How Many Valence Electrons Does Nitrogen (N) Have?
Nitrogen is the 7th element in the periodic table and the first element in group 15. The standard atomic mass of nitrogen is 14.006 and its symbol is ‘N’. The valence electrons are the total number of electrons in the last orbit(shell).
The total number of electrons in the last shell after the electron configuration of nitrogen is called the valence electrons of nitrogen. The last shell of nitrogen has five electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of nitrogen are five.
The valence electrons determine the properties of the element and participate in the formation of bonds. Nitrogen participates in the formation of bonds through valence electrons.
This article discusses how to easily calculate the number of valence electrons in nitrogen. Hopefully, after reading this article you will know in detail about this.
How do you calculate the number of valence electrons in a nitrogen atom?
The valence electrons have to be determined by following a few steps. The electron configuration is one of them. It is not possible to determine the valence electron without electron configuration.
Knowing the electron configuration in the right way, it is very easy to determine the valence electrons of all the elements.
However, valence electrons can be easily identified by arranging electrons according to the Bohr principle. Now we will learn how to determine the valence electrons of nitrogen.
Step-1: Determining the total number of electrons in nitrogen
First we need to know the total number of electrons in the nitrogen atom. To know the number of electrons, you need to know the number of protons in nitrogen.
And to know the number of protons, you need to know the atomic number of the nitrogen element.
To know the atomic number we need to take the help of a periodic table. It is necessary to know the atomic number of nitrogen elements from the periodic table.
The atomic number is the number of protons. Electrons equal to protons are located outside the nucleus. That is, we can finally say that there are electrons equal to the atomic number in the nitrogen atom.
From the periodic table, we see that the atomic number of nitrogen is 7. That is, a nitrogen atom has a total of seven electrons.
Step-2: Need to do electron configuration of nitrogen
Step 2 is very important. In this step, the electrons of nitrogen have to be arranged. We know that nitrogen atoms have a total of seven electrons.
The electron configuration of nitrogen shows that there are two electrons in the K shell and five in the L shell. That is, the first shell of nitrogen has two and the second shell has five electrons.
Step-3: Determine the valence shell and calculate the total electrons
The third step is to diagnose the valence shell. The last shell after the electron configuration is called the valence shell. The total number of electrons in a valence shell is called a valence electron.
The electron configuration of nitrogen shows that the last shell of nitrogen has five electrons. Therefore, the valence electrons of nitrogen are five.
What is the valency of nitrogen?
The ability of one atom of an element to join another atom during the formation of a molecule is called valency(valence). The number of unpaired electrons in the last orbit of an element is the valency of that element.
As we know, the correct electron configuration of nitrogen in the ground state will be 1s2 2s2 2px1 2py1 2pz1. Here, the nitrogen atom has three unpaired electrons. Therefore, the valency of nitrogen is 3.
How many valence electrons does nitrogen ion(N3-) have?
After arranging the electrons, it is seen that the last shell of the nitrogen atom has five electrons. In this case, the valence electrons of nitrogen are 5. We know the details about this.
The elements that have 5, 6, or 7 electrons in the last shell(orbit) receive the electrons in the last shell during bond formation. The element that receives electrons and forms bonds is called anion. That is, nitrogen is an anion element.
N + 3e– → N3-
During the formation of nitrogen bonds, the last shell receives electrons and turns them into nitrogen ions. The electron configuration of nitrogen ion(N3-) is 1s2 2s2 2p6.
The electron configuration of nitrogen ion(N3-) shows that nitrogen ions have two shells and the second shell has eight electrons. The electron configuration shows that the nitrogen ion has acquired the electron configuration of neon.
That is, in this case, the valence of nitrogen ions is -3. Since the last shell of a nitrogen ion has eight electrons, the valence electrons of nitrogen ion(N3-) are eight.
Compound formation of nitrogen
Nitrogen participates in the formation of bonds through its valence electrons. This valence electron participates in the formation of bonds with atoms of other elements.
Nitrogen atoms form bonds by sharing electrons with hydrogen atoms. The electron configuration of hydrogen shows that hydrogen has only an electron.
Three hydrogen atoms and one nitrogen atom make ammonia(NH3) compounds by sharing electrons.
As a result, the nitrogen atom completes its octave and acquires the electron configuration of neon. On the other hand, hydrogen acquires the electron configuration of helium.
Therefore, one nitrogen atom shares electrons with three hydrogen atoms to form the ammonia(NH3) compound through covalent bonding.