Question

What causes Nitrogen to be Inert?
1. Multiple bond formation
2. Absence of bond polarity
3. Short internuclear distance
4. High Bond energy

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 4 : High Bond energy

Concept:

• The element Nitrogen is the first member of group 15 or V A.
• Nitrogen is a typical non - metal. It is essential for both plants and animals.
• The electronic configuration of Nitrogen is 1s²2s²2p³.
• Nitrogen consists of mostly 78.1 % of the earth's atmosphere.
• However, it is not equally abundant in the earth's crust. It is the third most abundant element in the earth's crust.
• Nitrogen is an important constituent of amino acids in proteins.
• Nitrates are highly soluble in water.

Explanation:

• Nitrogen is an inert element, it is a diatomic gas that shows reactivity only at high temperatures.
• The nitrogen molecule is covalent and non-polar.
• Nitrogen forms a triple bond with other nitrogen atoms forming N₂ molecules.
• As triple bonds are strong, it is not broken by the collision between the nitrogen molecules at room temperature.
• Furthermore, its octet is complete and it does not require additional electrons.
• Only at high temperatures, sufficient energy is provided by the collision to break the triple bond.
• Thus at high temperatures, nitrogen molecule gets dissociated and shows some reactivity.

Hence, the reason for Nitrogen to be inert is its high bond energy.

• Note that multiple bond formation always doesn't necessarily mean that the molecule will be inert.