Why do elemental gases like hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen exist in molecular form by default?
In: 1
Because their outer electron shells are unfilled. This means they’ll aggressively grab onto anything convenient, and if there’s only other atoms of the same type around, that’s where they’ll go. They then share 1-3 electrons between two atoms and become much more mellow. this is especially true for nitrogen, whose triple bond is the strongest atomic bond there is.
Fun fact: many explosives contain lots of nitrogen, because of the extreme energy and pressure released when this bond forms, and it turns from part of a solid into a gas.
Latest Answers