[Eveningstar]

Are the three bonds between c and N in cyanide ion are all covalent?? Or there is one coordinate bond.. Because in the lewis structure the Nitrogen atom shares 4 electron while the carbon atom only shares two ???and another question please,why there is a negative charge on cyanide.. Thanks a lot in advance.. 😊

[mjc123]

why there is a negative charge on cyanide..

Because it has 13 protons and 14 electrons.

Are the three bonds between c and N in cyanide ion are all covalent??

Yes. As it is isoelectronic with N₂, it is perhaps more helpful to think of it as C^- and N, each sharing 3 electrons. The formal negative charge is on the C (imagine removing a proton from N₂).