Size of Bonds

[Bethany Yang 2E]

Can someone explain in simple terms why double bonds are shorter than single bonds?

[Faaizah Arshad 1H]

Double bonds have more electrons that are strongly attracted to the nuclei of the atoms that are bonding, so they pull the atoms closer, which means that the length of the bond between the two atoms is shorter. In single bonds, fewer electrons are shared between two atoms, so there is less attraction to the nuclei of the bonding atoms, and the atoms are not pulled as closely together.

[Tiao Tan 3C]

Double bonds (4 e) have more electrons than single bonds (2 e), and have a stronger negative charge, atrracting the nuclei of the bonding atoms that are charged positively. The attraction is stronger, thus the half distance between centers of the bonding atoms is shorter.

[Inderpal Singh 2L]

Double bonds have a higher number of electrons than single bonds, therefore being pulled closer to the nucleus of the atom. The nucleus of the atom is positively charged while the electrons are negative, opposites attract :)

[Chudi Onyedika 3A]

The bond with more electrons will result in the positively-charged nuclei of the atoms being pulled in closer because opposites attract.

[jasmineculilap_3F]

Double bonds have 2 shared pairs of electrons while single bonds only share 1 pair, so the greater number of electrons results in a stronger attraction to the nuclei, shomaking double bonds shorter.

[Charmaine Ng 2D]

Since double bonds are stronger, the bonds pull the electrons in tighter and result in a shorter bond length!

[Justin Zhang_1A]

Double bonds have more electrons than single bonds, so they exert a stronger force of attraction on the nuclei of the bonded atoms. This draws the atoms closer together and creates shorter bonds.

[Juliet Carr 1F]

The nucleus interacts with more electrons in double bonds than in single bonds, so it is able to pull the electrons closer resulting in shorter bonds.

[Heather Szeszulski 1I]

The more electrons there is the more it is able to pull, meaning the bond length will be smaller.

[RitaThomas_3G]

Double bonds have more electrons and are more strongly negatively charged, which makes the attraction to the positive nuclei stronger.

[Madisen Brown -1C]

Because double bonds have a higher number of electrons, the electrons are pulled in tighter thus the bond length is shorter

[Savannah Torella 1L]

Double bonds are shorter than single bonds because they contain more electrons. When an anion contains a large amount of electrons, that means that it can be more easily pulled into a cation. When the two are easily pulled into each other, that results in a shorter bond length.

[Caelin Brenninkmeijer 1G]

It's because single bonds share fewer electrons between two atoms so the attraction between the electrons and the nucleus is less than a double or triple bond because they have more electrons, thereby making the bond length shorter.

[Keshav Patel 14B 2B]

Due to the weaker connection of having 2 electrons in a single compared compared to a double bond with 4 electrons, the double bond is shorter because there are more protons in the double bond compared to the single bond.

[Anthony_Sandoval_1D]

Double bonds have stronger force of attraction due to having more electrons. This causes atoms to be drawn tighter to each other and thus creating a shorter bond.

[Britney Tran IJ]

Because double bonds have more electrons, there is a stronger attraction/pull so the length is shorter

[rhettfarmer-3H]

I think this is a good idea to think about. So the difference between the double bond and single bonds is the number of electrons in the bond. 2 for single and 4 for double bonds. Therefore, with more electrons, there is a greater force of attraction to the atom center. Hence, the length of the bond forces them to come to be pulled in making a bond with a shorter length.

[Thomas Gimeno]

Double bonds have a greater interaction between electrons than single bonds. If you think about it in the electron cloud model, more of the electron clouds would have to overlap in odder to form a double bond when compared to a single bond. This increased overlap can be seen as the nuclei getting closer and the bond length decreasing.

[David Liu 1E]

double bonds hold electrons together more closely, which is shown as it takes more to break a double bond over a single bond. Because they're more tightly bound, they tend to be smaller

[Sejal Parsi 3K]

Double bonds are shorter because they have two more electrons than single bonds, so their attraction to the nucleus is stronger, pulling them closer and making the bond shorter.

[Samudrala_Vaishnavi 3A]

Double bonds are shorter considering that they are stronger bonds since the distance between the nuclei of two atoms is smaller. Single bonds are weaker than double bonds, considering the distance between their nuclei is larger. It takes more energy to break apart double bonds compared to single bonds.

[Elizabeth Kaplan 3I]

Double bonds are shorter than single bonds because double bonds are stronger and have 2 pairs of electrons that pull the positive nucleus closer together and result in a shorter bond length. On the other hand, single bonds only share 1 pair of electrons that do not pull the positive nucleus as close together, which is why they have a longer bond length.

[Khushi_Gupta_1A]

The additional electrons involved in a double bond exert greater attractive forces on the nuclei, thereby shortening the length of the bond.

[Ximeng Guo 2K]

Can we use the concept of pi bond and sigma bond to interpret this question?

[Kimiya Aframian IB]

Can someone explain in simple terms why double bonds are shorter than single bonds?

Double bonds are shorter than single bonds because together, they are stronger and can pull the two atoms closer together. Because the atoms are closer together resulting in the increased strength of the double bond vs the single bond, the distance (ie. bond length) between the two atoms will shorter.
Hope this helps!

[Samantha Lee 1A]

Double bonds are shorter than single bonds because they are stronger. They are able to pull in electrons from the other atom better, which shrinks the size of the bond that holds the two atoms together.

[Jasraj Parmar 3H]

Double bonds are shorter than single bonds because they have a stronger attractive force. This causes to come closer together which leads to shorter bond lengths.

[Mary Gallo 1G]

There are more electrons shared between atoms in a double bond. Therefore, the attractive forces between atoms with double bonds are stronger, thus pulling them in closer. Atoms that share a single bond have smaller attractive forces in comparison, and are usually longer.