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Question
Why does the reactivity of nitrogen differ from phosphorus?
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Solution 1
- Nitrogen is chemically less reactive. This is because of the high stability of its molecule, N2.
- In N2, the two nitrogen atoms form a triple bond. This triple bond has very high bond strength, which is very difficult to break.
- It is because of nitrogen’s small size that it is able to form pπ-pπ bonds with itself.
- This property is not exhibited by atoms such as phosphorus. Thus, phosphorus is more reactive than nitrogen.
Solution 2
- Nitrogen is much less reactive than phosphorus because of the very high bond dissociation enthalpy (941.4 kJ mol−1) of the N=N triple bond found in the N2 molecule.
- The bond dissociation enthalpy of the phosphorus molecule (P4), which has P-P single bonds, is significantly lower (201.6 kJ mol−1).
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