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Chemistry Facts

Ice That Burns

What looks like regular water ice but hisses and jumps around like water on a hot plate when you put it on a room-temperature surface and bursts into flame when you light it up? It is a rare and ... Continue reading

Ice on fire: methane hydrate.

Radioactive Radon

Radon is a gas produced by the radioactive decay of the element radium. Radioactive decay is a natural, spontaneous process in which an atom of one element decays or breaks down to form another ... Continue reading

Radon gas, a radioactive product of uranium, can reach high levels in some houses, depending on the local geology and house construction.

Knocking the NOx Out of Coal

Nitrogen is the most common part of the air we breathe. In fact, about 80% of the air is nitrogen. Normally, nitrogen atoms float around joined to each other like chemical couples. But when air is ... Continue reading

Air is mostly nitrogen molecules (green in the above diagram) and oxygen molecules (purple). When heated hot enough (around 3000 degrees F), the molecules break apart and oxygen atoms link with the nitrogen atoms to form NOx, an air pollutant.

Nitrogen Gas and Compounds

Nitrogen is a very interesting element. It is the seventh element of the periodic table, with seven electrons in its atoms. The somewhat unique combination of electronic structure and small atomic ... Continue reading

Certain crops help the nitrogen cycle.