Dinitrogen and dioxygen are main constituents of air but these do not react with each other to form oxides of nitrogen because a)The reaction is endothermic and requires very high temperature b).The reaction can be initiated only in presence of a catalyst c)Oxides of nitrogen are unstable d)`N_(2)` and `O_(2)` are unreactive

Options

A. The reaction is endothermic and requires very high temperature
B. The reaction can be initiated only in presence of a catalyst
C. Oxides of nitrogen are unstable
D. `N_2` and `O_2` are unreactive

Answer

A

Explanation

Major components of atmosphere are dinitrogen, dioxygen and water vapour
`N_(2) = 78.08% ,O_(2) = 20.95 %`
Both do not react with each other as nitrogen is an inactive gas. The triple bond in `N_(2)` is very stable and its dissociation energy is very high. Both react with each other at very high temperature
`N_(2)(g) + O_(2)(g) overset(3000^(@))to 2NO(g)`