What is nitrogen fixation?
Q: What is nitrogen fixation?
A: Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen in the air (N2) is converted into ammonia (NH3) or other nitrogenous compounds in the soil.
Q: Why is nitrogen fixation essential to life?
A: Nitrogen fixation is essential to life because nitrogen compounds are needed for making all nitrogen-containing organic compounds, such as amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
Q: Why is atmospheric nitrogen relatively useless?
A: Atmospheric nitrogen is a relatively unreactive molecule and is useless except for a few bacteria and archaea.
Q: What happens during biological nitrogen fixation?
A: During biological nitrogen fixation, N2 is converted into ammonia, which is used (metabolized) by most organisms.
Q: How is nitrogen fixed?
A: Nitrogen is fixed in biological and non-biological ways.
Q: What organisms are able to fix nitrogen?
A: Only a few bacteria and archaea are able to fix nitrogen in the absence of man-made nitrogen fertilizers.
Q: What are some nitrogen-containing organic compounds?
A: Some nitrogen-containing organic compounds include amino acids, proteins, and nucleic acids.
