Calculate the Bond Order of O₂.

Bond order exists in every molecule. The order of the bonds changes from molecule to molecule. The molecule of oxygen is diatomic.

The bond order is defined as half the difference between the number of electrons in bonding molecular orbitals (non-bonding) and the number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals (Antibonding).

The bond order of a molecule or ion is the number of bonds that exist between two atoms. This notion can explain a variety of molecular features, including bond length fluctuation and bond enthalpies.

Where a denotes the number of electrons in the bonding molecular orbitals.

The number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals is denoted by b.

a = The number of electrons present in the bonding molecular orbitals.

The number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals is denoted by b.

O2 electronic setup (Z= 16)

[σ(1s)]²[σ∗(1s)]²[σ(2s)]²[σ∗(2s)]²[σ(1pz)]²[π(2px)]²[π(2py)]2[π∗(2px)]¹[π∗(2py)]¹ 

a = 10

b=6

bond order = 1/2 (10 – 6)

Order of bonds = 2