Questions: Electronic Structure and Chemical Bonding Counting electron pairs in a Lewis structure with double or triple bonds Below is the Lewis structure of the nitrogen (N2) molecule. : N ::: N : Count the number of bonding pairs and the number of lone pairs around the right nitrogen atom in this molecule. bonding pairs: lone pairs:

Solution Steps

The Lewis structure of the nitrogen molecule (\( \text{N}_2 \)) is represented as \( :\text{N} \equiv \text{N}: \). This indicates that there is a triple bond between the two nitrogen atoms.

In a triple bond, there are three pairs of electrons shared between the two nitrogen atoms. These are the bonding pairs. Therefore, the right nitrogen atom is involved in three bonding pairs.

Each nitrogen atom in the \( \text{N}_2 \) molecule also has one lone pair of electrons. This is because nitrogen has a total of five valence electrons, and after forming three bonds (using three pairs of electrons), two electrons remain as a lone pair.

Final Answer