Reference no: EM132800257

1. Before plants can incorporate nitrogen into their biochemical molecules, nitrogen (N2) must be converted to a more reactive form. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria that live in the soil help plants by combining gaseous N2 and liquid H2O to make gaseous NH3 and O2 at ambient temperature and pressure. The ?Horxn for this reaction at 298.15 K is 1530.22 kJ/mol.

The balanced chemical equation for the reaction the bacteria carry out using whole number stoichiometric coefficients

2N2(g)?+6H2O(l)??4NH3(g)?+3O2(g)

?Since gas molecules can move around more freely and a more random way than liquid molecules. Due to this, the positive change in entropy can be attributed to this change of state; the process involved a transformation from a relatively more ordered state (liquid) to a more disordered state (gas).

A) What temperature would the reaction be spontaneous under standard conditions in the absence of the bacteria?

B) Given the large positive ?Horxn associated with this reaction and the influence it has on the spontaneity of the reaction, explain why the reaction is spontaneous in the absence of the bacteria at T = 298.15 K when there is no NH3 or O2 present. Be specific and cite any relevant equations.