The atomic orbital diagram for nitrogen illustrates how the electrons are distributed across the various atomic orbitals. Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, meaning it has 7 electrons. The orbital filling follows Hund’s rule and the Pauli exclusion principle.
Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of filling the orbitals for nitrogen:
- The first two electrons fill the 1s orbital: 1s²
- The next two electrons fill the 2s orbital: 2s²
- The remaining three electrons go into the 2p orbitals. According to Hund’s rule, one electron will go into each of the three 2p orbitals before pairing occurs: 2p³
Therefore, the complete electron configuration for nitrogen can be written as:
1s² 2s² 2p³
The orbital diagram can be visualized as:
1s: ↑↓ 2s: ↑↓ 2p: ↑ ↑ ↑
In summary, the atomic orbital diagram for nitrogen shows that its electrons are arranged with a fully filled 1s and 2s orbital, along with three electrons occupying the 2p orbitals, in accordance with quantum mechanics and the principles governing electron configurations.