Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A): Nitrogen exhibits a greater tendency for catenation compared to phosphorus. Reason (R): The N-N single bond is weaker than the P-P single bond because of high interelectronic repulsion of the non-bonding electrons. In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the op

Step-by-step solution

Assertion (A) is false because the tendency of catenation in nitrogen is much less than that in phosphorus. Reason (R) is true. Nitrogen has a small atomic size, which makes the N-N bond length very short. This leads to high interelectronic repulsion between the non-bonding electrons (lone pairs) on the adjacent nitrogen atoms. As a result, the N-N single bond is weaker than the P-P single bond. This weak single bond is the very reason why nitrogen has a weaker catenation tendency. Therefore, Assertion (A) is false