Question

What is the electron configuration of nitrogen dioxide?

Answer 1

There are 17 valence electrons to distribute around 3 centres........

Explanation:

And the 17 valence electrons come from the `5+2xx6` oxygen, and nitrogen valence electrons.

So a reasonable Lewis structure is `(O=)N^(+)-O^-` with a LONE nitrogen-centred valence electron. These electrons can couple to form a `N-N` bond in a dimer.

`2(O=)N^(+)-O^(-)rightleftharpoons(""^(-)O)(O=)N^(+)-NO_2`

There is necessarily formal charge separation in both the monomer and the dimer.