Dielectric-barrier discharges (DBDs) in Ar-N 2 mixtures, with N 2 fractions in 0.1-1% range, would be attractive alternatives to DBDs in pure N 2 if energytransfer reactions between Ar(1s) atoms and N 2 molecules were an efficient source of N atoms. Attempts to functionalize polyolefins in flowing postdischarges fed by such DBDs, as well as the search for the First Positive System in the emission spectrum, however, failed. Evidently, the energy-transfer reactions do not produce N atoms. For Ar(1s 3 ) and Ar(1s 5 ) metastable states, this fact has already been reported in the literature. For Ar(1s 2 ) and Ar(1s 4 ) resonant states, a quantitative argument is derived in this paper: energy transfer from Ar(1s) atoms to N 2 molecules is not an efficient source of N atoms.