The element nitrogen (N) has an atomic number of 7, which means it has 7 electrons in its neutral state. The electron configuration of nitrogen is 1s² 2s² 2p³. In this configuration, there are three electrons in the 2p sublevel, which consists of three orbitals: 2px, 2py, and 2pz.
To determine the number of unpaired electrons, we look at the number of electrons in singly occupied orbitals. In the case of nitrogen, there are three unpaired electrons because each of the 2px, 2py, and 2pz orbitals contains one electron. The unpaired electrons in nitrogen make it highly reactive and prone to forming covalent bonds with other atoms to achieve a more stable electron configuration.