7/27/2019 Www.cfaitc.org Factsheets PDF Nitrogen
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ThisisoneinaseriesoffactsheetscomposedbytheCaliforniaFoundationforAgricultureintheClassroom(CFAITC).Foradditionaleducationalmaterials:CFAITC,2300RiverPlazaDrive,Sacramento,CA95833-3293(916)561-5625
(800)700-AITC Fax:(916)561-5697Email:[email protected]
Website:www.LearnAboutAg.org
2011CaliforniaFoundationforAgricultureintheClassroom.Allrightsreserved
Plant UtilizationNitrogenisoneof
the17chemicalele-mentsrequiredforplantgrowthandreproduction.Nitrogenis
inchlorophyll,agreenchemicalwhichallowsplantstocap-tureenergy
fromthesunandmakefood for themselves in a processcalled
photosynthesis. It isalso thebasic element of plant and
animalproteins,includingthegeneticmate-rialDNAandRNA,andisimportantinperiodsofrapidplantgrowth.
ProductionNitrogenisanabundantelement on and around
Earthap-proximately78percentoftheEarthsatmosphereisnitrogengas(N
2).As
with allplant nutrients,
however,ni-trogenmustbeinspecicformstobeutilizedbyplants.ConvertingN
2into
nitrogenplantscanuseiscallednitro-genxation.Mostoften,nitrogengasisconvertedintoplantavailablenitrogenbyusingcomplexchemicalprocessesornitrogen-xingbacteria.
Mostmanufacturednitrogenfertilizersbeginasammonia.Attemperaturesof400C-500Candgreatpressure,nitrogenfromtheairandhydrogenfromnaturalgascombinetopro-duceammonia.Theammoniacan
beuseddirectlyor
fur-therprocessedintoothernitrogenfertilizers.Legumessuchasbeansandalfalfagrowspecializednodulesontheirroots.Rhizobia,nitrogen-xingbacteria,livein
theserootnodulesand convert atmosphericnitrogen into nitrogenplants
canuse.Farmerstakeadvantageofthisuniquesymbioticrela-tionshipbyperiodicallygrowinglegumesinnitrogen-decientsoiltonaturallyboostnutrientlevels.
Forms
Inthesoil,nitrogenexistsindifferentforms,whichinteractwithoneanotherandwithplants,animalsandmicro-organisms.Mostcropsusenitrogenrapidly,therefore,farm-ersandhomegardenersoftensupplynitrogentotheplantsinavarietyofways,includingtheapplicationofmanufacturedfertilizers,applyingcompostsandmanures,andgrowingle-gumesinrotationwithothercrops.
Plantsabsorbnitrogenintheformsof(NO3
-)oram-monium(NH
4
+)ions,bothofwhicharewater-soluble.Nitrateionsare
absorbedquicklybyplantroots,but
leacheasily.Ammoniumionsareattractedtosoilparticlesandmoveslow-lythroughthesoiltoplantroots.Commercialfertilizers,bothdryandliquid,areavailablewithvariouscombinationsofni-trateandammoniumions,enablingfarmerstomanagetheirnitrogenapplication.Cropadvisorsmonitorcropstoensurethecropsreceiveoptimumamountsofnitrogen.
HistoryAmericanshavefertilizedtheircropswithnitrogeforcenturies.Earlycolonistsusedanimalmanure,shscrap
cottonseedmeal, and tobacco stems as nitrogen
fertilizeLater,Americans importednitrateosoda from Chile, rotated
cropswitlegumes and used ammonium
sufate,aby-productofsteelproductioManyofthesearestillusedtoday.
The process of synthesizing ammonia is considered one of the
greaest chemical engineering feats. Thprocess was rst
demonstratedthelaboratoryin1884,butitwasnocommercially feasible
until 1913
Germany.TherstAmericanammniaplantwasbuiltin1921.NitrogefertilizerproductionwasminimalunafterWorldWarII,whenthedeman
for food increased with an increase in human
populationImprovednitrogenmanagementisthefocusofintensiveresearchatbothpublicandprivateresearchfacilities.
Top Producing
RegionsChinaproducesthemostnitrogenfertilizerintheworld.TheU.S.istheworldslargestimporterofnitrogen.MostnitrogenfertilizerusedinCalifornisimported.Sincenaturalgasisrequiredforproducingnitrgenfertilizer,thehighnaturalgaspricescausedthe26U.Sammoniaplantstopermanentlyclosein1999.MuchofthimportednitrogenfertilizercomesfromTrinidad,wheregacostsarelowerandproducershaveeasyaccesstotheU.SthroughtheGulfofMexico.Wheatreceivesthemostnitrogefertilizerintheworld(17percentoftotal),however,cornisthcropthatreceivesthelargestamountintheU.S.(45perceofU.S.total).
Economic ValueTheeconomicvalueofthenitrogenindustry isdifcultto
assess.Manypeoplehavebusinesseassociatedwithreplenishingagriculturalsoilswithnitrogenincludingthosewhoselivelihoodsdependonprovidingcompostbins,soilamendments,andtools.Ammoniaproductioadds$4billiontotheUnitedStateseconomyannually.
For additional
information:CaliforniaFertilizerFoundation4460DuckhornDrive,SuiteASacramento,CA95834(916)574-9744Fax:(916)574-9484Email:[email protected]:www.calfertilizer.org
Plant NutrientsNitrogenInformation compiled by the California
Fertilizer Foundation
Natural Resources Fact Sheet
7/27/2019 Www.cfaitc.org Factsheets PDF Nitrogen
2/2
04/13
ThisisoneinaseriesoffactsheetscomposedbytheCaliforniaFoundationforAgricultureintheClassroom(CFAITC).Foradditionaleducationalmaterials:CFAITC,2300RiverPlazaDrive,Sacramento,CA95833-3293(916)561-5625
(800)700-AITC Fax:(916)561-5697Email:[email protected]
Website:www.LearnAboutAg.org
2011CaliforniaFoundationforAgricultureintheClassroom.Allrightsreserved
Removed from cycleby harvesting
Atmosphericnitrogen (N
2)
Dentrifying bacteria Nitrate (NO3-)
Ammonia (NH3
) orAmmonium (NH
4
+)
NitrificationNitrite (NO
2
-)
Nitratebacteriain soil
Nitratebacteriain soil
Lightning
Nitrogen fixationby legumes
Processed infactories tomake nitrogenfertilizer20 0 0
Lesson Ideas
Compareandcontrastthenitrogenandwatercycles.
Makeaposterofthenitrogencycleusingmagazinepictures.
Chartandcomparethegrowthofplantswhicharefertilizedwithvaryingamountsofnitrogenfertilizer.
Comparefertilizerlabelsfornitrogencontent.
Makecompostatyourschoolusinggarden,fruitandvegetablelunchwaste.
Identifyplantswhicharelegumes.Researchhowtheseplantsmakenitrogenavailabletootherplants.
Drawapictureofaplantandtheplantsneedfornitrogen.
Researchtheproceduresandchemicalequationsusedinammoniafertilizerproduction.
Compareandcontrastthenitrogencontentofvariousorganicfertilizers,includingsteermanure,chickenmanureandfishemulsion.
Locatenitrogenontheperiodictableofelements.Learnaboutitsphysicalandchemicalproperties.
Fantastic Facts
1.
Whatchemicalisthebasicingredientincommercialnitrogenfertilizerproduction?
2.
Whatcolorisassociatedwithplantswhichcontaintheappro-priateamountofnitrogen?
3.
Whatkindsofplantscontainmicroorganismsontheirrootsthatconvertnitrogenintoaformotherplantscanuse?
4.
Whatarethetwobasicchemicalformulasthatshowtheformsinwhichplantscanabsorbnitrogenthroughtheirroots?
5. Listoneoftheworldstopimportersofnitrogen.6.
Whatformofnitrogenleachesrapidly?7.
WhichstatesproduceammoniaintheUnitedStates?
1)Ammonia2)Green3)Legumes,suchasbeansandalfalfa
4)NO3-andNH4+5)UnitedStates6)Nitrate(NO3-)7)None
Introduction:Substancesaddedtoimprovethenutrientcon-tentofsoilsarecalledfertilizers.Inthisactivity,studentswillmakealiquidfertilizercalledmanureteaoutofsteermanure.Thestu-dentswillthendesignandperformanexperimenttodeterminetheoptimumdilutionofthisnitrogen-richfertilizer.
Materials:Store-boughtsteermanure(3or4cups),coffeefilter,five-gallonbucketwithlid,water,string,indexcardscutinhalf,stapler,tablespoon,cornseedlingsandothersuppliesforstudent-designedexperiment.
Procedure:1.
Writethetermmanureteaontheboard.Obtainstudentideas
foritsdefinition.Alsodiscussthatplantsneedcertainnutrientsforsuccessfulgrowthandreproduction.
Lesson Plan: Lets Make Manure Tea
2.
Haveeachstudentmakeamanureteabagbyplacingtwotablespoonsofmanureintoacoffeefilterandstaplingitshut.Stapleastringtooneendandofanindexcardtotheotherendofthestring.Havestudentscreateanddrawlabelsfortheirbrandsofteaontheindexcards.
3.
Hangtheteabagsinacoveredfive-gallonbucketthatisfullofwater.Letthebagssteepovernight.Recordobservations.
4.
Designandperformaclassexperimentthatwilldeterminetheoptimummanureteaconcentrationforgrowingcorn.Attheconclusionoftheexperiment,discusshowtheirnewly-gainedknowledgecanrelatetolarge-scaleagriculture.
Nitrogen Activity Sheet
