Question

The covalency of nitrogen in ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$ is:

Answer 1

Covalency:

• Covalency occurs when an element exchanges electrons with other atoms of the same or different elements in order to achieve a stable electrical state.
• If an atom shares one electron, its covalency is one.
• It has a covalency of two if it can share two electrons.

Covalency of Nitrogen in ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$:

• Nitrogen ($\mathrm{N}$) has a total of five valence electrons. It requires three electrons to complete its octet. It may share three valence electrons with the nitrogen atom to generate ${\mathrm{N}}_2$ by forming a stable electronic state.
• In ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$, Nitrogen has a proclivity for pi-pi multiple bonds.
• Nitrogen shares four pairs of electrons with oxygen, hence nitrogen covalency in ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$ is four.

Thus, the covalency of nitrogen in ${\mathrm{N}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$ is 4 because three are covalent bonds and one is a coordinate bond.