Draw the Orbital Filling Diagram for Nitrogen

To understand the orbital filling diagram for nitrogen, we need to consider its atomic number, which is 7. This means nitrogen has 7 electrons that we need to place in the appropriate orbitals following the Aufbau principle, Hund’s rule, and the Pauli exclusion principle.

Here’s how the electrons fill the subshells:

1. 1s subshell: 2 electrons
2. 2s subshell: 2 electrons
3. 2p subshell: 3 electrons

The filling order based on energy levels is as follows:

• 1s: 2 electrons (↑↓)
• 2s: 2 electrons (↑↓)
• 2p: 3 electrons (↑ ↑ ↑)

Thus, the complete orbital filling diagram for nitrogen looks like this:

   ↑↓
1s:  -------- 
   ↑↓
2s:  -------- 
   ↑  ↑  ↑
2p:  --------  --------  --------

In this diagram:

• Each arrow represents an electron, with up arrows (↑) indicating one electron and down arrows (↓) indicating a paired electron in the orbital.
• Electrons fill the lower energy orbitals first, before occupying higher energy orbitals, which is illustrated here.

This orbital diagram confirms that nitrogen’s highest energy electrons are in the 2p subshell, where it has three unpaired electrons, giving it unique chemical properties.