Answer:
In NO^-, nitrogen (N) has five valence electrons and oxygen (O) has six valence electrons. The negative charge indicates an extra electron, so NO^- has a total of 11 valence electrons.
To determine the number of bonding pairs, we first calculate the number of electrons needed for a full outer shell for each atom. Nitrogen needs 8 electrons, while oxygen needs 8 as well. So, together they need 16 electrons to complete their octets.
With 11 valence electrons available, we have 5 lone pairs. This means there are 5 bonding pairs in NO^-.
