Question

According to the Hund's rule, which of the following is the correct electronic configuration of nitrogen atom?

• A. $1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{2}2{p_y}^{1}2{p_z}^0$
• B. $1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{0}2{p_y}^{1}2{p_z}^2$
• C. $1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{1}2{p_y}^{1}2{p_z}^1$
• D. $1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{1}2{p_y}^{0}2{p_z}^2$

Answer 1

The correct option is C $1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{1}2{p_y}^{1}2{p_z}^1$

Hund's rule states that every orbital in a subshell is singly occupied with one electron before the pairing of electrons starts.
Also, all of the electrons in singly occupied orbitals must have the same spin. (to maximize total spin).
Nitrogen atoms have seven electrons.
Thus, for nitrogen atom, the electronic configuration would be:

$1s^{2}2s^{2}2{p_x}^{1}2{p_y}^{1}2{p_z}^1$