Question

How many covalent bonds does nitrogen form in electrically neutral compounds?

Answer 1

Hint: The answer is based on the concept of the valence electrons calculation, and the extra electrons that are needed by the nitrogen atom to complete the octet rule and this gives the required answer.

Complete answer:
The concept of inorganic chemistry which includes the chapter of the bonding of the chemicals deals with the concept that has the determination of the bonds between the atoms which is based on the theories and also upon the electronic configuration and hybridisation.
Now, let us see how we can determine the covalent bonds of the nitrogen atom form.
- The nitrogen atom has the atomic number 7 and the atomic symbol$N$and also the mass number of this element is 14.
- The electronic configuration of nitrogen can thus be written as, $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^3$
The electrical neutrality of an atom means that there are no charges on the atom after when it forms a chemical bond with the other atom.
Therefore, if we see the electronic configuration of the nitrogen, the outermost electrons or the valence electrons are the two electrons in the 2s shell and 3 electrons in the 2p shell which will be a total of 5 electrons in the outermost shell.
This shows that the nitrogen requires three more electrons to complete its octet and therefore it forms three covalent bonds with the other atom to form the electrically neutral compound.

Note: Do not confuse the covalent bond and the coordinate covalent bond (dative bond) and covalent bond is formed by sharing of each valence electrons with the other atom to form the strong bond and coordinate covalent bond is the bond formed by the lone pair of electrons of same atom with the other electrons of atom and the bond is the coordination bond.