N2- and N2+ HAVE SAME BOND ORDER. Which of them is more stable? are they both equally stable or not?? please exlain

Dear deeksha,

you know which orbitals are bonding and antibonding in character. So it should be apparent that the HOMO (highest occupied) of N2 is bonding in character, while the LUMO (lowest unoccupied) is antibonding. Removing one electron from the bonding HOMO weakens the bond. Adding one electron to the antibonding LUMO *also* weakens the bond. Either way, the bond order is reduced by half-a-bond's worth.

Note that the number of *unpaired* electrons is irrelevant. Unpaired electrons can (sometimes) make a molecule highly reactive, but that in and of itself says nothing about bond strengths or stability. O2 has two unpaired electrons, but [O2]–, which has only one, is less stable and has a weaker bond.

Please feel free to post as many doubts on our discussion forum as you can.

We are all IITians and here to help you in your IIT JEE preparation.

All the best.

win exciting gifts by answering the questions on Discussion Forum.

Approved

then what should i infer? N₂^-AND N₂⁺ are equally stable?

Is it not the case as N₂^- has greater no of electrons in its ABMO so it is less stable??