Definition:Nitrogen

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Chemical Element

Nitrogen is the chemical element that has $7$ protons in the nuclei of its atoms.


Its chemical symbol is $\text N$.


Isotopes

N-$14$

Nitrogen-$14$ is the isotope of nitrogen which has $7$ neutrons in addition to its $7$ protons.

N-$14$ is the more common of the two stable isotopes of nitrogen, making up $99.634 \%$ of the nitrogen found on Earth.


N-$15$

Nitrogen-$15$ is the isotope of nitrogen which has $8$ neutrons in addition to its $7$ protons.

N-$15$ is the less common of the two stable isotopes of nitrogen, making up $0.366 \%$ of the nitrogen found on Earth.


Linguistic Note

The word nitrogen derives from the name niter (British English: nitre), the classical name for saltpeter (British English: saltpetre).

The word nitre in its turn descends from the ancient Greek νιτρων (nitron), itself a descendant from ancient Egyptian netjeri