NEETChemistryChemical Bonding and Molecular Structure
Given below are two statements: Assertion (A): In the molecular orbital diagram of the N ₂ molecule, the energy of the _ 2p_z orbital is higher than that of the _ 2p_x and _ 2p_y orbitals. Reason (R): The N ₂ molecule is diamagnetic in nature and has a bond order of 3. In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Options
- ABoth (A) and (R) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
- BBoth (A) and (R) are correct but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
- C(A) is correct but (R) is not correct
- D(A) is not correct but (R) is correct
Correct answer
B. Both (A) and (R) are correct but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
Step-by-step solution
Assertion is correct: For homonuclear diatomic molecules with 14 or fewer electrons (like N ₂ ), 2s-2p mixing occurs. This mixing raises the energy of the _ 2p_z orbital above the degenerate _ 2p_x and _ 2p_y orbitals. Reason is correct: The electronic configuration of N ₂ is _ 1s ^2 _ 1s ^ *2 _ 2s ^2 _ 2s ^ *2 _ 2p_x ^2 = _ 2p_y ^2 _ 2p_z ^2 . Since all electrons are paired, it is diamagnetic. The bond order is calculated as N_b - N_a 2 = 10 - 4 2 = 3 . However, the diamagnetic nature and bond order of N ₂ are con