Nitrogen is a vital element for all living systems, but except for a few types of bacteria, blue-green algae, and some soil fungi, most organisms cannot utilize N₂from the atmosphere. The formation of €œfixed€ nitrogen is therefore necessary to sustain life, and the simplest form of fixed nitrogen is ammonia NH₃.

A possible pathway for ammonia synthesis by a living system is:

where (aq) means the ammonia is dissolved in water and ˆ†G^o_f(NH₃, aq) = -80.3 kJ mol^-1

a. Calculate ΔG° for the biological synthesis of ammonia at 298 K.

b. Calculate the equilibrium constant for the biological synthesis of ammonia at 298 K.

c. Based on your answer to part (b), is the pathway a spontaneous reaction?

Transcribed Image Text:

3 2(g) + H,0(!) = NH3(aq) +