Question

What Is the Largest Reservoir of Nitrogen?

Answer 1

Nitrogen:

1. Nitrogen is a constituent of a number of organic compounds like amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, chlorophyll, vitamins, enzymes, ATP, etc.
2. The availability of nitrogen in the soil is limited, so plants have to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere only. But plants cannot obtain nitrogen directly from the atmosphere. Nitrogen compounds are obtained from the reservoir pool through nitrogen fixation.
3. Nitrogen fixation is the conversion of inert atmospheric nitrogen or dinitrogen (N₂) into utilizable compounds of nitrogen like nitrates, ammonia, amino acids, etc.
4. The largest reservoir of nitrogen on Earth is the N₂ gas present in the air. The air in Earth’s atmosphere is composed of around 78% nitrogen gas.