Question

Nitrogen is relatively inactive element because

• A. its atom has a stable electronic configuration
• B. it has low atomic radius
• C. its electronegativity is fairly high
• D. dissociation energy of its molecule is fairly high

Answer 1

Answer: (D)

Dinitrogen $(N_2)$ is chemically unreactive at ordinary temperature. The N-N bond in nitrogen molecule is a triple bond $(N\equiv N)$ with a bond distance of 109.8 pm and bond dissociation energy of $946kJmo{l}^{-1}$. The low reactivity of nitrogen is due to fairly high bond dissociation energy of the molecule.