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JEE Main levelSingle correct optionDifficulty 2 of 3pn008

Nitrogen forms $NCl X_{3}$ but not $NCl X_{5}$ , whereas phosphorus forms both $PCl X_{3}$ and $PCl X_{5}$ . The reason is that

Anitrogen is less electronegative than phosphorus
Bnitrogen has no vacant d orbitals in its valence shell, so its covalency cannot exceed four
Cthe nitrogen atom is too large to accommodate five chlorine atoms
Dchlorine cannot oxidise nitrogen at all

Answer: B

Nitrogen's valence shell is

n = 2

, with only

2 s

and

2 p

orbitals, so it cannot expand its octet; its maximum covalency is 4. Phosphorus has accessible

3 d

orbitals and forms

PCl X_{5}

. Nitrogen is more electronegative and smaller than phosphorus, and chlorine does form

NCl X_{3}

with it.

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