Question: What is the bond order of a molecule with 10 electrons in a molecular orbital diagram?
Options:
Correct Answer: 2
Solution:
Bond order = (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons) / 2. For 10 electrons, if all are bonding, bond order = 10/2 = 5. If 2 are antibonding, bond order = (10-2)/2 = 4. The most stable configuration gives a bond order of 2.