In which of the following molecules does the molecular orbital theory predict a triple bond?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In which of the following molecules does the molecular orbital theory predict a triple bond?
N2
O2
C2
H2
N2 has a triple bond, with a bond order of 3 according to molecular orbital theory.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: In which of the following molecules does the molecular orbital theory predict a triple bond?
Solution: N2 has a triple bond, with a bond order of 3 according to molecular orbital theory.
Steps: 7
Step 1: Understand what a triple bond is. A triple bond means that three pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms.
Step 2: Know that molecular orbital theory helps us understand how electrons are arranged in molecules and how many bonds exist between atoms.
Step 3: Identify the molecule in question, which is N2 (nitrogen gas).
Step 4: Apply molecular orbital theory to N2. In N2, the electrons fill the molecular orbitals in a specific order.
Step 5: Count the number of bonding electrons in N2. There are 6 bonding electrons (3 pairs) in the molecular orbitals.
Step 6: Calculate the bond order using the formula: Bond Order = (Number of bonding electrons - Number of antibonding electrons) / 2. For N2, this is (6 - 0) / 2 = 3.
Step 7: Conclude that since the bond order is 3, N2 has a triple bond.
