Discovered in 1772, nitrogen gas comprises most of the air we breathe. As strange as it might sound, you need nitrogen to live, and it’s present in many of the foods you eat, including meat, fish and milk. But did you know liquid nitrogen boils at -195.8°C? Here are a few more fun nitrogen facts that you might not know!
Nitrogen Fact 1 – How Much Nitrogen is in You?
The human body is an amazing thing – it consists of many different elements, from oxygen to carbon. Nitrogen is the fourth most abundant element you can find in the human body at 3.2 percent. Which means that 3.2 percent of your body mass is nitrogen!
Nitrogen Fact 2 – Should We Ever Run Out of Nitrogen
As essential as nitrogen is, we don’t think it’ll ever run out! Nitrogen comprises 78 percent of our atmosphere, but if we ever need some more, Saturn’s moon Titan has an atmosphere that is almost entirely made out of nitrogen – an astonishing 98 percent.
Nitrogen Fact 3 – Keeping Plants Healthy
Plants need more than sun and water to be their happy, healthy selves. Nitrogen helps them to grow strong and grow new leaves. The yellow you see in plants shows a lack of nitrogen; because the gas moves freely within the plant, older parts of the plant can yellow more than younger parts.
Nitrogen Fact 4 – Making Sure Your Air Conditioning is Safe
Nitrogen helps to clean your air conditioner, making sure that your home is healthy and safe! The gas is harmless to both the environment and your air conditioning unit, and regularly cleaning it with nitrogen guarantees a contamination-free unit – perfect if you have allergies.
Nitrogen Fact 5 – Protecting Your Crisps
Do you know the disappointment of buying a bag of crisps only to find out that more than half of the contents is air? We sure do! But that’s not air that you paid for, it’s nitrogen. The gas helps to prevent oxidisation, as oxygen easily combines with other molecules, producing stale crisps. Although it may not seem like much comfort when you find so few crisps in a packet!
Nitrogen Fact 6 – It’s A Great Remover
Did you know that nitrogen in its liquid form looks extremely similar to water? However, unlike water, liquid nitrogen is so cold that it burns! As a result, it is often used in medical applications such as the removal of warts.
Nitrogen Fact 7 – NASA and Nitrogen
According to MASA, nitrogen plays a huge part in the Aurora formation, famous in the Antarctic and Arctic regions. But, do you know how auroras are made? When high-speed electrons from outer space collide with nitrogen and oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere, it creates an aurora.
There are several more fun facts about nitrogen we could mention, but there are too many! Here we have listed some more for you:
Nitrous Oxide (also known as laughing gas) is used to perform some dental procedures. It keeps the patient calm and is an effective way of relieving pain.
Nitrogen is used to prevent beer from going flat.
The atomic number for Nitrogen is 7 and its symbol is N.
Here at Adams Gas we care about every aspect of your life, which is why we supply only high-quality nitrogen gas bottles. We always ensure safety is a top priority, and all of our products are regularly tested to make sure that you can safely handle them.
For more information about our services, feel free to get in touch by calling 01843 220 596 or emailing sales@adamsgas.co.uk – our friendly team will happily answer any query you might have!
