Question on: JAMB Chemistry - 2010

Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7. The electronic configuration is 1s²2s²2p³.

• The 1s and 2s orbitals are completely filled (each holding 2 electrons, paired).
• The 2p subshell has three orbitals (2px, 2py, and 2pz), each of which can hold up to 2 electrons. Hund's rule states that electrons will individually occupy each orbital within a subshell before pairing up in any one orbital.
• Therefore, the three electrons in the 2p subshell will each occupy one of the three p orbitals singly. This results in 3 unpaired electrons.