Question

State which of the following statements is correct and incorrect?

(A) Decomposition of the organic nitrogen of dead plants and animals to ammonia is called ammonification.
(B) Some of this ammonia is converted into nitrate by soil bacteria and the rest all volatilises and returns to the atmosphere.

• A. Both A and B are correct.
• B. A is correct and B is incorrect.
• C. A is incorrect and B is correct.
• D. Both A and B are incorrect.

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

A is correct and B is incorrect.

Once an animal or plant dies, other bacteria in the soil convert the various compounds of nitrogen back into ammonia by the process of ammonification, which is further converted into nitrates ($N{O}_3$) and nitrites ($N{O}_2$). The special type of (nitrogen-fixing) bacteria converts nitrates and nitrites into elemental nitrogen ($N_2$) and not nitrate.

Therefore, A is correct and B is incorrect.