Question

How do single double and triple bonds affect the bond length?

Answer 1

Hint In order to know how single, double and triple bond affect the bond length, we must first have an idea about what a bond length is. The bond length is said to be the measure of the distance between the nuclei of the two chemically bonded atoms present in a molecule.

Complete step by step solution:
Let us first understand about the bond length. The bond length is said to be the measure of the distance between the nuclei of the two chemically bonded atoms present in a molecule.
- In other words, we can say that it is the sum of the covalent radii of the two chemically bonded atoms present in a molecule.
- The bond order is directly proportional to the strength of the bond. This means that higher the bond order greater is the bond strength.
- Therefore, the bond order is inversely proportional to the bond length. This means that higher the bond order smaller will be bond length.
- The triple bond is the strongest bond and it is shortest in length. The single bond is the least strong bond and it has the longest length. The double bond comes in between the triple and single bond.
The bond length is given in the following order:
Single bond > Double bond > Triple bond

Note: We have to remember that the bond order is said to be the half the difference between the total number of the bonding and the total number of antibonding electrons. It can be found by using the following formula:
\[{\text{Bond Order = }}\dfrac{{{\text{(total number of bonding electrons - total number of antibonding electrons)}}}}{{\text{2}}}\]