Why nitrogen gas is unreactive at room temperature?

The strength of N2 triple bond makes the molecule very unreactive because it requires a large amount of energy to break the bond. Nitrogen does not react readily as its bonds are strong making it stable. N2 is used as an inert gas also. Dissociation energy is fairly high for nitrogen.

Why is nitrogen generally inert?

The triple bond is covalent in nature and it is non-reactive in normal conditions. The triple bond present in nitrogen is very strong. Therefore, it requires a lot of energy to break those bonds to take part in a reaction. Hence, nitrogen is commonly referred to as and used as an inert gas.

Why is the nitrogen molecule less reactive?

Nitrogen is chemically less reactive. This is because of the high stability of its molecule. the two nitrogen atoms form a triple bond. This triple bond has very high bond strength, which is very difficult to break.

Is nitrogen inert or reactive at room temperature?

Nitrogen is unreactive at room temperature but becomes reactive at elevated temperature (on heating) or in the presence of catalysts.

Why nitrogen is stable and relatively inert?

Nitrogen is inert because its p-subshell is half-filled due to it has maximum exchange energy. Thus it is exists in stable form as like inert gas and it form triple bond (N≡N). N2 molecules is very stable and its dissociation energy is 225kcal/mol.

Why nitrogen is found in gaseous state?

Nitrogen is found in a diatomic form with a triple bond between two atoms. N2 molecules are held together by weak van der Waals force of attraction which can be easily broken by the collision of the molecules. So N2 is a gas at room temperature.

Why is N2 less reactive than O2?

N2 is less reactive than O2 in most gaseous reactions because there is a strong triple bond between the atoms, all the valence electrons are in bonding orbitals, and more energy is needed to excite them.

Why is molecular nitrogen not reactive?

The strength of the nitrogen-nitrogen triple bond makes the N2 molecule very unreactive because it requires a huge amount of energy to break the bonds. Since chemical reactions occur readily when old bonds break to form new and stronger bonds, nitrogen does not react readily as its bonds are strong making it stable.

Is nitrogen reactive or unreactive?

Nitrogen is a rather unreactive element, and the reason is that the N≡N bond energy is 946 kJ mol−1. This lack of reactivity is somewhat unlike other nonmetals given the position of the atom in the periodic table and the fact that nitrogen is a nonmetal having an electronegativity of 3.0 (the third highest value).

Why does nitrogen have different oxidation states?

In the case of nitrogen, the electrons in the outermost valence shell is only 5 (from 2s2 2p3 ). So, the range of oxidation state for N can be from +5 to -5.

Why nitrogen does not show Catenation?

Nitrogen does not show property of catenation. Since N – N single bond is very weak due to large interelectronic repulsions between the lone pairs of electrons present on the N-atoms of N – N bond having small bond length.