Step 1: Determine the total number of electrons in the O2 molecule. Oxygen has 8 electrons, so O2 has 8 + 8 = 16 electrons.
Step 2: Identify how many of these electrons are in bonding orbitals and how many are in antibonding orbitals. For O2, there are 10 electrons in bonding orbitals and 6 electrons in antibonding orbitals.
Step 3: Calculate the bond order using the formula: Bond Order = (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons) / 2.
Step 4: Substitute the values into the formula: Bond Order = (10 - 6) / 2.
Step 5: Simplify the equation: Bond Order = 4 / 2 = 2.
