Question

What is the electron configuration of nitrogen 3-?

Answer 1

`1s^2 2s^2 2p6`

Explanation:

Nitrogen has an initial electron configuration of `1s^2 2s^2 2p^3`
If Nitrogen gains three electrons the `2p` orbitals will have 6 electrons giving `2p^6` This creates the electron configuration of Neon making the atom much more stable than the initial or ground state.

The 3 2p orbitals in the ground state have only one electron which can be used to create 3 electron sharings ( chemical bonds) . When all three chemical bonds are formed Nitrogen has three extra electron (`e^(-3)` )

The resulting electron configuration is `1s^2 2s^2 2p^6`