When paired with itself, nitrogen has three bonding pairs and one lone pair, so to covalently bond, it forms a triple bond.
Carbon has no lone pairs and 4 bonding pairs if it were to be covalently bonded to itself. So why does it not form quadruple bonds?
In: Chemistry
The bonding locations are not freely movable, just somewhat “stretchable”. Those of carbon point in 4 different directions best seen in [methane](https://d2cbg94ubxgsnp.cloudfront.net/Pictures/480xAny/9/5/7/140957_Methane-3D-balls.png). To use all four bonds would require to “bend and stretch” at least one of them a lot. Three still works as seen with [molecular nitrogen](https://atlas-content-cdn.pixelsquid.com/stock-images/nitrogen-molecule-4oOwY9D-600.jpg).
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