The correct order of Cl — O bond order is : — Chemical Bonding Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Step 1: Determine the bond order for each chlorine oxyanion based on their resonance structures. Step 2: Calculate the bond orders: ClO^- has 1 shared bond pair over 1 Cl-O region (bond order = 1); ClO2^- has 3 shared bond pairs over 2 regions (bond order = 1.5); ClO3^- has 5 shared bond pairs over 3 regions (bond order = 1.67); ClO4^- has 7 shared bond pairs over 4 regions (bond order = 1.75). Step 3: Comparing the values gives the increasing order of bond order: ClO^- (1.0) < ClO2^- (1.5) < ClO3^- (1.67) < ClO4^- (1.75), matching option (c).