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Q.Draw a molecular orbit (MO) diagram of N2 molecule and calculate its bond order.

Jharkhand JacJAC Intermediate Board (1st Year) 2022Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Figure — Molecular-orbital energy-level diagram of N2 (14 electrons). Left and right columns show the atomic
Figure — Molecular-orbital energy-level diagram of N2 (14 electrons). Left and right columns show the atomic

N2 has 14 electrons total; filling the MO diagram (with pi2p below sigma2p, as applies for B2/C2/N2) gives 10 bonding and 4 antibonding electrons, so bond order = (10-4)/2 = 3.

Total electrons in N2: Each N atom has atomic number 7 (7 electrons), so N2 has 14 electrons total.

MO energy order for N2 (since N2 is one of the lighter diatomics where 2s-2p mixing occurs, the pi2p orbitals lie BELOW sigma2pz in energy):

sigma1s < sigma1s < sigma2s < sigma2s < (pi2px = pi2py) < sigma2pz < (pi2px = pi2py) < sigma*2pz

Filling 14 electrons into this order:

sigma1s2 sigma1s2 sigma2s2 sigma2s2 (pi2px2 pi2py2) sigma2pz2

(2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 14 electrons used, all orbitals up to sigma2pz filled)

Molecular orbital diagram (energy levels, low to high):

sigma2pz* (empty)

pi2px*, pi2py* (empty, degenerate pair)

sigma2pz -- 2 electrons (filled)

pi2px, pi2py -- 2 electrons each = 4 electrons (filled, degenerate pair, this is the HOMO along with sigma2pz)

sigma2s -- 2 electrons (filled) sigma2s -- 2 electrons (filled) sigma1s -- 2 electrons (filled, core, not usually drawn)

sigma1s -- 2 electrons (filled, core, not usually drawn)

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