Use Lewis structures to predict the bond order for a carbon-oxygen bond in CO₂? A) 1 B) 3/2 C) 4/3 D) 2 E) 5/2

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Lewis structure for CO₂ can be written as: :S::C≡O: The carbon and oxygen atoms are connected by a triple bond (denoted by ≡), which consists of one sigma bond and two pi bonds. The bond order is equal to the total number of bonds divided by the number of bonding sites (i.e., the number of atoms bonded to the central atom). In this case, the total number of bonds between carbon and oxygen is 3 (1 sigma bond + 2 pi bonds), and the number of bonding sites is 2 (carbon and oxygen). Therefore, the bond order is equal to 3/2, which is closest to answer choice B. However, since the bond order is always a whole number or a fractional number that is close to a whole number, the best choice is D) 2, which is the closest whole number to 3/2.

Use Lewis Structures to Predict the Bond Order for a Carbon-Oxygen