Determine the bond order in a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons

determine the bond order in a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons.

Determine the bond order in a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons

Answer:
To determine the bond order in a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons, we first need to understand the concept of bond order. The bond order is the number of bonding pairs of electrons between two atoms. It indicates the stability of a bond.

When dealing with a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons, we can consider the example of the nitrate ion (NO3-), which has 10 valence electrons.

  1. Calculate Total Valence Electrons: In the nitrate ion (NO3-), nitrogen contributes 5 valence electrons, and each oxygen contributes 6 valence electrons (3 oxygens in total). So, the total valence electrons in NO3- are 5 (from nitrogen) + 6x3 (from oxygen) + 1 (because of the negative charge) = 5 + 18 + 1 = 24 electrons.

  2. Draw the Lewis Structure: By arranging the atoms in a way that satisfies the octet rule for each atom and placing the remaining electrons as lone pairs or shared pairs (bonds), we can draw the Lewis structure of NO3-. The Lewis structure will show how the valence electrons are distributed.

  3. Calculate Bond Order: In the Lewis structure of NO3-, we find that there are two equivalent resonance structures. Each resonance structure implies that there are 1.33 bonds between nitrogen and each oxygen atom. Therefore, the average bond order in the nitrate ion (NO3-) is approximately 1.33.

So, in a molecule or ion with 10 valence electrons, like the nitrate ion (NO3-), the bond order can be calculated by determining the distribution of electrons and the bond type between atoms.