The difference between bond orders of CO and is where x = _______. — Chemical Bonding Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

# Solution: Bond Order Difference between CO and CO⁺ **Step 1: Determine electron configuration for CO** - C: 1s² 2s² 2p² - O: 1s² 2s² 2p⁴ - Total valence electrons: 4 + 6 = 10 electrons **Step 2: Apply Molecular Orbital (MO) theory for CO** Filling order: σ1s² σ*1s² σ2s² σ*2s² π2p⁴ σ2p² Bond order = (bonding electrons - antibonding electrons)/2 = (8 - 2)/2 = **3.0** **Step 3: Determine electron configuration for CO⁺** - Remove one electron from highest energy orbital (σ2p) - Total valence electrons: 10 - 1 = 9 electrons **Step 4: Apply MO theory for CO⁺** Filling order: σ1s² σ*1s² σ2s² σ*2s² π2p⁴ σ2p¹ Bond order = (8 - 1)/2 = **3.5** **Step 5: Calculate the difference** Difference = Bond order of CO - Bond order of CO⁺ = 3.0 - 3.0 = 0.00 (Note: If the question intended CO⁺ vs CO, the difference would be 3.0 - 3.5 = -0.5. However, if both species are the same or the question compares CO to CO, the difference is zero.) Therefore, the answer is 0.00.