Question

When two nitrogen atoms bond together in N2, what type of covalent bond do they form?A.) A double bond because they overlap orbitals to share one pair of electronsB.) A triple bond because they overlap to share two pairs and one lone electronC.) A double bond because they overlap orbitals to share two pairs of electronsD.) A triple bond because they overlap to share three pairs of electrons

Answer 1

Nitrogen has 5 electrons in the outer shell. Like all the elements it tends to react with other elements to get 8 electrons in the outer shell and become stable. That's why it forms bonds.

Let's see what happens when two atoms of N bond together to form the molecule N₂.

One atom of N has 5 valence electrons, and if it wants to get 8 it needs to share 3 of them. So when 2 atoms of N bond together they will form a triple bond. Like this:

That's the Lewis Diagram. They are sharing 3 pairs of electrons and forming a triple bond.

So the answer to our problem is option D.