Answer to Question #161439 in Chemistry for Erika Acuin

Question

Many explosives contains nitrogen atom. Why do you think this is so?

Answer 1

The explosive compounds are known to release a huge amount of heat and pressure when heat, friction or another shock are applied to them. The explosives usually contain nitro group -NO₂. This group has two important properties: first, the nitrogen atom is extremely unstable in its oxidized state and quickly reduces to the highly-stable nitrogen gas. Secondly, the oxygen atoms in the nitro group serve to oxidize the hydrogen and carbon atoms of the rest of the molecule.

Other examples of explosives are azides, pentazenium and pentazolates. These compounds have N-N single or double bonds, which are much weaker than the

triple bond of N₂, so they are highly unstable and release fastly a large amount of nitrogen gas: they explode.

You can find more information about the explosive chemistry of nitrogen in the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12045-019-0893-2