Question

The nitrogen atoms in a molecule of N2 share a total of
(1) one pair of electrons
(2) one pair of protons
(3) three pairs of electrons
(4) three pairs of protons

Answer 1

Answer 3: three pairs of electrons. This is why nitrogen is so stable.

Answer 2

Answer: Option (3) is the correct answer.

Explanation:

Atomic number of nitrogen is 7 and its electronic configuration is $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^{3}$. Thus, we can see that valency of nitrogen is 5.

So, one nitrogen atom has one lone pair of electron.

Therefore, when two nitrogen atoms will bond together then there will be three pairs of electrons bonded together and one lone pair of electron on each nitrogen atom.