From: SFPhysics@aol.com
Date: Thu May 29 2003 - 01:46:26 PDT
From: SFPhysics@aol.com Message-ID: <184.1ba454e7.2c0722e2@aol.com> Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 04:46:26 EDT Subject: Urea
>Subject: Urea
>From: "Adam Singer" <adamsinger@earthlink.net>
>Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 09:57:59 -0700 (PDT)
>So my mother was going through my late father's belongings (he was a
molecular biologist and an avid gardener) and she came across a supply of crystalized
urea. Does anyone have any idea what this may have been used for or is there
any possible classroom use for this?
>Thanks!
>-- Adam Singer
Hi Adam:
I see no one wanted to tackle urea. Urea (CO(NH2)2) is excreted in the urine
of animals as a byproduct of metabolizing plant protein. It can be added to
soil where it reacts with water to give CO2 and ammonia. The ammonia is
usually formed into an ammonia salt which is either taken by some plants directly
through their roots to become plant protein again or by bacteria which work on
the ammonia to release the nitrogen and its compounds into the soil and air.
It is a part of the Nitrogen Cycle. Clay soils that are highly acidic
sometimes have urea powder added to balance them and provide nitrogen if memory
serves me.
As for what you might do with pure crystalline powdered urea in the
classroom, I must admit ignorance and leave this to the chemistry and biology people.
University types might do Hartree-Fock molecular crystal interaction studies
but that likely doesn't translate well down into the grammar school curriculum.
;-)
Hope that helps,
Al Sefl
Full of the usual hot air, of which 78% is Nitrogen...
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