N2O or nitrous oxide is the oxide of nitrogen also known as laughing gas. Let us explore nitrous oxide in this article a brief.
The most common synthesis method of nitrous oxide is the thermal decomposition of dey ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3). The molar shape around the central N is linear and sp hybridized. Nitrous oxide is a neutral molecule with zero formal charges and the bond angle of the molecule is 1800.
The N-N bond length is shorter 112 pm than expected due to the double bond character and the N-O bond length is 119 pm. Now we discuss some basic properties of nitrous oxide along with its molar density, radius, acidity, basicity, oxidate state, and reaction with metal in the following part of the article.
1. N2O IUPAC name
The IUPAC (International Union Pure and Applied Chemistry) name of the N2O is dinitrogen oxide.
2. N2O chemical formula
The chemical formula for dinitrogen oxide is N2O, as here nitrogen and oxygen are present in a 2:1 proportion.
3. N2O CAS number
The CAS number (up to 10 digits numerical value given by Chemistry Abstracts Service) of nitrous oxdie is 10024-97-2.
4. N2O Chem Spider ID
The chem spider ID of nitrous oxide is 923 (which is upto five digits numeric value given by the Royal Society of Chemistry).
5. N2O chemical classification
Nitrous oxide is classified in the chemistry into following categories,
- N2O is a gaseous molecule
- N2O is a stable oxide
- N2O is non-flammable agent
- N2O is an oxidizing agent
6. N2O molar mass
The molar mass of nitrous oxide is 44.013 g/mol which is coming from the atomic mass of two nitrogen 28.00134 (14.0067 for each nitrogen) and 15.999 for oxygen which is the constituent atoms.
7. N2O color
Nitrous oxide is generally a colorless gaseous molecule but upon heating, it changes color to brown, as it gets excited and the corresponding wavelength falls in the visible region.
8. N2O viscosity
Gaseous nitrous oxide has no viscosity but in liquid form, it has 1.004 poise at 298K temperature.
9. N2O molar density
The molar density of dinitrogen oxide is lesser than 1 and the value is 0.6549 g/L as it is a gaseous molecule. The molar density is calculated by the diving molar mass of nitrous oxide by the volume which is 22.4 L for each gaseous molecule by Avogar’s calculation. Which is 44.013/(22.4*3) = 0.6549 g/L.
10. N2O melting point
Nitrous oxide has a very lower melting point like -90.860C or 182.14K as it can exist in a gaseous form at room temperature.
11. N2O boiling point
The boiling point of nitrous oxide is also very low -88.480C or 184.52K .
12. N2O state at room temperature
Nitrous oxide exists as a gaseous state at room temperature because the van der waal’s attraction is very low and all the atoms are present very far away.
13. N2O covalent bond
The bond present in dinitrogen oxide is pure covalent nature, and the central N is sp hybridized like a covalent molecule. All the nitrogen and oxygen atoms are shared their electrons to form sigma as well as s π bonds.
14. N2O covalent radius
The covalent radius of Nitrogen and Oxygen are 71 and 66 pm because we cannot predict the covalent radius for hetaro nuclear complex.
15. N2O electron configurations
Electron configuration is the arrangement of electrons in a particular shell having a particular quantum number of an element. Let us find the electron configuration of N2O.
The electronic configuration of N and O which are constituent atoms are [He]2s22p3and [He]2s22p4 respectively.
16. N2O oxidation state
The oxidation state of central N is +3 oxidation state and the terminal N is in -1 and the oxygen is in -2 oxidation state.
17. N2O acidity/alkaline
N2O in nether acidic nor basic but it is acidic oxide when it reacts with acid as it forms acid.
N2O + H2O = HNO2 + HNO3
18. Is N2O odourless?
Nitrous oxide has a sweet smell in gaseous form but in liquid form upon heating, it has ammonia-like smell that is irritating and suffocating.
19. Is N2O paramagnetic?
The paramagnetic nature of a molecule depends on the availability of unpaired electrons in the valence shell. Let us see whether N2O is paramagnetic or not.
Nitrous oxide is paramagnetic due to available of unpaired electrons in terminal nitrogen atom as well as oxygen atom. But the central atom has one paired electron so it does not show paramagnetism, the paramagnetic behaviour comes from the oxygen site because it has four unpaired electrons.
20. N2O hydrates
Nitrous oxide can attract the water molecule by the H-bonding but in its crystal structure there is no water molecule present so it does not have any hydrated part and for this reason its crystal is very weak.
21. N2O crystal structure
The crystal structure of nitrous oxide is hexagonal in the lattice form which consists of linear geometry of nitrous oxide molecule. The orientation of the crystal is not properly arranged so it can break at lower temperature.
22. N2O polarity and conductivity
Nitrous oxide is polar but non-conductive in nature because,
- Nitrous oxide is covalent molecule.
- Nitrous oxide cannot ionized to two different ions properly.
- Nitrous oxide formes radical which is poor conductor for gaseous state.
- Although Nitrous oxide has linear structure but it has dipole-moment.
- N-N dipole-moment is lower than N-O dipole-moment, so Nitrous oxide has polar character.
23. N2O reaction with acid
Nitrous oxide itself being an acidic oxide so it can react very little with acidic molecule actually it gets soluble in strong acid like sulfuric acid, so the reaction pathway we cannot predict.
24. N2O reaction with base
At room temperature nitrous oxide is inert but at high temperature almost 2000C it can reacts with sodium amide base to form sodium azide and the reaction takes place radical formation mechanism. The π bond between N and O are more reactive and participate in reaction.
2NaNH2 + N2O → NaN3 + NaOH + NH3
25. N2O reaction with oxide
Nitrous oxide being an oxide does not react with oxides as they rarely match with the pentaoxide of Nitrogen.
26. N2O reaction with metal
Nitrous oxide cannot react with metal but it can be used as a reagent to oxiding a metallic compound. It can act as soft ligand and attached to the more electropositive metal atoms in organometallic chemistry.
Conclusion
Nitrous oxide is used as laughing gas and for this reason it can be used by the density for treatment. It can be used as industrial production of azide salt. Nitrous oxide also cause the greenhouse effect it can thinning the ozone layer.
Hi……I am Biswarup Chandra Dey, I have completed my Master’s in Chemistry from the Central University of Punjab. My area of specialization is Inorganic Chemistry. Chemistry is not all about reading line by line and memorizing, it is a concept to understand in an easy way and here I am sharing with you the concept about chemistry which I learn because knowledge is worth to share it.