Nitrogen fixation
Videos
Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (N2), which has a strong triple covalent bond, is converted into ammonia (NH3) or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. The nitrogen in air is molecular dinitrogen, a relatively nonreactive molecule that is metabolically useless to all but a few microorganisms. Biological nitrogen fixation or diazotrophy is an important microbe-mediated process that converts dinitrogen (N2) gas to ammonia (NH3) using the nitrogenase protein complex (Nif).
A sectioned alder tree root nodule
Lightning heats the air around it in a high-temperature plasma, breaking the bonds of N 2, starting the formation of nitrous acid (HNO 2).
Equipment for a study of nitrogen fixation by alpha rays (Fixed Nitrogen Research Laboratory, 1926)
Diazotroph
Videos
Diazotrophs are bacteria and archaea that fix atmospheric nitrogen(N2) in the atmosphere into bioavailable forms such as ammonia.
