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In chemistry, a lone pair refers to a pair of valence electrons that are not shared with another atom in a covalent bond and is sometimes called an unshared pair or non-bonding pair. Lone pairs are found in the outermost electron shell of atoms.
How many lone pairs would you expect to have on the nitrogen in the following molecule? Nitrogen is usually surrounded by three covalent bonds and a lone pair in its standard, no-formal charge combination.
Reason:- Molecular formula of Nitrogen molecule is N2. The nitrogen atoms are bonded with triple bonds. So, each of them have a lone pair of electron. Hence, total number of lone pair is 2
According to this model, valence electrons in the Lewis structure form groups, which may consist of a single bond, a double bond, a triple bond, a lone pair of electrons, or even a single unpaired electron, which in the VSEPR model is counted as a lone pair.
The lone pair electrons on the nitrogen are contained in the last sp 3 hybridized orbital. Due to the sp 3 hybridization the nitrogen has a tetrahedral geometry. However, the H-N-H and H-N-C bonds angles are less than the typical 109.5 o due to compression by the lone pair electrons.
Figure 7.4.2 7.4. 2: Comparison of the electron clouds of a lone pair and a bonding pair. (a) The lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen in an ammonia molecule. (b) One of the three bonding pairs of electrons in the ammonia molecule. Boundary lines that enclose equal percentages of each electron cloud have been drawn.
Nitrogen does not form stable catenated compounds because of repulsions between lone pairs of electrons on adjacent atoms, but it does form multiple bonds with other second-period atoms. Nitrogen reacts with electropositive elements to produce solids that range from covalent to ionic in character.
