Questions: Part A How many covalent bonds does carbon form if each of its unpaired electrons participates in one bond? Express your answer numerically as an integer. View Available Hint(s) Submit Part B How many covalent bonds does oxygen form if each of its unpaired electrons participate in one bond? Express your answer numerically as an integer. View Available Hint(s) Submit Part C How many covalent bonds does nitrogen form if each of its unpaired electrons participate in one bond? Express the answer numerically as an integer. View Available Hint(s) Submit

Solution Steps

Carbon has an atomic number of 6, which means it has 6 electrons. The electron configuration of carbon is \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^2\). In its outer shell (the second shell), carbon has 4 electrons: 2 in the 2s orbital and 2 in the 2p orbitals. The 2p orbitals can hold a total of 6 electrons, so carbon has 4 unpaired electrons available for bonding. Therefore, carbon can form 4 covalent bonds.

Oxygen has an atomic number of 8, which means it has 8 electrons. The electron configuration of oxygen is \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^4\). In its outer shell, oxygen has 6 electrons: 2 in the 2s orbital and 4 in the 2p orbitals. The 2p orbitals can hold a total of 6 electrons, so oxygen has 2 unpaired electrons available for bonding. Therefore, oxygen can form 2 covalent bonds.

Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, which means it has 7 electrons. The electron configuration of nitrogen is \(1s^2 2s^2 2p^3\). In its outer shell, nitrogen has 5 electrons: 2 in the 2s orbital and 3 in the 2p orbitals. The 2p orbitals can hold a total of 6 electrons, so nitrogen has 3 unpaired electrons available for bonding. Therefore, nitrogen can form 3 covalent bonds.

Final Answer