nitrates.
Where was nitrate discovered?
ACCORDING to legend the nitrate of soda beds of Northern Chile, or of Southern Peru as they were at that time, are said to have been discovered by a native woodcutter named Negreiros, of the Pampa of Tamarugal, by his having made a fire at a certain spot, which still preserves his name, and observing that the ground …
When was nitrate discovered?
Nitrates were first described by T. Haenke, a naturalist engaged in the expedition led by the Spanish scientist Alejandro Malaspina (1754–1810) in 1798.
What is the origin of nitrogen?
Nitrogen was discovered by Daniel Rutherford (GB) in 1772. The origin of the name comes from the Greek words nitron genes meaning nitre and forming and the Latin word nitrum (nitre is a common name for potassium nitrate, KNO3). Nitrogen is obtained from liquid air by fractional distillation.
How was nitrogen formed?
On a small scale, pure nitrogen is made by heating barium azide, Ba(N3)2. Various laboratory reactions that yield nitrogen include heating ammonium nitrite (NH4NO2) solutions, oxidation of ammonia by bromine water, and oxidation of ammonia by hot cupric oxide.
Why is sodium nitrate only found in desert?
For decades, the simple explanation was that millions of years of evaporation concentrated the nitrates near the desert surface. The minerals were brought in as sea spray carried on fog, or as rain during short-lived climate shifts to wetter periods.
What does saltpeter look like?
Pure saltpeter or potassium nitrate is a white crystalline solid, usually encountered as a powder. Most potassium nitrate is produced using a chemical reaction of nitric acid and potassium salts, but bat guano was an important historical natural source.
How nitrate is formed?
Nitrate is a nitrogen oxoanion formed by loss of a proton from nitric acid. Principal species present at pH 7.3. It is a nitrogen oxoanion, a member of reactive nitrogen species and a monovalent inorganic anion. It is a conjugate base of a nitric acid.
What are nitrates made of?
Nitrates (NO3) consist of one nitrogen atom and three oxygen atoms. Nitrites (NO2) consist of one nitrogen atom and two oxygen atoms. Nitrates are relatively inert, which means they’re stable and unlikely to change and cause harm.
Where is nitrogen naturally found?
Nitrogen is in the soil under our feet, in the water we drink, and in the air we breathe. In fact, nitrogen is the most abundant element in Earth’s atmosphere: approximately 78% of the atmosphere is nitrogen! Nitrogen is important to all living things, including us.
Who gave nitrogen its name?
Nitrogen was named by French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1790. He named it after the mineral niter when he found that niter contained the gas. Niter is also called saltpeter or potassium nitrate.
How did the industrial production of nitrogen prolonged World War I?
The industrial production of nitrogen prolonged World War I by providing Germany with the gunpowder and explosives necessary for the war effort even though it no longer had access to guano.
What is the history of nitrogen?
But then, to make a long and complicated story short, in the 19th century European scientists figured out the science behind nitrogen’s central role in plant growth, just as the industrial revolution was pushing more people off of farms and into cities.
Who uses the most nitrogen in the world?
Today, the United States remains a massive nitrogen-fertilizer user; with just 5 percent of the world’s population, we consume about 12 percent of global nitrogen-fertilizer production.
What was the primary source of fertilizer in the 19th century?
Small amounts of bone meal and blood meal were used, but the primary source of fertilizer was manure and plowed-down legumes. There were several obstacles to chemical fertilizer use: Chemical (artificial) fertilizers were relatively expensive due, in part, to limited availability.