Is N2 Polar or Nonpolar?

By Staff WriterLast Updated April 05, 2020

N2 is nonpolar. A polar molecule has a net electric dipole moment. Since N2 is a symmetric molecule without a net electric dipole moment, N2 is not polar.

A nitrogen atom has five electrons in its outermost electron shell. Hence, two nitrogen atoms bond with each other by sharing three electrons with each other. This means that the bond between two nitrogen atoms is a triple bond with three shared electron pairs. As such, the N2 molecule is symmetric with no net electric dipole moment. Since the molecule does not have a net electric dipole moment, it is not polar.