n-i-t-r-o-g-e-n
NITROGEN A colorless, odorless gas forming 78% of Earth's atmosphere; essential element for life, symbol N, atomic number 7. In word games, NITROGEN delivers 9 base points.
9
Points in Scrabble
Base tile values • No multipliers applied
Nitrogen paradoxically surrounds us yet remains invisible—the silent majority of every breath we take. This elemental gas forms 78% of Earth's atmosphere, yet most organisms cannot use it directly. The nitrogen cycle, one of nature's most crucial processes, transforms this inert gas into compounds that build proteins, DNA, and chlorophyll. Without nitrogen, life as we know it would cease to exist.
Discovered by Daniel Rutherford in 1772, nitrogen earned its name from Greek "nitron genes" (niter-forming) due to its presence in saltpeter. The element's dual nature fascinated early chemists: unreactive as N₂ gas, yet explosive in compounds like nitroglycerin and TNT. This duality shaped history—the Haber-Bosch process for fixing atmospheric nitrogen enabled both agricultural revolution through fertilizers and devastating warfare through explosives.
In the biosphere, nitrogen limitation controls ecosystem productivity. Specialized bacteria in root nodules of legumes perform biological nitrogen fixation, converting N₂ to ammonia. Lightning strikes also fix nitrogen, creating nitrates that rain nourishes soil. Human activities now fix more nitrogen than all natural processes combined, fundamentally altering the global nitrogen cycle with consequences from algal blooms to greenhouse gas emissions.
For Scrabble players, NITROGEN represents premium 8-letter territory. The word offers bingo potential with reasonable drawing probability—no rare letters impede its formation. Strategic placement can yield 60+ points including the 50-point bonus. The -GEN suffix creates building opportunities (OXYGEN, HYDROGEN), while the NITRO- prefix suggests extensions. Competitive players memorize element names as reliable scientific vocabulary for high-scoring plays.
NITROGEN combines Greek "nitron" (native soda/saltpeter) with French "-gène" (producing), literally "niter-forming." Coined by French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1790, it replaced earlier names like "azote" (without life) and "mephitic air." The element's naming reflects early observations that it produced nitric acid and nitrates. German uses "Stickstoff" (suffocating substance), while Romance languages retained "azote" variants. This linguistic divide mirrors the element's discovery history—multiple scientists independently identifying the same "lifeless" component of air that paradoxically proves essential for life.
•NITROGEN forms one of chemistry's strongest bonds—triple-bonded N≡N requires enormous energy to break
•The Haber-Bosch process consumes 2% of global energy to convert nitrogen gas into fertilizer
•Liquid nitrogen at -196°C instantly freezes anything it touches, making it crucial for cryogenics
"The nitrogen in your DNA connects you to every star explosion—we are literally made of stardust."
"Without nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Earth's land would be as barren as Mars."
Other element names offering comparable scoring opportunities:
Total base points: 9 (Scrabble)
Vowels: 3 (I, O, E) | Consonants: 5 (N, T, R, G, N)
Practice unscrambling letters to find more high-scoring words like NITROGEN