What is the primary factor that determines the strength of a covalent bond?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the primary factor that determines the strength of a covalent bond?
Electronegativity
Bond length
Bond order
Molecular weight
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the primary factor that determines the strength of a covalent bond?
Step 1: Understand what a covalent bond is. A covalent bond is formed when two atoms share electrons.
Step 2: Learn about bond order. Bond order refers to the number of shared electron pairs between two atoms.
Step 3: Recognize that bond order can be 1, 2, or 3. A bond order of 1 means one pair of electrons is shared (single bond), 2 means two pairs (double bond), and 3 means three pairs (triple bond).
Step 4: Realize that as bond order increases (from single to double to triple), the number of shared electron pairs increases.
Step 5: Understand that more shared electron pairs create a stronger attraction between the atoms, making the bond stronger.
Step 6: Conclude that the primary factor determining the strength of a covalent bond is the bond order; higher bond order means a stronger bond.
