Bond lengths

[Amy Perez 2K]

How do we determine how long or short a bond is?

[stelang]

We can determine bond lengths in a couple of ways. One way is looking at the Lewis structures of molecules. Another way is calculating the bond order. The point of utilizing these methods is to calculate exactly what type of bond is occurring between the atoms. We want to know if it is a single bond, double bond, triple bond , or something else. The greater number of bonds between two bonds the shorter it is. We did not learn how to calculate exact bond lengths as it is not necessary at this time but we should know how to compare bond lengths by using our knowledge of several patterns. Also remember that the greater the bond order the shorter the bond.

[Lilly Lin 1L]

just remember that the higher the bond order, the shorter and stronger the bond, and vice versa: low bond order means a longer, weaker bond.

[Vanessa A 3F]

there are two things to keep in mind
1. Triple bonds are the shortest, and single bonds are the longest. We determine how many bonds there are from the Lewis structure that we determine to be the best.
2. A molecular orbital theory chart may tell you that the bond between two atoms is 1.5, or 2.5, which simply indicates that those bonds would be slightly shorter than a single and double bond respectively.