Nitrogen (N) - explosives

Some 78% of the Earth's atmosphere is nitrogen. Yet this seemingly inert gas is the key component of bombs and explosives. It has brought life and death on an epic scale since mankind first unlocked its potential a century ago. And it has brought tragedy to the lives of the scientists who mastered its potential. (Picture: Early Bosch ammonia reactor in Ludwigshafen; Credit: BASF)