Nitrogen is the most abundant element in the Earth's atmosphere. It is predominantly present in the form of diatomic nitrogen gas N2. Nitrogen gas has two nitrogen atoms connected together by a triple bond. This makes nitrogen gas extremely stable and extremely unreactive. Nitrogen gas itself is really not very biologically useful. The process of nitrogen fixation must occur in order to convert nitrogen into ammonia (NH3) which can then be further reacted into other useful compounds for biochemistry. Due to the low reactivity of nitrogen, some type of catalyst must be used to allow the chemical reaction to occur. Nitrogen fixation most often occurs in microbes that have special proteins that catalyzed the reaction of nitrogen into ammonia. Lighting can also catalyze the reaction because of its intense energy. The high energy levels associated with lightning are what allows it to convert nitrogen into ammonia.
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