Nitrogen Cycle
What is the nitrogen cycle?
Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycle:
1. The animals produce dung
2. Ammonia gas which is NH3 (Nitrogen Hydrogen 3) comes out of the scat because animals eat these chemicals before they defecate
3. Ammonia gas rises due to it being less dense than air
4. The Dinitrogen is either brought back to the soil by plants, rain, or other sources
5. Once the soil has the nitrogen, it grows back into the plants.
6. The animals eat the plants and they produce more scat.
Marine Nitrogen Cycle:
1. Nitrogen is collected in the ocean from the air
2. The Nitrogen when interacting with the water turns into a substance called ammonium
3. The ammonium is consumed by microorganisms through a process called assimilation
4. Once the microorganisms die, they release the ammonium into the sea water, where it is turned back into nitrogen by other organisms in the ocean
5. The nitrogen is released back into the ocean where in most cases begins the cycle again
Name at least three chemical compounds (consist of more than one element combined into a chemical) that are fundamental parts of the nitrogen cycle.
Volatilisation NH3 (Nitrogen, 3 Hydrogen)
Nitrous Oxide NOx (Nitrogen, x amount of Oxygen)
Nitrate NO3 (Nitrogen, 3 Oxygen)
What is nitrogen? Describe the element and what defines it.
Nitrogen is a colorless and odorless gas(or sometimes liquid) that makes up 78% of the atmospheres volume. The compounds that nitrogen make up are vital in order for a lot of foods, fertilizers, and explosives. Without nitrogen, the world could be a completely different place. It possesses the atomic number 7, and goes by the symbol of N.
What are the differences between the marine and terrestrial nitrogen cycles?
The difference between the two cycles are that the terrestrial cycle is more based on the dung and carcasses of land animals and the marine cycle is based off of microorganisms.
How do people contribute to changes in the nitrogen cycle?
Fossil fuels convert old animals and plants that died and convert them to highly concentrated forms of energy like oil or coal. All of the animals and plants contain lots of nitrogen, so through the process of being burned and turned into energy, they are releasing nitrogen back up into the atmosphere which will eventually go through the water cycle and rained back onto the plants that the animals eat.
Farmers use fertilisers which contain nitrogen to enhance their product/harvest. Not all of the nitrogen get absorbed by the plants and it rises up into the atmosphere or sinks down deeper into the soil into streams or waterways which causes unwanted growth.
SOURCES:
Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycle:
1. The animals produce dung
2. Ammonia gas which is NH3 (Nitrogen Hydrogen 3) comes out of the scat because animals eat these chemicals before they defecate
3. Ammonia gas rises due to it being less dense than air
4. The Dinitrogen is either brought back to the soil by plants, rain, or other sources
5. Once the soil has the nitrogen, it grows back into the plants.
6. The animals eat the plants and they produce more scat.
Marine Nitrogen Cycle:
1. Nitrogen is collected in the ocean from the air
2. The Nitrogen when interacting with the water turns into a substance called ammonium
3. The ammonium is consumed by microorganisms through a process called assimilation
4. Once the microorganisms die, they release the ammonium into the sea water, where it is turned back into nitrogen by other organisms in the ocean
5. The nitrogen is released back into the ocean where in most cases begins the cycle again
Name at least three chemical compounds (consist of more than one element combined into a chemical) that are fundamental parts of the nitrogen cycle.
Volatilisation NH3 (Nitrogen, 3 Hydrogen)
Nitrous Oxide NOx (Nitrogen, x amount of Oxygen)
Nitrate NO3 (Nitrogen, 3 Oxygen)
What is nitrogen? Describe the element and what defines it.
Nitrogen is a colorless and odorless gas(or sometimes liquid) that makes up 78% of the atmospheres volume. The compounds that nitrogen make up are vital in order for a lot of foods, fertilizers, and explosives. Without nitrogen, the world could be a completely different place. It possesses the atomic number 7, and goes by the symbol of N.
What are the differences between the marine and terrestrial nitrogen cycles?
The difference between the two cycles are that the terrestrial cycle is more based on the dung and carcasses of land animals and the marine cycle is based off of microorganisms.
How do people contribute to changes in the nitrogen cycle?
Fossil fuels convert old animals and plants that died and convert them to highly concentrated forms of energy like oil or coal. All of the animals and plants contain lots of nitrogen, so through the process of being burned and turned into energy, they are releasing nitrogen back up into the atmosphere which will eventually go through the water cycle and rained back onto the plants that the animals eat.
Farmers use fertilisers which contain nitrogen to enhance their product/harvest. Not all of the nitrogen get absorbed by the plants and it rises up into the atmosphere or sinks down deeper into the soil into streams or waterways which causes unwanted growth.
SOURCES:
- http://swroc.cfans.umn.edu/prod/groups/cfans/@pub/@cfans/@swroc/documents/asset/cfans_asset_290224.jpg
- http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Soil-Farming-and-Science/Sci-Media/Interactive/The-terrestrial-nitrogen-cycle
- http://www.webelements.com/nitrogen/