Can you please explain me the difference between unpaired electron and lone pair of electrons?
You know that each electron orbital (1s, 2s, 2px, 2py, 2pz, 3s, etc.) can ONLY hold 2 electrons, each with opposite spins (according to Pauli’s exclusion principle). Unpaired just means there’s only one electron in the orbital so it’s unpaired (obvious, ya?). As for lone pairs, usually used in context of covalent bonds. A covalent bond, as you probably know, is when electrons are SHARED. One atom contributes one electron and the other electron contributes the other (assuming this is a single bond). THAT electron pair is therefore a SHARED pair. Lone pairs are also known as UNSHARED pairs and they’re basically the electron pairs uninvolved in the covalent bond. See this picture: http://www.chemprofessor.com/bonding_fil… Note the middle compound. See how right above the nitrogen, there are 2 electrons, a pair, that aren’t being shared with ANY of the hydrogen atoms (if you’re not familiar, that line betw
