Question

Define the term fixation. Name two elements that undergo environmental fixation. What natural forms of them are fixed?

Short answer

The process of turning a gaseous chemical into a condensed, more usable state is known as fixation. Plants fix${\mathrm{CO}}_2$from the atmosphere in the process of photosynthesis. Blue-green algae and nitrogen-fixing bacteria fix nitrogen in the atmosphere.

Step-by-step solution

Define element

An element is a substance with the same number of protons in all of its atoms, or the same atomic number in all of its atoms.

Explanation

${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$The process of turning a gaseous chemical into a condensed, more usable state is known as fixation.

Example 1:

Carbon is found as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Photosynthesis is the process through which plants convert atmospheric ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$into carbohydrates.

Example 2:

Diatomic nitrogen $\left(N_2\right)$is an extremely stable yet inactive molecule. Fixing nitrogen into usable chemicals takes a lot of energy, and it happens through atmospheric, biological, and industrial processes. Blue-green algae and nitrogen-fixing bacteria found on the roots of leguminous plants participate in the biological process of atmospheric ${\mathrm{N}}_2$fixation. A group of enzymes in root bacteria enables the fixation of ${\mathrm{N}}_2$by reducing it to ${\mathrm{NH}}_3$and ${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$. Other soil bacteria's enzymes accelerate the oxidation of ${\mathrm{NH}}_4^{+}$to ${\mathrm{NO}}_2^{-}$and ${\mathrm{NO}}_3^{-}$, which the plants can then decrease to generate proteins. Animals can generate their own protein from nitrogen already fixed in plant proteins and excrete nitrogenous waste as urea by eating plants.