why cant the molecule C2H6N exists?
Carbon can have four bonds. In C2H6, all of the bonds are used, three to H on each of the carbon atoms and 1 bond to each other. That leaves no room for a N to bond.
Why can’t molecules with the following formulas exist?
(a) C2H7 (b) CH5 (c) C2H6N
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Because it's too shy to exist! It prefers to hide away in the chemistry textbooks and avoid the limelight of the real world. Who knows, maybe one day it'll build up some confidence and come out to play!
The molecule C2H6N cannot exist because it violates the octet rule and the valence electron configuration of the atoms involved.
In order to assess whether a molecule can exist or not, we need to consider the number and arrangement of valence electrons around each atom. Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost energy shell of an atom and are responsible for bonding.
Let's break down the atoms in C2H6N:
- C (carbon): Carbon belongs to group 14 of the periodic table and has 4 valence electrons.
- H (hydrogen): Hydrogen belongs to group 1 and has 1 valence electron.
- N (nitrogen): Nitrogen belongs to group 15 and has 5 valence electrons.
If we combine the atoms in a straightforward manner, we would get C2H6N. However, this arrangement violates the octet rule. The octet rule states that atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a stable electron configuration with 8 electrons in its outer shell (except for hydrogen, which only needs 2 electrons).
Carbon, in its stable state, achieves this octet configuration by sharing electrons with four hydrogen atoms in methane (CH4) or by sharing electrons with oxygen in carbon dioxide (CO2). Nitrogen, on the other hand, achieves stability by sharing electrons with three hydrogen atoms in ammonia (NH3).
If we try to create a molecule with the formula C2H6N, we would end up with a nitrogen atom bonded to two carbon atoms. In this arrangement, nitrogen would have 10 electrons around it, which exceeds the octet rule. Therefore, this configuration is not possible.
To summarize, the molecule C2H6N cannot exist because it violates the octet rule and the electron configuration requirements of carbon and nitrogen atoms.