Why we say that nitrogen has max covalency of 4. Why not max valency? What's the max valency of nitrogen then?
Dear Student,
The covalency is the number of electron pairs which an atom shares with the adjacent atom is the covalency.
The maximum covalency of any element is the number of orbitals in the valence shell of an element whether the orbitals are completely filled or unfilled. .
We cannot call it as maximum valency because valency is the number of electrons present in the last shell
Nitrogen has atomic number 7.
The electronic configuration=2.5 [1s2,2s2 ,2p3]
s -subshell has 1 orbital and p -subshell has 3 orbitals so the maximum covalency of N is 4
The number of valence electrons=5 so the maximum valency=5.
.Nitrogen can form 3 covalent bonds and also it can form a fourth bond with other atom due to the presence of lone pair so its maximum covalency will be 4.
Regards!
The covalency is the number of electron pairs which an atom shares with the adjacent atom is the covalency.
The maximum covalency of any element is the number of orbitals in the valence shell of an element whether the orbitals are completely filled or unfilled. .
We cannot call it as maximum valency because valency is the number of electrons present in the last shell
Nitrogen has atomic number 7.
The electronic configuration=2.5 [1s2,2s2 ,2p3]
s -subshell has 1 orbital and p -subshell has 3 orbitals so the maximum covalency of N is 4
The number of valence electrons=5 so the maximum valency=5.
.Nitrogen can form 3 covalent bonds and also it can form a fourth bond with other atom due to the presence of lone pair so its maximum covalency will be 4.
Regards!