Chapter 11, Problem 45IAE

The Lewis structure of ${\text{N}}_{\text{2}}$ indicates that the nitrogen-to-nitrogen bond is a triple covalent bond. Other evidence suggests that the c bond in this molecule involves the overlap of sp hybrid orbitals.

  a. Draw orbital diagrams for the N atoms to describe bonding in ${\text{N}}_{\text{2}}$ .

  b Can this bonding be described by either ${\text{sp}}^{\text{2}}$ or ${\text{sp}}^{\text{2}}$ hybridization of the N atoms? Can bonding in ${\text{N}}_{\text{2}}$ be described in terms of unhybridized orbitals? Explain.