Consider a possible triatomic molecule containing a nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine atoms for the following questions. a. Consider the relative electronegativities of these elements, what is the central atom?
b. How many total valence electrons are present in each element?

a) nitrogen

b) nitrogen =5

Oxygen = 6

Fluorine =7

Explanation:

Usually, if we have two or more elements in a compound, the central atom in the compound is the atom having the least value of electro negativity.

If we consider fluorine, oxygen and nitrogen; nitrogen is the least electronegative of the trio hence it should be the central atom of the triatomic molecule.

The number of valence electrons on the valence shell of each atom is shown below;

nitrogen =5

Oxygen = 6

Fluorine =7