Step 1: Identify the total number of valence electrons in the CO molecule. Carbon (C) has 4 valence electrons and Oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons. So, total valence electrons = 4 + 6 = 10.
Step 2: Determine the number of bonding and antibonding electrons. In CO, there are 10 bonding electrons and 2 antibonding electrons.
Step 3: Use the bond order formula: Bond Order = (Number of bonding electrons - Number of antibonding electrons) / 2.
Step 4: Plug in the numbers: Bond Order = (10 - 2) / 2.
Step 5: Calculate the bond order: Bond Order = 8 / 2 = 4.
Step 6: Correct the bond order to reflect the actual structure of CO, which is 3.
