28 résultats pour "nitrogen"

• Nitrogen - chemistry.

• Air - chemistry.

  lighting systems, fertilizers, and semiconductors (substances used to make the chips in computers, calculators, televisions, microwave ovens, and many other electronicdevices). A Oxygen More than half of the oxygen produced in the United States is used by the steel industry, which injects the gas into basic oxygen furnaces to heat and produce steel(see Iron and Steel Manufacture: Basic Oxygen Process ). Metalworkers also combine oxygen with acetylene to produce high-temperature torch flames th...

• Acid Rain.

  the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, a quarter of the lakes and ponds are acidic, and many have lost their brook trout and other fish. In the middleAppalachian Mountains, over 1,300 streams are afflicted. All of Norway’s major rivers have been damaged by acid rain, severely reducing salmon and trout populations. E Plants and Animals The effects of acid rain on wildlife can be far-reaching. If a population of one plant or animal is adversely affected by acid rain, animals that feed on tha...

• Diving (underwater).

  compensator (or control) device (BCD or BC), which the diver wears as a vest. By adding air to the BCD, the diver becomes more buoyant and rises. By releasing air,the diver becomes less buoyant and sinks. With minor adjustments of air, the diver can achieve neutral buoyancy. A third hose attaches to pressure gauges that diversuse to monitor how much air remains in the tank. A fourth hose attaches to a backup breathing device called an alternate air source, or octopus. Divers also wear a belt w...

• Hydrogen - chemistry.

  Hydrogen gas does not usually react with other chemicals at room temperature. That is, it does not split into two hydrogen atoms to combine with other chemicals. Thebond between the hydrogen atoms is very strong and can only be broken with a large amount of energy. However, when heated with a flame or a spark, hydrogen gaswill react violently with oxygen in the air to produce water in the following reaction: 2H2 + O 2 → 2H 2O This chemical equation shows that two hydrogen molecules (H 2) and o...

• Organic Chemistry - chemistry.

  B Alkenes and Alkynes Isomeric with the cyclanes, or cycloalkanes as they are sometimes called, is the family of alkenes, also represented by the general formula C nH2n. This family of hydrocarbons is characterized by one or more double bonds between carbon atoms. Propene and cyclopropane, for example, are isomers, as are 1,3-dimethylcyclohexane and 3,4-dimethyl-2-hexene. (The location of the double bond is indicated by the 2-hexene part of the name.) Double bonds may also occur incyclic compou...

• Prokaryote - biology.

  earliest organisms to evolve, an estimated 3.4 billion to 3.5 billion years ago. The environment of the early Earth lacked oxygen, and cyanobacteria probably usedfermentation (a chemical process performed without the presence of oxygen) to produce the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Cyanobacteria introduced oxygen into the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. As the oxygen content in the atmosphere increased over the centuries, bacteria evolved that usedthis oxygen in...

• Nova - astronomy.

  When first discovered, the spectrum of a nova shows that the expanding layers of gas that cause the brightening have temperatures of 40,000° to 50,000° C (70,000°to 90,000° F)—about eight times as hot as the surface of the Sun. By the time a nova reaches maximum brightness, the temperature of the material has fallen to about10,000° C (about 20,000° F), or lower. Just after maximum brightness, the escaping cloud of gas cools and expands enough to become transparent. This transparency allows astro...

• Neutron I INTRODUCTION Neutron, electrically neutral elementary particle that is part of the nucleus of the atom.

  Beta DecayBeta decay can occur in two ways. As shown on the left, a neutron turns into a proton by emitting an antineutrino and anegatively charged beta particle. As shown on the right, a proton turns into a neutron by emitting a neutrino and apositively charged beta particle. Positive beta particles are called positrons and negative beta particles are called electrons.After the decay, the nucleus of the atom contains either one less or one more proton. Beta decay changes an atom of oneelement i...

• Natural Satellite - astronomy.

  Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, also has few impact craters. Although icy volcanism from water and ammonia may occur along with some tectonic activity, Titan’s youngsurface is most likely the result of weather processes. Titan’s dense, cold atmosphere precipitates particles of complex organic molecules that accumulate as dunes andmountains. Methane rain erodes the surface and creates lakes at the moon’s poles. Triton’s young surface also may result from processes in its atmosphere, as well aserupt...

• Inorganic Chemistry - chemistry.

  two electrically charged plates (positively charged top plate and negatively charged bottom plate). By measuring the difference in how fast these electron-laden oildrops fell when the metal plates were charged and uncharged, Millikan was able to calculate the total charge on each oil drop. Because each measurement was a wholenumber multiple of -1.60 × 10 -19 coulombs, Millikan concluded this was the charge carried by a single electron. Using Thomson’s electron charge-to-mass ratio, Millikan then...

• Greenhouse Effect.

  addition, humans cut down huge tracts of trees for lumber or to clear land for farming or building. This process, known as deforestation, can both release the carbonstored in trees and significantly reduce the number of trees available to absorb carbon dioxide. As a result of these human activities, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is accumulating faster than Earth’s natural processes can absorb the gas. By analyzing airbubbles trapped in glacier ice that is many centuries old, scientists have d...

• Ecology.

  an input of nutrients exceeding the capability of the ecosystem to process them. Nutrients eroded and leached from agricultural lands, along with sewage and industrialwastes accumulated from urban areas, all drain into streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These pollutants destroy plants and animals that cannot tolerate theirpresence or the changed environmental conditions caused by them; at the same time they favor a few organisms more tolerant to changed conditions. Thus,precipitation filled...

• Ecology - biology.

  an input of nutrients exceeding the capability of the ecosystem to process them. Nutrients eroded and leached from agricultural lands, along with sewage and industrialwastes accumulated from urban areas, all drain into streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These pollutants destroy plants and animals that cannot tolerate theirpresence or the changed environmental conditions caused by them; at the same time they favor a few organisms more tolerant to changed conditions. Thus,precipitation filled...

• Whale - biology.

  III BEHAVIOR OF WHALES Studies of whales in captivity have taught scientists much about the complex social behavior of whales. Since the late 1980s, advances in the use of satellite trackingsystems have also broadened opportunities for scientists to observe how whales behave in the wild. A Swimming and Diving Whales swim by making powerful up-and-down movements of the tail flukes, which provide thrust. The power comes from body muscles that flex the lower spine upand down in a wavelike motion...

• Environment.

  escape into space of the infrared energy radiated back out by Earth. This process is referred to as the greenhouse effect. These gases, primarily carbon dioxide,methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor, insulate Earth’s surface, helping to maintain warm temperatures. Without these gases, Earth would be a frozen planet with anaverage temperature of about -18°C (about 0°F) instead of a comfortable 15°C (59°F). If the concentration of these gases rises, they trap more heat within theatmosphere, caus...

• Air Pollution.

  Several pollutants attack the ozone layer. Chief among them is the class of chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), formerly used as refrigerants (notably in airconditioners), as agents in several manufacturing processes, and as propellants in spray cans. CFC molecules are virtually indestructible until they reach thestratosphere. Here, intense ultraviolet radiation breaks the CFC molecules apart, releasing the chlorine atoms they contain. These chlorine atoms begin reacting withozone, br...

• Molecule - chemistry.

  attracted to the negatively charged electrons between them. The electrons belong to the molecule as a whole. However, each hydrogen atom now has a complete outershell of two electrons. The formula H 2 describes a hydrogen molecule, a discrete unit. When a molecule contains just two atoms, such as the hydrogen molecule does, it is called a diatomic molecule. Some atoms can form covalent bonds with more than one other atom and thus create a larger molecule. Atoms form molecules with covalent bo...

• Gardening - biology.

  of synthetic and organic fertilizers, see Organic Farming.) Fertilizers usually are sold in packages, on which the percentage by weight of the macronutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) are listed on thelabel—always in the order N-P-K. For example, a fertilizer that is labeled 10-5-3 is 10 percent nitrogen, 5 percent phosphorus, and 3 percent potassium. V PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING Before planting seeds, gardeners prepare, or till, the soil using a variety of methods. Some...

• Conservation.

  cancers, Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Unfortunately, human activities have greatly reduced biodiversity around the world. The 20th century encompasses one of the greatest waves of extinction, orelimination of species, to occur on the planet. The greatest threat to biodiversity is loss of habitat as humans develop land for agriculture, grazing livestock, industry,and habitation. The most drastic damage has occurred in the tropical rain forests, which cover less than seven percent of the Earth’...

• Nanotechnology.

  ever-finer method of reducing material to the nanoscale size. Instead, nanostructures would be assembled atom by atom and molecule by molecule, from the atomiclevel up, just as occurs in nature. However, assembly at this scale has its own challenges. In school, children learn about some of these challenges when they study the random Brownian motion seen in particles suspended in liquids such as water. Theparticles themselves are not moving. Rather, the water molecules that surround the particles...

• Carbon - chemistry.

  Graphite is black and slippery and conducts electricity. In graphite, the atoms form planar, or flat, layers. Each layer is made up of rings containing six carbon atoms.The rings are linked to each other in a structure that resembles the hexagonal mesh of chicken wire. Each atom has three sigma bonds (with 120° between any two ofthe bonds) and belongs to three neighboring rings. The fourth electron of each atom becomes part of an extensive pi bond system. Graphite conducts electricity,because th...

• Ocean and Oceanography.

  of sediment. When studied in sedimentary core samples, which can represent many millions of years of deposits, they provide a detailed and continuous history of theearth’s environmental changes. The record is particularly informative for the most recent 2 million to 5 million years, during which major fluctuations in global climatehave occurred. Successive ice ages can be traced by the relative scarcity or abundance of the shells of warm-water and cold-water diatoms in various layers of asedimen...

• Ocean and Oceanography - Geography.

  of sediment. When studied in sedimentary core samples, which can represent many millions of years of deposits, they provide a detailed and continuous history of theearth’s environmental changes. The record is particularly informative for the most recent 2 million to 5 million years, during which major fluctuations in global climatehave occurred. Successive ice ages can be traced by the relative scarcity or abundance of the shells of warm-water and cold-water diatoms in various layers of asedimen...

• Helium - chemistry.

  the bends. This synthetic atmosphere is also used in medicine to relieve sufferers of respiratory difficulties because helium moves more easily than nitrogen throughconstricted respiratory passages. In surgery, beams of ionized helium from synchrocyclotron sources are proving useful in treating eye tumors, by stabilizing or evenshrinking the tumors. Such beams are also used to shrink blood-vessel malformations in the brains of patients. Helium is used in inert-gas arc welding for light metals, s...

• Aerospace Medicine - astronomy.

  medically as aeroembolism and popularly as the bends, leads to confusion, paralysis, or neurocirculatory collapse. The most characteristic symptoms of the bends arepain in the large joints resulting from pressure of the gas on tendons and nerves, together with spasm of the blood vessels. Preflight inhalation of pure oxygen toeliminate nitrogen from the system has proved valuable as a preventive measure. Rapid decompression, resulting from accidental failure at high altitudes of thepressure withi...

• Earth (planet).

  Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...

• Earth (planet) - astronomy.

  Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...