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What percentage of the air is nitrogen?

User Shohel
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2 Answers

3 votes

Final answer:

About 78% of the Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen, which translates to over 20 million tons over every square mile. It is essential for life, forming part of proteins and genetic materials in organisms.

Step-by-step explanation:

The atmosphere of Earth is composed largely of nitrogen. By volume, 78% of our air is nitrogen, making it the most abundant gas in our atmosphere. This percentage translates to a staggering amount, with more than 20 million tons of nitrogen present over every square mile of Earth's surface. Nitrogen is not only pervasive in the atmosphere; it is also a crucial element for life, being a key component of proteins and genetic material, DNA and RNA, for all plants and animals. In industrial applications, pure nitrogen is often obtained through the process of fractional distillation of liquid air.

User Biodiscus
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6.0k points
4 votes

Answer:

78%

Step-by-step explanation:

Air is a mixture of nitrogen 78%, oxygen 21%, argon 0.9%, carbon dioxide 0.04% and other gases. Nitrogen is an element that makes up 78% of the air. It is essential to plants for protein synthesis. Though present in large quantities as free nitrogen gas in the atmosphere, it is taken up by plant roots only in the form of ions, such as nitrates and nitrites. Nitrogen is continually recycled in the ecosystem through biological processes involving bacteria.

User Peter The Russian
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4.2k points