Use the electron arrangement interactive to practice building electron arrangements. Then, write the electron configurations and draw the Lewis valence electron dot structure for nitrogen. Electron configuration: Lewis valence electron dot structure Select Draw Rings More Erase
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Electron configuration:
1s²2s²2p³
Lewis valence electron dot structure:
The Lewis structure for a single nitrogen atom consists of the chemical symbol “N” surrounded by five dots. There is one pair of dots and three individual, unpaired dots arranged around the symbol.
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. N .
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(Note: The exact position of the paired and unpaired dots around the symbol can vary, as long as there is one pair and three singles.)
Explanation
To determine the electron configuration and Lewis dot structure for nitrogen, we begin with its atomic number from the periodic table, which is 7. In a neutral atom, the atomic number equals the number of electrons.
Electron Configuration:
The electron configuration describes how these 7 electrons are distributed among the atom’s orbitals. We fill the orbitals in order of increasing energy, a principle known as the Aufbau principle. The order of filling is 1s, then 2s, then 2p, and so on.
- The first orbital, 1s, can hold a maximum of two electrons. We place the first two electrons here, resulting in the configuration 1s².
- We have five electrons remaining. The next orbital, 2s, also holds a maximum of two electrons. We place the next two electrons here, updating the configuration to 1s²2s².
- Now, three electrons are left. These go into the 2p orbital, which can hold up to six electrons. The final configuration for nitrogen is 1s²2s²2p³.
Lewis Valence Electron Dot Structure:
The Lewis dot structure is a visual representation of an atom’s valence electrons, which are the electrons in its outermost energy shell. These are the electrons that participate in chemical bonding.
- To find the number of valence electrons for nitrogen, we look at the highest principal energy level (n) in its electron configuration, which is n=2.
- We sum the electrons in this shell: the 2s² orbital contributes two electrons, and the 2p³ orbital contributes three electrons. This gives nitrogen a total of 2 + 3 = 5 valence electrons.
- To draw the Lewis structure, we write the element’s symbol, N. Then, we place the five valence electrons as dots around it. The convention is to place one dot on each of the four sides before pairing them up. This results in one lone pair (two dots) and three unpaired single electrons. This structure correctly shows that nitrogen has five valence electrons and typically forms three bonds to achieve a stable octet.
